2018 Four-by-four places Braves in 2019 Elite League

In very few quadrants across the four-by-four regions we've cooked up is there consistency at the top. Only the Washington Nationals have won or tied for their conference title in all three years we have run them. But it was the Atlanta Braves, and not the Nationals, who snagged the Elite Division berth for 2019.

The four-by-four version of our regional leagues across big league baseball had an interesting new twist in 2018, but it wouldn't have been necessary. The old twists were quite enough.

As we look across the four quadrants, which we now are calling conferences, we see stability at the top of only one, the Southeast, where the Washington Nationals have won two of three outright titles through 2018 and split the other. 

The only other club with a repeat performance of any kind across the top of its conference is the Houston Astros, who split the Southwest title with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017 before winning it outright for the first time in 2018.

In the Northwest Conference, though, variety has spiced the top. The Chicago White Sox surprisingly won the first quadrant title in 2016, slipping to the bottom or near the bottom of this group in the last two years. In their place, the Seattle Mariners barely beat out the Colorado Rockies in 2017, then the Rockies barely beat out the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018.

The Northeast also has been up for grabs. The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays split the championship in 2016. The Cleveland Indians won that title in 2017 and the Boston Red Sox won it in 2018.

Of course, each of these quadrants (or conferences) has two additional lives, one in each of two regional leagues to which it belongs. For example, the Southwest conference also is the South Division of the West League and the West Division of the South League. And so on.

In the West League, the Houston Astros have been a little more successful than they've been in the Southwest quadrant, winning the South Division outright the last two years. In 2018, the North Division winner was Milwaukee, following championships in that division for the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and the Minnesota Twins in 2017. 

In the East League, the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves each won division titles for the first time. The Washington Nationals had won the first two South Division championships before the Braves overtook them in 2018, while the Cleveland Indians had won the first two North Division champions before the Red Sox stormed the division in 2018.

Unlike the previous two seasons, a champion could be declared for the East League in 2018. The Red Sox won five of their six meeting against the Braves during the regular season.

The establishment of the Elite Division for 2019 will have impacts on the four-by-four regions. Each quadrant will qualify one club that hasn't already qualified through the pyramid or the traveling championships, provided that club wins at least two championships of some kind in the four-by-four. For 2019, that means a club must win at least two of its three divisions. For the following year, new regional traveling championships will be added to the mix.

With the South League, we see how it works. Washington, as usual, won the Southeast Conference. But the Atlanta Braves won the East League's South Division. And, here in the South League East Division, the Braves nudge the Nationals by four percentage points. But it's enough for a second championship in this four-by-four for the Braves. Though the Braves came on strong in 2018, they finished fifth in the Fourth Division. But these two division titles in the four-by-four get them into the Elite Division. 

Milwaukee of the Northwest Conference barely missed qualifying for the Elite Division. The Brewers finished five percentage points behind Colorado in the Conference and won the West League North. But the Brewers finished fourth in the North League West. Winning one and tying for another isn't good enough.

Tri-annual regional leagues crown new champions

Three years in baseball is long enough for clubs to go from way up to way down. The results from the 2018 tri-annual regional leagues show some of the difference three years can make.

Every three years, the major league baseball schedule gives us a chance to work out a favorite toy, an overlay of three regional leagues over the two existing big leagues. It works during those years when the interleague schedule pits the divisions east vs. east, central vs. central and west vs. west.

During those years, we can just follow the schedule to an East League, a Center League and a West League, dividing each of them into north and south divisions. So far, those years have been 2015 and, now, 2018.

A lot can change across the game in three years. In 2015, the New York Mets won the East League and drove to the World Series. In 2018, the Mets were well down, while the Boston Red Sox tore up the eastern competition to the tune of 68-28. In 2018, the Atlanta Braves finished last in the East League South. In 2018, the Braves won that division.

The Red Sox were unstoppable, finishing 13 games ahead of the New York Yankees in the East League's North Division. They also finished 11 games ahead of the Braves in the league standings and, for good measure, they claimed the league title for their 5-1 record against Atlanta during the regular season.

In 2015, the Dodgers overtook the Houston Astros during the second half of the season and claimed this tri-annual West League championship. In 2018, the Astros were strong all the way to the end and finished 2½ games ahead of the Dodgers both across the league and in the South Division.

The North Division witnessed a reversal. The San Francisco Giants, who won the division when it was last played in 2015, finished in the 2018 cellar. The Colorado Rockies, who occupied the division basement in 2015, came back and won it in 2018.

The Rockies hung tough in their interleague "rivalry" games with the Astros, splitting the four games. But the Astros outscored the Rox, 23-11, to claim the league championship.

In 2015, the Chicago Cubs were up-and-coming, and they rose to the Center League championship with a strong playoff run. For 2018, we decided to leave playoffs out of the regional baseball leagues, just to see how it looks. But it wouldn't have helped the Cubs, who still finished 7½ games behind the Cleveland Indians in the Center League.

The Cubs could still have won the league championship after capturing the North Division, but they lost three of four during the year to the Indians. Thus, the Indians were named the 2018 Center League champions after holding off the pesky Pittsburgh Pirates during the regular season.

Few 2017 repeaters in regional baseball quads

It was another year of interesting races in 2017, our second season of running the regional baseball leagues based on quadrants that actually function as three discrete divisions. But only the Cleveland Indians and Washington Nationals repeated 2016 championships.

The second season of our four-by-four alignment in baseball produced remarkably few repeat champions across the fake news ether in 2017. But it did produce a lot of interesting results.

Take, for example, the Southwest Conference, easily the domain of the Texas Rangers in 2016. The Rangers fell back in 2017, while the Dodgers and Houston Astros came on so strong that they both appeared in the World Series.

So, it only took two seasons of this to get two clubs from the same quadrant into the World Series. Either could have won the Southwest outright by taking the Series in six games or fewer, and either would claim at least half of the title by winning it at all. Of course, Houston won Game 7, which was just enough to tie the Dodgers in the games back column.

However, the fact that the Series even went to Game 7 ensured that half of the title would go to the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished with a .600 winning percentage to top both October contestants. The Cardinals played many fewer games than the Dodgers or Astros, who both finished a cushy 2½ games ahead of the Cards despite playing to lower winning percentages.

By the guiding laws of this universe, we split the championship in cases like this, meaning the Cards get a share for winning the percentage side, while the Astros get the share from the game side because they outpointed the Dodgers in percentage. Though the Dodgers and Rangers finished in different sorts of ties with the Cardinals and Astros, the latter two teams get the title.

Another great race kicked up in the Northwest between the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins. The Mariners and Rockies finished tied in the games column, but the Mariners nudged past on percentage points. We have to split the championship. The Twins were right there, though, ending ½ game back.

The Washington Nationals went unchallenged in the Southeast, while the Cleveland Indians prevailed in the Northeast scrum among the big league markets of the eastern seaboard and the Great Lakes. The Indians finished two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox and three up on the New York Yankees.

