How the Schedule Impacts Every Relevant MLB Team Down the Stretch

John Bazemore/Associated Press

1. Tampa Bay Rays: 79-48

Remaining Games (Home/Away): 35 (17/18)

Remaining SoS: .516

The Rays are undeniably a good team, but the one aspect of their success that they’d probably rather not have discussed is that they’ve played the easiest schedule of any AL East team.

That will be corrected in the coming weeks, as more than half (19, to be exact) of Tampa Bay’s remaining games are against winning teams. Those include seven against the Boston Red Sox and three against the Toronto Blue Jays, though only three against the New York Yankees.

Those three against the Yankees, however, will cap a season-ending six-game road trip that will begin against the AL West-leading Houston Astros on Sept. 28. Better buckle up, Rays fans.

2. New York Yankees: 75-52

Remaining Games (Home/Away): 35 (17/18)

Remaining SoS: .502

The Yankees have indeed had it tougher than the Rays this year, and they’ve handled it well by going 42-33 against .500 or better teams. Of late, such wins account for eight of their 12 straight victories.

It gets a little easier for the Yankees going forward, specifically to the extent that they still get to play the utterly bad Baltimore Orioles six more times. Also on tap are three games against the lowly Texas Rangers and three each against diminished Cleveland and New York Mets squads.

What the Yankees should not take lightly, however, are seven games versus a Blue Jays team that they’re only 6-6 against. Three of those will complete a six-game road swing that will begin in Boston on Sept. 24. It’s a difficult test ahead of New York’s final showdown against Tampa Bay.

3. Boston Red Sox: 73-56

Remaining Games (Home/Away): 33 (14/19)

Remaining SoS: .492

Based on their relatively few remaining games and weak strength of schedule, the Red Sox seem to be in for a soft landing. Best of all is that they have six games apiece against Baltimore and Cleveland, the latter of which is a dismal 22-40 against winning teams.

On a less bright side, the Red Sox still have to play the Rays seven times. Though they’re 5-7 against them, the Rays have won three out of the four series and seven of the last nine games.

Much of Boston’s remaining schedule also takes place on the road, where it’ll notably have to make a difficult six-game trip through the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners from Sept. 10 to 15.

4. Toronto Blue Jays: 66-60

Remaining Games (Home/Away): 36 (18/18)

Remaining SoS: .495

More so than the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox, the Blue Jays’ remaining schedule looks like a mixed bag.

The good? They still have 10 (yes, 10 as in one-zero) games against the Orioles plus seven against the Minnesota Twins and three opposite the Detroit Tigers. That’s 20 games against three of the AL’s worst teams.

The bad? Out of those 20 games, 11 are on the road. And with seven games against the Yankees and six versus the Rays, Toronto still has 13 games that it simply can’t afford to lose.