The New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles have been battling for the top spot in the American League East for the last few weeks — with the Yankees never losing complete control of first place.
New York has run the show in the division over the course of the entire year. They've rode their explosive lineup and timely pitching through the first five months and are now just trying to hang on. Derek Jeter has put up career numbers, even at the age of 38. Jeter is hitting .321 on the year, but has also been plagued by an ankle injury.
Jeter's ankle hasn't been the only troublesome part of the Yankees' season, though. Several other key players including Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte have missed time at some point during the year. They've managed to keep their lead thus far, despite some close games of late against the Oakland Athletics — another serious playoff contender.
The Orioles were never expected to be able to contend this late in the season. Somehow, some way, Buck Showalter has kept his team of young players in the hunt for a playoff spot. Major offensive contributions from Adam Jones and Matt Wieters have really helped provide run support for the starting rotation and bullpen.
Wei-Yen Chen has been a great surprise for Showalter's club, leading the team in wins, ERA and strikeouts this season. The late-game duo of Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson have pitched out of their minds. Strop has a 2.37 ERA in 67 appearances and Johnson has saved 47 games.
The Yankees and Orioles will not face off against each other again this regular season — which would've provided much more excitement — but it's still a toss-up as to who will win the AL East.
So who do you think will win the division, the Yankees or the Orioles?
