Baseball Playoffs

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Didn't the Red Sox have almost an even run differential during their September collapse despite winning like six games? I'm not sure counting cumulative score is necessarily indicative of, well, anything.

Really? Take a look at the MLB standings. They go almost exactly according to run differential. The top four in the NL were the four that made the playoffs. Three of the top four in the AL made the playoffs (Boston was third, Tampa was fifth). It's one of the best indicators of how good a team is.

But that's what a short series can do. It can propel the inferior team if they leave fewer runners on base and get slightly better starting pitching.

And the Red Sox were -23 in September.