In the Southwest's guise as the South Division of the West League, the Cardinals plummeted from a share of the championship to sixth place in this eight-team rack. The Astros barely prevailed over the Dodgers at the top.

A similar decline occurred in the Northwest in its guise as the North Division of the West League. The Mariners tumbled to nine games off the top, which was settled by the Twins.

As for the league championship, the Astros won five of their six meetings for the Twins, easily earning the crown.

Moving on to the East League, we can see that the Yankees and Red Sox both closed the gap on the Indians in the North Division. But no one in the South Division was closing in on the Nationals, who won it by 10 1/2 games over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Nationals and Indians both went to the postseason, but neither came close to making it to the World Series. Nor did they meet during the regular season. The same scenario occurred last season, when the Nats and Indians also were the division winners. Because the clubs never met, no league champion can be declared.

In the South League, the Dodgers finally took a bite, a big one, winning this group by four games more than Houston. The Nationals, again, won their side, this time by five games on the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Dodgers and Nationals had to be declared co-champions across the league. Not only did they split their six meetings during the season, but they also each scored 16 runs in those games. No reason to parse it further than that.

In the North League, the Indians joined the Nationals as the only clubs to win all three of their divisions here. Cleveland finished the East Division with a .598 winning percentage, which actually was the worst of its three efforts.

The Rockies won the North League's western half by four games over the Oakland Athletics, who were second-division performers in this division's other two lives. The Northwest was the only conference that produced that produced three different outright winners in 2017. And it produced a league champion in the North League because the Rockies beat Cleveland, 3-1, in head-to-head play during the season.

Tigers, Reds lead regional divisions in alternate scheme

Our regional leagues and conferences, which we propose in lieu of a radical baseball realignment that would obliterate the American and National Leagues in all but name, show some fascinating results. These aren't your father's baseball standings.

Alex Avila is batting .471 (eight-for-17) with two homers and 17 RBI in the Detroit Tigers' Northeast Conference games (GabboT/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

We're looking at the Major League Baseball standings and ... try to keep your eyes open.

Over here, the Houston Astros lead the American League West by seven games. Over there, the Washington Nationals have a 7½-game lead on the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.

That's 7½ games. It's May 25. 

But, you say, look at the National League West. Torrid race there. The Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks all are really ripping it up with three of the seven best records in baseball. That should be a hot one. 

Except, it isn't a hot one because it doesn't really matter. Under the present playoff arrangements, all three would go to the postseason today, at no real great advantage for the division winner over one of the other two clubs. Those other two clubs would meet in a one-game playoff, one wins and the other loses, but the winner continues on about the same footing as the division champion.

It's the same problem every year. The lords keep fooling with stop watches and pitch clocks, which, at least, distract them from baseball-hating ideas like starting extra innings with a runner on second base or that ill-advised float from back when about making defensive shifts illegal. Meanwhile, one's loudest snore as a baseball fan issues from the broken connection between 162 games and the World Championship, along with insufferably boring playoff races that reduce us to seeing which clubs can nudge themselves to a couple more than 85 wins to nab that last wild card before outlasting better teams through the World Series.

When fans know that teams with brains angle to peak in October, it makes April and May feel inconsequential. With all of these wild card positions available, a good team can lose a bunch in April and May and it's still fine. Then, when October feels so disconnected from April through September, October feels inconsequential. 

The only way for a World Series game to attract television audiences that were common before expanded playoffs is to put on an event like Game 7 of the 2017 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians, in which somebody was going to win it for the first time in more than 60 years.

Every few years, the notion of realignment is raised as a cure for what ails baseball. The proposals usually are monstrous, amounting to the abolition of the American and National Leagues in all but name, favoring regional "leagues" that would obliterate the few remaining traditions and make baseball less different than ever from pro hockey and pro basketball.

One understands the advantages of an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. Scheduling would be much simpler, travel would be much less expensive, more games in local time zones is better for TV, etc. 

But the American and National Leagues include one feature what no other league can claim – rivalries that are well more than a century old. Ripping them apart is an unnecessary and destructive approach. Baseball by now has all but erased most of its history. Who even cares anymore about home run records and milestones?  New measurements pepper the popular imagination. Why would a game that brags about tradition eliminate that one remaining historical thread?

We have proposed, for years and in these pages, alternatives to realignment that preserve the American and National Leagues and establish regional championships. The concept is to overlay the regional schemes on top of the traditional American and National Leagues.

One such idea, proposed here, plays out three regional leagues overlaid on the two nationwide leagues. It makes some sense to follow it during those years when the interleague schedule pits AL East vs. NL East, AL Central vs. NL Central and AL West vs. NL West. That was the arrangement in 2015, so we followed those proposed leagues during that season. Here are the results in 2015 for the East League, the Central League and the West League.

We made another proposal last season to divide the big league teams into regional quadrants and use those quadrants as the basis for four regional leagues. We played that out last season. Here is a longer explanation and how it played out in 2016.

Without further prologue, how are those races looking in 2017? We begin with the quadrants, which we now will call "conferences." Through May 24, they look like this.

Working with the schedule baseball gives us, we see some imbalances here, but they can easily be corrected by scheduling. We also see some interesting standings. These conference standings account only for the games each club plays within its conference.

Notice that the Astros and Nationals aren't so dominant in the Southwest Conference. The Astros are tied on top with the Texas Rangers and barely ahead of the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, who are both one-half game down.

Where are the Nationals? Well, they're not leading the Southeast Conference by seven games. They're in fourth place. In first place, the Cincinnati Reds. Imagine that. On top of the Northeast Conference, we find the Detroit Tigers. Neither the Reds nor the Tigers are in playoff position by dint of the actual Major League standings. 

We say, get rid of wild cards and replace them with champions. Overlay regional conferences to determine those additional champions.

Of course, there's more. The Southwest Conference not only is just that, but it's also the South Division of the West League and the West Division of the South League. In the West League, for example, we take the Southwest Conference results and add the results for those teams against the Northwest quadrant, and vice versa.

Here's how the West League looks right now.

Again, rather interesting. In addition to following these races for their own sake, they also give us another perspective on how each club is performing across the big leagues. 

Look where the Dodgers sit in the West League. They have a losing record. Why are the Dodgers right there in the Southwest Conference while they're under water in the West League? Because they are 9-13 combined against the Cubs, the Rockies and the San Francisco Giants, the three clubs they have played from the Northwest Conference.

The South League is a bit of a different story.

We have a couple of real races in this configuration. In the West, it's the Astros, Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. In the East, it's the Reds and Nationals.

You see what's happening here. Divide the country into four regional conferences, overlay those conferences into regional leagues, and each conference is simultaneously three distinctive playoff races. So, each team is campaigning in three different competitions, in addition to its official big league playoff race. 

Quick proposal: Change the schedule so each team plays each team within its conference six times in the western conferences and seven times in the eastern conferences. Then, play each team six times against the teams that complete its two regional leagues. That gets each team to 132 games.

