The American League East race is very close, and the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays all have a chance to win it.
The Red Sox are seven games back, but are in the middle of a four-game series with the Yankees. They lost Game 1, with Yankees ace Cam Schlittler on the mound, but could take over as the second-place team in the division by winning the final three games.
The Rays have a four-game lead over the Yankees for first place entering play on Saturday, but Cam Schlittler is confident the Yankees are not out of it.
"The division's wide open," Schlittler said after Friday's win, per New York Daily News' Gary Phillips. "Tampa's got a couple games on us. Boston's right behind us. I think (if) we separate ourselves from Boston this weekend, it puts us in a good spot, and we got a really big series against Tampa down the road. So it's wide open. We had a good opportunity last year, and it obviously ends in a tie there (with Toronto), and that's frustrating. We gotta make sure we put ourselves in a position where that doesn't happen again."
Schlittler helped the Yankees secure a 1-0 win on Friday night. Some great defense also helped the Yankees shut out the Red Sox, but the job is far from finished. Max Fried and Carlos Rodón will take the mound in Saturday's doubleheader, and a Yankees sweep would essentially end the Red Sox's hope of winning the division.
If the Yankees finish second in the division, they will likely face the Red Sox in the first round of the postseason. However, that series would be in the Bronx.