Here's what a seven game lead means, if you want to spend your off-day basking in what's shaping up to be a pretty memorable season.
via everygame.files.wordpress.com
There are ten weeks left in the season. The Angels would need to at least play one game better than the Rangers in all but three of them -- and never worse than even -- to get at least a tie.
There are ten head-to-head games left between LA and Texas. If the Rangers win just two games against the Angels, then merely keeping pace in the non-head-to-head games would mean winning the division.
Playing a game below .500 the rest of the way would get the Rangers to 89 wins. The Angels would have to play .603 baseball to match that (.609 for the A's). That's 98 win baseball over an entire season.
Also importantly, it's no longer a two team race; it's three team or nothing, as the A's currently pose just as much a threat as the Angels (and have a better run differential). That's somewhat a reflection of how well the A's have played, but more a reflection of how far back the Angels have been pushed.
A seven game lead means the Rangers are farther up on their closest competition than any other leader in baseball. By two games.
A seven game lead means this season ends with the Rangers missing the playoffs only around a tenth of the time it's played out.
A seven game lead means It's Time, and it means the season certainly is not over but it's gotten pretty damn comfortable.
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