Next, each team plays two teams per year from its "crossover" conference twice each, home and home, and rotate those pairings over four years. The crossover conferences are the pairings that don't figure in regional leagues. That would be Southwest vs. Northeast and Northwest vs. Southeast. Notice, these are, in the extreme cases, the longest trips. Now, your clubs are taking those trips once every four years.

Now, you've got a 140-game regular season schedule, reasonably balanced, certainly no worse than the present arrangements and better in a lot of ways. You can add a couple of off days and still shorten the regular season by three weeks.

At the end of it, around September 7, begin a grand tournament with all of the champions and only the champions. Using all of the divisions proposed here, along with the traditional American and National Leagues with their divisional alignments, each club begins the season with four gates of entry. 

Inevitably, some clubs will win multiple championships. Fine. Seed those clubs on top. We now have 18 divisions (conferences included) from which to pluck champions. No need to have so many wild cards, if any. There's more to be worked out here, but this is a start.

If your goals include shortening the regular season, intensifying regional rivalries across the land, realigning while simultaneously preserving the American and National Leagues, eliminating wild cards, reducing travel, having more games in local time zones, strengthening the regular season and tightening the connection between that season and the championship, this is a good path.

Let's look at the other two regional leagues. First, the East League.

Imagine a league in which the division leaders are the Reds and the Tigers. We don't have to. We have the East League. It's not in the bag for either team, obviously.

And the North League.

Notice that the Twins both are in the same conference, the Northwest, which the Twins lead by percentage points while the Oakland Athletics are in last place. But the Twins are much better than the A's in the West League, while the A's are much better than the Twins in the North League. 

Rather likewise, the Toronto Blue Jays are last place in the AL East and terrible in the East League, but they're right there in the North League.

It's all about who you play and how well you play them. But it's also about which games count and how. By dividing up the teams as we propose, we make those matters matter more, and give more clubs more chances by doing it. All without ridding ourselves of the one traditional entity baseball has left to keep, which is the American and National Leagues.

Mets cruise to 2015 East League title

The New York Mets were 13-3 before April 24 and 27-19 after July 30 to claim the East League in 2015 by two games over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Washington Nationals made a mid-summer bid, but fell off and settled for the South Division title.

Jacob deGrom fronted a New York Mets pitching staff that won the East League (Arturo Pardavila III/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

The New York Mets went off to a roaring start in the East League, but had to recapture the lead at the start of August before claiming the league's 2015 title.

The Mets had built a five-game lead in the league through the first two months, but the Washington Nationals caught them before a three-game series between the two that began on July 31 in New York.

There, the Mets took back the lead with a three-game sweep, begun when Wilmer Flores, all but traded earlier in the week, made a highlight-reel catch and hit a homer that gave them a 2-1 win in the opener.

The Mets and Toronto both were 27-19 going down that backstretch. Both benefitted from late acquisitions, as the Mets brought in Yeonis Cespedes and the Jays added David Price and Troy Tulowitski.

The Nationals fell off to finish four games behind the Mets, who also claimed the East League's North Division title. The Nationals finished well enough to claim the South Division by a game over the Baltimore Orioles and two games over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Today's standings: August 10, 2015

Here are the standings across the Major Leagues through August 9 in all the competitions, including the Henry Aaron, Dick Allen and Harmon Killebrew traveling trophies, the West, East and Center regional leagues, the ordinal divisions with promotion and relegation, and, of course, the Major League playoff races, among others.

Traveling Trophies

Henry Aaron Award
	W	L	P	T	G	D	A
DODGERS	15	10	8	1	22	6	7
San Francisco	15	15	8	1	17	4	6
ANGELS	14	5	6	1	16	4	5
Texas	12	10	7	2	15	3	5
San Diego	10	7	5	1	13	3	4
Baltimore	6	4	3	1	7	1	1
Pittsburgh	6	3	3	1	6	1	2
Milwaukee	5	7	4	1	6	1	2
Kansas City	5	2	3	1	5	1	2
Boston	3	7	3	1	3	0	1
Seattle	4	3	2	1	0	0	0
Washington	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Colorado	6	10	5	0	0	0	0
Arizona	2	7	3	0	0	0	0
New York (AL)	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Chicago (NL)	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Miami	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Minnesota	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Atlanta	3	4	2	0	0	0	0
Cleveland	0	3	1	0	0	0	0
Houston	0	3	1	0	0	0	0

Numbers in bold indicate league leaders.

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts. Standings are given in order of games holding the title.

2015 Henry Aaron Award results 
(There is no tiebreaker for the Aaron. The champion keeps it unless the challenger wins outright. However, the runs are given for series ending in ties).

San Francisco 2, Arizona 1 — April 6-8 at Arizona.
San Diego 3, San Francisco 1 — April 10-12 at San Diego.
San Diego 2, Arizona 1 — April 13-15 at San Diego.
San Diego 2, Chicago (NL) 1 — April 17-19 at Chicago.
San Diego 2, Colorado 2 — April 20-23 at Denver (San Diego, 26-16).
DODGERS 2, San Diego 1 — April 24-26 at San Diego.
DODGERS 2, San Francisco 1 — April 27-29 at Los Angeles.
DODGERS 3, Arizona 0 — May 1-3 at Los Angeles.
DODGERS 2, Milwaukee 2 — May 4-7 at Milwaukee (DODGERS, 28-16).
DODGERS 2, Colorado 0 — May 8-10 at Colorado.
DODGERS 2, Miami 1 — May 11-13 at Los Angeles.
DODGERS 2, Colorado 2 — May 14-17 (Colorado, 16-12).
San Francisco 3, DODGERS 0 — May 19-21 at San Francisco.
San Francisco 2, Colorado 2 — May 22-24 at Denver (Colorado, 31-26).
San Francisco 3, Milwaukee 0 — May 25-27 at Milwaukee.
San Francisco 2, Atlanta 2 — May 28-31 at San Francisco (Atlanta, 17-16).
Pittsburgh 3, San Francisco 0 — June 1-3 at San Francisco.
Pittsburgh 2, Atlanta 1 — June 5-7 at Atlanta.
Milwaukee 2, Pittsburgh 1 — June 8-10 at Pittsburgh.
Milwaukee 2, Washington 2 — June 11-14 at Milwaukee (Washington, 20-16).
Kansas City 2, Milwaukee 0 — June 15-16 at Milwaukee.
Kansas City 2, Milwaukee 0 — June 17-18 at Kansas City.
Boston 2, Kansas City 1 — June 19-21 at Kansas City.
Baltimore 2, Boston 1 — June 23-25 at Boston.
Baltimore 3, Cleveland 0 — June 26-28 at Baltimore.
Texas 3, Baltimore 1 — June 29-July 2 at Baltimore.
ANGELS 3, Texas 0 — July 3-5 at Arlington.
ANGELS 2, Colorado 0 — July 7-8 at Denver.
ANGELS 2, Seattle 2 — July 9-12 at Seattle (Angels, 20-19).
ANGELS 4, Boston 0 — July 17-20 at Anaheim.
ANGELS 2, Minnesota 1 — July 21-23 at Anaheim.
Texas 2, ANGELS 1 — July 24-26 at Anaheim.
Texas 2, New York (AL) 2 — July 27-30 at Arlington (New York, 35-19).
Texas 2, San Francisco 1 — July 31-August 2 at Arlington.
Texas 3, Houston 0 — August 3-5 at Arlington.
Seattle 2, Texas 1 — August 7-9 at Seattle.

---

Dick Allen Award
	W	L	P	T	G	D	A
St. Louis	36	19	17	3	46	11	14
Chicago	14	11	8	2	15	2	5
Arizona	10	7	5	2	10	2	3
Pittsburgh	9	14	7	2	10	1	3
Cincinnati	6	12	6	1	6	1	2
Milwaukee	7	9	5	1	4	0	1
Colorado	3	4	2	1	4	0	1
Miami	5	5	3	1	3	0	1
New York	3	3	2	1	3	0	1
Philadelphia	3	5	2	0	0	0	0
DODGERS	2	5	2	0	0	0	0
Washington	3	4	2	0	0	0	0
San Diego	1	2	1	0	0	0	0

Numbers in bold indicate league leaders.

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts. Standings are given in order of games holding the title.

2015 Dick Allen Award results
(Total runs tiebreaker given if series ends in a tie.)

St. Louis 1, Chicago 1 — April 5-8 at Chicago (St. Louis, 3-2).
St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 1 — April 10-12 at Cincinnati.
St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 — April 13-16 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 0 — April 17-19 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 2, Washington 1 — April 21-23 at Washington.
St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 — April 24-26 at Milwaukee.
St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 1 — April 27-30 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 0 — May 1-3 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, Chicago 1 — May 4-7 at St. Louis.
Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 1— May 8-10 at Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh 2, Philadelphia 2 — May 11-14 at Philadelphia (Pittsburgh, 15-12).
Chicago 2, Pittsburgh 1 — May 15-17 at Chicago.
Chicago 2, San Diego 1 — May 19-21 at San Diego.
Arizona 2, Chicago 1 — May 22-24 at Phoenix.
St. Louis 3, Arizona 0 — May 25-27 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 2, DODGERS 1 — May 29-31 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 — June 1-3 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, DODGERS 1 — June 4-7 at Los Angeles.
Colorado 2, St. Louis 1 — June 8-10 at Denver.
Miami 3, Colorado 1— June 11-14 at Miami.
Cincinnati 2, Miami 1 — June 19-21 at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati 2, Pittsburgh 1 — June 23-25 at Pittsburgh.
New York 3, Cincinnati 0 — June 26-28 at New York.
Chicago 3, New York 0 — June 30-July 2 at Chicago.
Chicago 2, Miami 1 — July 3 at Chicago.
St. Louis 2, Chicago 2 — July 6-8 at Chicago (St. Louis wins total runs tiebreaker, 19-17).
Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 1 — July 9-12 at Pittsburgh.
Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 0 — July 17-19 at Milwaukee.
Arizona 3, Milwaukee 1 — July 23-26 at Phoenix.
Arizona 2, Washington 2 — July 23-26 at Washington (Arizona wins total runs tiebreaker, 24-21).
Arizona 2, Cincinnati 1 — August 7-9 at Phoenix.

---

Harmon Killebrew Award
	W	L	P	T	G	D	A
Minnesota	17	14	10	2	22	5	7
ANGELS	12	8	6	1	14	3	4
New York	10	11	6	2	14	2	4
Baltimore	9	8	5	2	13	2	3
Kansas City	13	7	7	2	11	2	5
Texas	7	7	4	2	7	0	2
Tampa Bay	5	5	3	1	3	0	1
Boston	6	13	5	1	3	0	1
Chicago	3	7	4	1	1	0	1
Seattle	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Toronto	4	2	2	1	0	0	0
Cleveland	1	5	2	0	0	0	0

Numbers in bold indicate league leaders.

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts. Standings are given in order of games holding the title.

2015 Harmon Killebrew Award results
(Total runs tiebreaker given if series ends in a tie.)

Kansas City 3, Chicago 0 — April 6-9 at Kansas City.
Kansas City 3, ANGELS 0 — April 10-12 at Anaheim.
Minnesota 2, Kansas City 1 — April 13-16 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Cleveland 1 — April 17-19 at Minneapolis.
Kansas City 2, Minnesota 1 — April 20-22 at Kansas City.
Chicago 2, Kansas City 1 — April 23-26 at Chicago.
Baltimore 1, Chicago 0 — April 29 at Baltimore.
Baltimore 2, Tampa Bay 1 — May 1-3 at Tampa Bay.
New York 3, Baltimore 1 — May 7-10 at New York.
Tampa Bay 3, New York 1 — May 11-14 at Tampa Bay.
Minnesota 2, Tampa Bay 1 — May 15-17 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Chicago 1 — May 22-24 at Chicago.
Minnesota 3, Boston 0 — May 25-27 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Toronto 1 — May 29-31 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Boston 2 — June 2-4 at Boston (Minnesota, 13-11).
Kansas City 3, Minnesota 0 — June 8-10 at Minneapolis.
Boston 2, Kansas City 1 — June 19-21 at Kansas City.
Baltimore 2, Boston 1 — June 23-25 at Boston.
Baltimore 3, Cleveland 0 — June 26-28 at Baltimore.
Texas 3, Baltimore 1 — June 29-July 2 at Baltimore.
ANGELS 3, Texas 0 — July 3-5 at Arlington.
ANGELS 2, Seattle 2 — July 9-12 at Seattle (Angels, 20-19).
ANGELS 4, Boston 0 — July 17-20 at Anaheim.
ANGELS 2, Minnesota 1 — July 21-23 at Anaheim.
Texas 2, ANGELS 1 — July 24-26 at Anaheim.
New York 2, Texas 2 — July 27-30 at Arlington (New York 35, 19).
New York 2, Chicago 1 — July 31-August 2 at Chicago.
New York 2, Boston 1 — August 4-6 at New York.
Toronto 3, New York 0 — August 7-9 at New York.

---

Regional Leagues

West League Overall W     L      Pct.     GB DODGERS 37 24 .606 — Houston 38 25 .603 — San Francisco 37 28 .569 2 Arizona 33 31 .516 5½ ANGELS 35 33 .515 5½ Oakland 30 31 .492 7 Seattle 30 32 .484 7½ San Diego 30 34 .469 8½ Texas 27 36 .429 11 Colorado 20 43 .317 18	North Division W     L      Pct.     GB San Francisco 37 28 .569 — Arizona 33 31 .516 3½ Oakland 30 31 .492 5 Seattle 30 32 .484 5½ Colorado 20 43 .317 16 South Division W     L      Pct.     GB DODGERS 37 24 .606 — Houston 38 25 .603 — ANGELS 35 33 .515 5½ San Diego 30 34 .469 8½ Texas 27 36 .429 11
Sunday's results Oakland 5, Houston 4 Seattle 4, Texas 2.	Monday's games No games scheduled.

---

East League Overall W     L      Pct.     GB New York (NL) 36 23 .610 — Toronto 35 27 .565 2½ Washington 35 29 .547 3½ New York (AL) 32 29 .525 5 Baltimore 34 31 .523 5 Tampa Bay 33 32 .508 6 Atlanta 30 32 .484 7½ Boston 28 34 .452 9½ Philadelphia 25 34 .424 11 Miami 21 38 .356 15	North Division W     L      Pct.     GB New York (NL) 36 23 .610 — Toronto 35 27 .565 2½ New York (AL) 32 29 .525 5 Boston 28 34 .452 9½ Philadelphia 25 34 .424 11 South Division W     L      Pct.     GB Washington 35 29 .547 — Baltimore 34 31 .523 1½ Tampa Bay 33 32 .508 2½ Atlanta 30 32 .484 4 Miami 21 38 .356 12½
Sunday's results Toronto 2, New York (AL) 0. Tampa Bay 4, New York (NL) 3 Miami 4, Atlanta 1.	Monday's games No games scheduled.

---

Center League Overall W     L      Pct.     GB Kansas City 41 24 .631 — St. Louis 41 26 .612 1 Detroit 36 28 .563 4½ Chicago (NL) 32 29 .525 7 Pittsburgh 33 34 .493 9 Minnesota 32 36 .471 10½ Milwaukee 27 35 .435 12½ Cincinnati 28 37 .431 13 Cleveland 27 36 .429 13 Chicago (AL) 28 40 .412 14½	North Division W     L      Pct.     GB Detroit 36 28 .563 — Chicago (NL) 32 29 .525 2½ Minnesota 32 36 .471 6 Milwaukee 27 35 .435 8 Chicago (AL) 28 40 .412 10 South Division W     L      Pct.     GB Kansas City 41 24 .631 — St. Louis 41 26 .612 1 Pittsburgh 33 34 .493 9 Cincinnati 28 37 .431 13 Cleveland 27 36 .429 13
Sunday's results Kansas City 5, Chicago (AL) 4. Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 4 Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1.	Monday's games Detroit at Kansas City.

---

Ordinal Divisions

First Division W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 9 4 .692 1 San Francisco 16 9 .640 — Tampa Bay 15 10 .600 1 Washington 16 12 .571 1½ Toronto 10 13 .435 5 DODGERS 13 18 .419 6 Atlanta 13 20 .394 7 ANGELS 5 11 .313 6½	Second Division W     L      Pct.     GB Texas 12 8 .600 1 Kansas City 25 19 .568 — New York (AL) 11 9 .550 2 Cincinnati 17 17 .500 3 Detroit 20 21 .488 3½ Pittsburgh 17 20 .459 4½ Milwaukee 14 17 .452 4½ Cleveland 18 23 .439 5½
Sunday's results No games scheduled. Monday's games Washington at DODGERS.	Sunday's results No games scheduled. Monday's games Detroit at Kansas City.

Third Division W     L      Pct.     GB Arizona 13 8 .619 — Minnesota 14 10 .583 ½ Philadelphia 9 7 .563 1½ Boston 11 9 .550 1½ Seattle 14 13 .519 2 Chicago (NL) 7 8 .429 3 Colorado 13 18 .419 5 Oakland 9 17 .346 6½	Fourth Division W     L      Pct.     GB Chicago (AL) 8 4 .667 ½ New York (NL) 13 8 .619 1 San Diego 8 7 .533 2 Houston 8 8 .500 2½ Baltimore 7 11 .389 4½ Miami 8 14 .364 5½
Sunday's results No games scheduled. Monday's games Philadelphia at Arizona.	Sunday's results No games scheduled. Monday's games No games scheduled.

---

Itinerant Leagues

Chub Feeney League W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 39 19 .672 — Chicago 33 25 .569 6 San Diego 21 21 .500 10 DODGERS 22 21 .512 9½ New York 25 24 .510 9½ Milwaukee 22 26 .458 12 Miami 15 27 .357 16 Cincinnati 17 31 .354 17	Joe Cronin League W     L      Pct.     GB Minnesota 19 15 .559 — New York 20 16 .556 — Texas 27 23 .540 — ANGELS 22 21 .512 2½ Cleveland 23 22 .511 1½ Tampa Bay 21 21 .500 3 Chicago 22 25 .468 4½ Houston 17 28 .378 8
Sunday's results Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 4. Monday's games ANGELS at Chicago.	Sunday's results Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1. Monday's games Cincinnati at San Diego.

Bud Selig West W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 45 24 .652 — Texas 31 26 .544 8 DODGERS 27 23 .540 8½ Minnesota 25 25 .500 9½ San Diego 26 25 .510 9 ANGELS 23 26 .469 12 Milwaukee 27 33 .450 13½ Houston 20 28 .417 14½	Bud Selig East W     L      Pct.     GB Chicago (NL) 38 30 .559 — New York (AL) 24   19 .558 1½ Cleveland 32 27 .542 1½ Tampa Bay 24 23 .511 3½ Chicago (AL) 30 30 .500 4 New York (NL) 26 29 .472 5½ Miami 18 31 .367 10½ Cincinnati 21 39 .350 13
Sunday's results Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 4. Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1. Monday's games ANGELS at Chicago (AL). Cincinnati at San Diego.	Sunday's results Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1. Tampa Bay 4, New York (NL) 3. Monday's games ANGELS at Chicago (AL) Cincinnati at San Diego.

---

Major Leagues

American League West Division W     L      Pct.     GB Houston 61 52 .540 — ANGELS 59 51 .536 ½ Texas 55 55 .500 4½ Seattle 52 60 .464 8½ Oakland 51 62 .451 10

National League West Division W     L      Pct.     GB DODGERS 62 49 .559 — San Francisco 59 52 .532 3 Arizona 54 56 .491 7½ San Diego 52 60 .464 10½ Colorado 47 62 .431 14

East Division W     L      Pct.     GB New York 61 49 .555 — Toronto 61 52 .505 1½ Baltimore 56 54 .509 5 Tampa Bay 56 56 .500 6 Boston 50 62 .446 12

East Division W     L      Pct.     GB New York   59 52 .540 — Washington 57 53 .510 1½ Atlanta 51 61 .451 8½ Philadelphia 45 67 .402 14½ Miami 44 68 .393 15½

Central Division W     L      Pct.     GB Kansas City 66 44 .604 — Minnesota 55 56 .525 11½ Detroit 54 57 .486 12½ Chicago 51 58 .468 14½ Cleveland 51 59 .464 15

Central Division W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 71 40 .640 — Pittsburgh 65 44 .596 5 Chicago 62 48 .564 8½ Cincinnati 49 60 .460 21 Milwaukee 48 65 .425 24

Sunday's results ANGELS 5, Baltimore 4, 11 innings. Cleveland 8, Minnesota 1. Boston 7, Detroit 2. Toronto 2, New York 0. Oakland 5, Houston 4. Seattle 4, Texas 2. Kansas City 5, Chicago 4. Tampa Bay 4, New York (NL) 3. Monday's games ANGELS at Chicago. Detroit at Kansas City. Baltimore at Seattle.

Sunday's results Pittsburgh 13, DODGERS 6. Arizona 5, Cincinnati 4, 10 innings. Miami 4, Atlanta 1. Chicago 2, San Francisco 0. Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 4. Philadelphia 5, San Diego 3. Colorado 6, Washington 4. Tampa Bay 4, New York 3. Monday's games Washington at DODGERS. Philadelphia at Arizona. Cincinnati at San Diego. Colorado at New York.

East League: Flores, Mets fly to tie at top

New York Mets second baseman Wilmer Flores, all but unknown a week ago, has become a national folk hero this week, first for his public display of sadness when he thought the Mets traded him, then for beating the Washington Nationals almost by himself Friday night when it turned out the Mets didn't trade him. Flores pushed the Mets back into a tie on top of the East League.

Wilmer Flores must be happier than ever that he stayed with the New York Mets (slgckgc/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

First place in the East League is on the line this weekend in New York, where the Washington Nationals took a one-game lead over the New York Mets into three games at CitiField.

The Mets brought the East League back to a tie with a 2-1 win in 12 innings, punctuated by a walk-off homer for Wilmer Flores, the man who's tears filled television screens earlier this week after it had been thought he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal that would have brought the Mets Carlos Gomez.

The television cameras caught Flores in tears Wednesday night as he stood on the field. The news had gotten around that he had been traded. In the seventh inning that night, with the Mets trailing, 7-3, Flores went to the plate and received a standing ovation from the Mets fans.

Flores entered Friday's game batting .249 with 10 homers, which doesn't make him even close to being the worst hitter the Mets send up there. But he became a sympathetic figure on the night when he really wasn't traded.

The deal fell through because, according to reports, the Mets were concerned about Gomez's health.

Subsequently, the Brewers traded Gomez to the Houston Astros and the Mets addressed their need for power hitting with a deal for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers.

So, Flores rose Friday night from sympathetic figure to hero, homering to win the game. Earlier, Flores made a highlight reel diving stop at second base in the top of the first inning, then he hit a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning.

Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey went 7 1/3 innings and allowed one run, giving up five hits and striking out nine batters. Washington starter Gio Gonzalez fell to his nibbling ways, leaving with two out in the fifth despite having allowed only one run. At that point, Gonzalez had thrown 105 pitches.

The Mets victory stopped a trend during the last six weeks in which the Nationals gained 5½  games as they played a heavy schedule in the East League and the Mets played mostly outside the East. From July 18 until Friday, the Nats were 12-6 in the East, compared with 1-6 for the Mets.

Today's standings: July 31, 2015

Here are the standings across the Major Leagues through July 30 in all the competitions, including the Henry Aaron, Dick Allen and Harmon Killebrew traveling trophies, the West, East and Center regional leagues, the ordinal divisions with promotion and relegation, and, of course, the Major League playoff races, among others.

Traveling Trophies

Henry Aaron Award
	W	L	P	T	G	D	A
DODGERS	15	10	8	1	22	6	7
San Francisco	14	13	8	1	17	4	6
ANGELS	14	5	6	1	16	4	5
San Diego	10	7	5	1	13	3	4
Baltimore	6	4	3	1	7	1	1
Texas	6	7	4	2	6	1	2
Pittsburgh	6	3	3	1	6	1	2
Milwaukee	5	7	4	1	6	1	2
Kansas City	5	2	3	1	5	1	2
Boston	3	7	3	1	3	0	1
Seattle	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Washington	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Colorado	6	10	5	0	0	0	0
Arizona	2	7	3	0	0	0	0
New York (AL)	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Chicago (NL)	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Miami	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Minnesota	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Atlanta	3	4	2	0	0	0	0
Cleveland	0	3	1	0	0	0	0

Numbers in bold indicate league leaders.

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts. Standings are given in order of games holding the title.

2015 Henry Aaron Award results 
(There is no tiebreaker for the Aaron. The champion keeps it unless the challenger wins outright. However, the runs are given for series ending in ties).

San Francisco 2, Arizona 1 — April 6-8 at Arizona.
San Diego 3, San Francisco 1 — April 10-12 at San Diego.
San Diego 2, Arizona 1 — April 13-15 at San Diego.
San Diego 2, Chicago (NL) 1 — April 17-19 at Chicago.
San Diego 2, Colorado 2 — April 20-23 at Denver (San Diego, 26-16).
DODGERS 2, San Diego 1 — April 24-26 at San Diego.
DODGERS 2, San Francisco 1 — April 27-29 at Los Angeles.
DODGERS 3, Arizona 0 — May 1-3 at Los Angeles.
DODGERS 2, Milwaukee 2 — May 4-7 at Milwaukee (DODGERS, 28-16).
DODGERS 2, Colorado 0 — May 8-10 at Colorado.
DODGERS 2, Miami 1 — May 11-13 at Los Angeles.
DODGERS 2, Colorado 2 — May 14-17 (Colorado, 16-12).
San Francisco 3, DODGERS 0 — May 19-21 at San Francisco.
San Francisco 2, Colorado 2 — May 22-24 at Denver (Colorado, 31-26).
San Francisco 3, Milwaukee 0 — May 25-27 at Milwaukee.
San Francisco 2, Atlanta 2 — May 28-31 at San Francisco (Atlanta, 17-16).
Pittsburgh 3, San Francisco 0 — June 1-3 at San Francisco.
Pittsburgh 2, Atlanta 1 — June 5-7 at Atlanta.
Milwaukee 2, Pittsburgh 1 — June 8-10 at Pittsburgh.
Milwaukee 2, Washington 2 — June 11-14 at Milwaukee (Washington, 20-16).
Kansas City 2, Milwaukee 0 — June 15-16 at Milwaukee.
Kansas City 2, Milwaukee 0 — June 17-18 at Kansas City.
Boston 2, Kansas City 1 — June 19-21 at Kansas City.
Baltimore 2, Boston 1 — June 23-25 at Boston.
Baltimore 3, Cleveland 0 — June 26-28 at Baltimore.
Texas 3, Baltimore 1 — June 29-July 2 at Baltimore.
ANGELS 3, Texas 0 — July 3-5 at Arlington.
ANGELS 2, Colorado 0 — July 7-8 at Denver.
ANGELS 2, Seattle 2 — July 9-12 at Seattle (Angels, 20-19).
ANGELS 4, Boston 0 — July 17-20 at Anaheim.
ANGELS 2, Minnesota 1 — July 21-23 at Anaheim.
Texas 2, ANGELS 1 — July 24-26 at Anaheim.
Texas 2, New York (AL) 2 — July 27-30 at Arlington (New York, 35-19).

---

Dick Allen Award
	W	L	P	T	G	D	A
St. Louis	36	19	17	3	46	11	14
Chicago	14	11	8	2	15	2	5
Pittsburgh	9	14	7	2	10	1	3
Cincinnati	5	10	5	1	6	1	2
Milwaukee	7	9	5	1	4	0	1
Colorado	3	4	2	1	4	0	1
Arizona	5	5	3	2	3	0	1
Miami	5	5	3	1	3	0	1
New York	3	3	2	1	3	0	1
Philadelphia	3	5	2	0	0	0	0
DODGERS	2	5	2	0	0	0	0
Washington	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
San Diego	1	2	1	0	0	0	0

Numbers in bold indicate league leaders.

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts. Standings are given in order of games holding the title.

2015 Dick Allen Award results
(Total runs tiebreaker given if series ends in a tie.)

St. Louis 1, Chicago 1 — April 5-8 at Chicago (St. Louis, 3-2).
St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 1 — April 10-12 at Cincinnati.
St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 — April 13-16 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 0 — April 17-19 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 2, Washington 1 — April 21-23 at Washington.
St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 — April 24-26 at Milwaukee.
St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 1 — April 27-30 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 0 — May 1-3 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, Chicago 1 — May 4-7 at St. Louis.
Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 1— May 8-10 at Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh 2, Philadelphia 2 — May 11-14 at Philadelphia (Pittsburgh, 15-12).
Chicago 2, Pittsburgh 1 — May 15-17 at Chicago.
Chicago 2, San Diego 1 — May 19-21 at San Diego.
Arizona 2, Chicago 1 — May 22-24 at Phoenix.
St. Louis 3, Arizona 0 — May 25-27 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 2, DODGERS 1 — May 29-31 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1 — June 1-3 at St. Louis.
St. Louis 3, DODGERS 1 — June 4-7 at Los Angeles.
Colorado 2, St. Louis 1 — June 8-10 at Denver.
Miami 3, Colorado 1— June 11-14 at Miami.
Cincinnati 2, Miami 1 — June 19-21 at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati 2, Pittsburgh 1 — June 23-25 at Pittsburgh.
New York 3, Cincinnati 0 — June 26-28 at New York.
Chicago 3, New York 0 — June 30-July 2 at Chicago.
Chicago 2, Miami 1 — July 3 at Chicago.
St. Louis 2, Chicago 2 — July 6-8 at Chicago (St. Louis wins total runs tiebreaker, 19-17).
Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 1 — July 9-12 at Pittsburgh.
Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 0 — July 17-19 at Milwaukee.
Arizona 3, Milwaukee 1 — July 23-26 at Phoenix.

---

Harmon Killebrew Award
	W	L	P	T	G	D	A
Minnesota	17	14	10	2	22	5	7
ANGELS	12	8	6	1	14	3	4
Baltimore	9	8	5	2	13	2	3
Kansas City	13	7	7	2	11	2	5
Texas	7	7	4	2	7	0	2
New York	6	6	3	2	4	0	1
Tampa Bay	5	5	3	1	3	0	1
Boston	5	11	5	1	3	0	1
Chicago	3	7	4	1	1	0	1
Seattle	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
Toronto	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Cleveland	1	5	2	0	0	0	0

Numbers in bold indicate league leaders.

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts. Standings are given in order of games holding the title.

2015 Harmon Killebrew Award results
(Total runs tiebreaker given if series ends in a tie.)

Kansas City 3, Chicago 0 — April 6-9 at Kansas City.
Kansas City 3, ANGELS 0 — April 10-12 at Anaheim.
Minnesota 2, Kansas City 1 — April 13-16 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Cleveland 1 — April 17-19 at Minneapolis.
Kansas City 2, Minnesota 1 — April 20-22 at Kansas City.
Chicago 2, Kansas City 1 — April 23-26 at Chicago.
Baltimore 1, Chicago 0 — April 29 at Baltimore.
Baltimore 2, Tampa Bay 1 — May 1-3 at Tampa Bay.
New York 3, Baltimore 1 — May 7-10 at New York.
Tampa Bay 3, New York 1 — May 11-14 at Tampa Bay.
Minnesota 2, Tampa Bay 1 — May 15-17 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Chicago 1 — May 22-24 at Chicago.
Minnesota 3, Boston 0 — May 25-27 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Toronto 1 — May 29-31 at Minneapolis.
Minnesota 2, Boston 2 — June 2-4 at Boston (Minnesota, 13-11).
Kansas City 3, Minnesota 0 — June 8-10 at Minneapolis.
Boston 2, Kansas City 1 — June 19-21 at Kansas City.
Baltimore 2, Boston 1 — June 23-25 at Boston.
Baltimore 3, Cleveland 0 — June 26-28 at Baltimore.
Texas 3, Baltimore 1 — June 29-July 2 at Baltimore.
ANGELS 3, Texas 0 — July 3-5 at Arlington.
ANGELS 2, Seattle 2 — July 9-12 at Seattle (Angels, 20-19).
ANGELS 4, Boston 0 — July 17-20 at Anaheim.
ANGELS 2, Minnesota 1 — July 21-23 at Anaheim.
Texas 2, ANGELS 1 — July 24-26 at Anaheim.
New York 2, Texas 2 — July 27-30 at Arlington (New York 35, 19).

---

Regional Leagues

West League Overall W     L      Pct.     GB Houston 35 18 .660 — DODGERS 34 24 .586 3½ San Francisco 34 26 .567 4½ ANGELS 35 30 .538 6 Arizona 32 29 .525 7 Oakland 27 28 .490 9 Seattle 26 30 .464 10½ San Diego 30 36 .455 12 Texas 21 33 .389 14½ Colorado 19 41 .317 19½	North Division W     L      Pct.     GB San Francisco 34 26 .567 — Arizona 32 29 .525 2½ Oakland 27 28 .490 4½ Seattle 26 30 .464 6 Colorado 19 41 .317 15 South Division W     L      Pct.     GB Houston 35 18 .660 — DODGERS 34 24 .586 3½ ANGELS 35 30 .538 6 San Diego 30 36 .455 12 Texas 21 33 .389 14½
Thursday's results Houston 3, ANGELS 0.	Friday's games ANGELS at DODGERS. San Francisco at Texas. Arizona at Houston.

---

East League Overall W     L      Pct.     GB New York (NL) 29 21 .580 ½ Washington 35 26 .573 — New York (AL) 30 25 .545 2 Toronto 32 27 .543 2 Baltimore 34 31 .523 3 Tampa Bay 30 29 .508 4 Atlanta 26 29 .473 6 Boston 25 31 .446 7½ Philadelphia 23 33 .411 9½ Miami 20 32 .385 10½	North Division W     L      Pct.     GB New York (NL) 29 21 .580 — New York (AL) 30 25 .545 1½ Toronto 32 27 .543 1½ Boston 25 31 .446 7 Philadelphia 23 33 .411 9 South Division W     L      Pct.     GB Washington 35 26 .573 — Baltimore 34 31 .523 3 Tampa Bay 30 29 .508 4 Atlanta 26 29 .473 6 Miami 20 32 .385 10½
Thursday's results Washington 1, Miami 0. Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1.	Friday's games Atlanta at Philadelphia. Tampa Bay at Boston. Washington at New York (NL).

---

Center League Overall W     L      Pct.     GB Kansas City 37 22 .627 — St. Louis 36 23 .610 1 Detroit 33 27 .550 4½ Chicago (NL) 27 27 .500 7½ Minnesota 31 34 .477 9 Pittsburgh 29 32 .475 9 Milwaukee 26 29 .473 9 Cincinnati 25 33 .431 11½ Chicago (AL) 28 37 .430 12 Cleveland 25 34 .424 12	North Division W     L      Pct.     GB Detroit 33 27 .550 — Chicago (NL) 27 27 .500 3 Minnesota 31 34 .477 4½ Milwaukee 26 29 .473 4½ Chicago (AL) 28 37 .430 7½ South Division W     L      Pct.     GB Kansas City 37 22 .627 — St. Louis 36 23 .610 1 Pittsburgh 29 32 .475 8½ Cincinnati 25 33 .431 11½ Cleveland 25 34 .424 12
Thursday's results Cincinnati 15, Pittsburgh 5.	Friday's games Chicago (NL) at Milwaukee Pittsburgh at Cincinnati.

---

Ordinal Divisions

First Division W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 9 4 .692 ½ San Francisco 14 8 .636 — Tampa Bay 15 10 .600 — Washington 16 12 .571 1 Toronto 10 13 .435 5 ANGELS 5 8 .385 4½ Atlanta 12 18 .400 6 DODGERS 10 18 .357 7	Second Division W     L      Pct.     GB Texas 12 8 .600 1½ Kansas City 24 17 .585 — New York (AL) 11 9 .550 2½ Cincinnati 16 15 .516 3 Detroit 18 20 .474 4½ Milwaukee 14 17 .451 5 Pittsburgh 15 19 .441 5½ Cleveland 18 23 .439 6
Thursday's results No games scheduled. Friday's games ANGELS at DODGERS.	Thursday's results Texas 7, New York (AL) 6. Cincinnati 15, Pittsburgh 5. Monday's games Pittsburgh at Cincinnati.

Third Division W     L      Pct.     GB Minnesota 13 7 .650 — Arizona 13 8 .619 ½ Philadelphia 9 7 .563 2 Boston 11 9 .550 2 Seattle 10 11 .476 3½ Chicago (NL) 6 8 .429 4 Colorado 12 16 .429 5 Oakland 9 17 .346 7	Fourth Division W     L      Pct.     GB Chicago (AL) 8 4 .667 — New York (NL) 10 8 .556 1 Houston 8 8 .500 2 San Diego 6 6 .500 2 Miami 7 9 .438 3 Baltimore 7 11 .389 4
Thursday's results Minnesota 9, Seattle 5. Friday's games Seattle at Minnesota.	Thursday's results San Diego 8, New York (NL) 7. Monday's games San Diego at Miami.

---

Itinerant Leagues

Chub Feeney League W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 35 17 .673 — Chicago 30 25 .545 6½ San Diego 18 17 .514 8½ DODGERS 22 21 .512 8½ New York 22 24 .478 10 Milwaukee 18 20 .474 10 Miami 14 22 .389 13 Cincinnati 16 29 .356 15½	Joe Cronin League W     L      Pct.     GB Minnesota 18 13 .581 — New York 18 15 .545 1 Cleveland 20 19 .513 2 Texas 24 23 .511 2 ANGELS 20 20 .500 2½ Tampa Bay 19 20 .487 3 Chicago 20 21 .487 3 Houston 17 25 .405 6½
Thursday's results San Diego 8, New York 7. Friday's games New York at Chicago.	Thursday's results Houston 3, ANGELS 0. Texas 7, New York 6. Friday's games San Diego at Miami. Chicago at Milwaukee.

Bud Selig West W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 41 22 .651 — Texas 28 26 .519 8½ DODGERS 24 23 .511 9 Minnesota 24 23 .511 9 San Diego 22 22 .500 9½ ANGELS 21 22 .488 10 Milwaukee 24 26 .480 10½ Houston 20 24 .455 11½	Bud Selig East W     L      Pct.     GB New York (AL) 22   18 .550 ½ Cleveland 29 24 .547 — Chicago (NL) 35 30 .538 — Chicago (AL) 28 26 .519 1½ Tampa Bay 20 21 .488 3 New York (NL) 22 27 .449 5 Miami 17 26 .395 7 Cincinnati 20 37 .351 11
Thursday's results Houston 3, ANGELS 0. San Diego 8, New York (NL) 7. Texas 7, New York (NL) 6. Chicago (NL) 5, Milwaukee 2. Friday's games San Diego at Miami.	Thursday's results San Diego 8, New York (NL) 7. Texas 7, New York (AL) 6. Chicago (NL) 5, Milwaukee 2. Monday's games Chicago (NL) at Milwaukee. New York (AL) at Chicago (AL).

---

Major Leagues

American League West Division W     L      Pct.     GB Houston 58 45 .563 — ANGELS 55 46 .545 2 Texas 49 52 .485 8 Seattle 46 57 .457 12 Oakland 45 58 .437 13

National League West Division W     L      Pct.     GB DODGERS 57 45 .559 — San Francisco 56 45 .554 ½ Arizona 49 51 .490 7 San Diego 49 53 .480 8 Colorado 43 57 .433 13

East Division W     L      Pct.     GB New York 57 44 .564 — Baltimore 51 50 .505 6 Toronto 52 51 .505 6 Tampa Bay 51 52 .495 4½ Boston 45 58 .437 13

East Division W     L      Pct.     GB Washington   54 46 .540 — New York 52 50 .510 3 Atlanta 46 56 .451 9 Miami 42 60 .412 13 Philadelphia 39 64 .379 16½

Central Division W     L      Pct.     GB Kansas City 61 40 .604 — Minnesota 53 48 .525 8 Detroit 50 52 .490 11½ Chicago 49 51 .490 11½ Cleveland 47 54 .465 14

Central Division W     L      Pct.     GB St. Louis 65 37 .630 — Pittsburgh 59 42 .584 5½ Chicago 54 47 .535 10½ Cincinnati 46 54 .460 18 Milwaukee 44 59 .427 21½

Thursday's results Houston 3, ANGELS 0. Detroit 9, Baltimore 8. Boston 8, Chicago 2. Minnesota 9, Seattle 5. Cleveland 3, Oakland 1. Texas 7, New York 6. Toronto 5, Kansas City 2. Friday's games ANGELS at DODGERS. Detroit at Baltimore. Kansas City at Toronto. Tampa Bay at Boston. New York at Chicago. Seattle at Minnesota. Cleveland at Oakland. San Francisco at Texas. Arizona at Houston.

Thursday's results Cincinnati 15, Pittsburgh 5. Washington 1, Miami 0. Chicago 5, Milwaukee 2. San Diego 8, New York 7. Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1. St. Louis 9, Colorado 8. Friday's games ANGELS at DODGERS. Atlanta at Philadelphia. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati. San Diego at Miami. Washington at New York. Chicago at Milwaukee. Colorado at St. Louis. San Francisco at Texas. Arizona at Houston.