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The Boston Red Sox have one of the most talented teams in Major League Baseball, but they better start playing like it. Boston is hovering around .500 on the season while the Yankees and Rays are both excelling in the American League East. The Red Sox need to start closing the gap in the division and will get a golden opportunity to do so on Sunday in a matchup with New York,... 

It’s been 20 years since the Milwaukee Brewers switched leagues and several generations of fans only know them as members of the NL Central. Baseball purists remember the Brewers’ American League pennant and World Series appearance in 1982 that followed the first division title in franchise history. Those are the only back-to-back playoff seasons for the Brewers, though they have a chance to change that this year.... 

The National League Central race is tight, and not surprisingly, old rivals the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are right in the mix. The Cubs currently find themselves on top of the division but there are four other teams within striking distance, so they need to keep playing well. The Cubs have struggled a bit of late and have not been great on the road this season so they need to flip the script or else the Cardinals will claw closer to them in the standings.... 

The Los Angeles Dodgers have looked like the best team in the National League all season, and can add more ammunition to that premise when they face off with the Philadelphia Phillies in a key weekend series. Los Angeles is way ahead of the pack in the National League West while Philly finds itself on top of the N.L. East, so this should be a fun matchup to watch.... 

It doesn’t matter when these teams play, the games are always entertaining. And this weekend shouldn’t be any different. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees open a four-game set in the Bronx on Thursday in just the third meeting of the season between bitter AL East rivals. The Yanks’ surge to the top of the division began last month with a two-game sweep of the Sox sparking a stretch of 29 wins in 38 games.... 

Could this be a preview of the World Series? If the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros have anything to say about the Fall Classic they will certainly consider themselves in the conversation. The Astros are the favorite to win the title while the Cubs overcame a rough start to take control of the NL Central. The teams finish off a three-game set in their only scheduled meeting of the year. We could see them again in October, though.... 

It’s around this time when you can look at the standings and have a better idea of where teams are and how the season is going to play out over the final few months. The Houston Astros remain the favorite to win the 2019 World Series and they are certainly a good pick. The Astros have the most complete team in the AL, though they own the third-best record entering the week. Minnesota continues to move up the odds board and made another impressive jump to +940. The Twins moved 20 games over .500 ... 

The Miami Marlins are awful, and everyone knew they would be when the season began. But the Washington Nationals have not been much better this season, which has been a huge disappointment for a team that was expected to be in the race for the National League East title.... 

The Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox both fancy themselves World Series contenders, but neither has gotten off to a desired start. Both teams have some work to do to get back into the race in their respective divisions, but certainly have the talent to make it happen.... 

The Atlanta Braves were expected to be one of the more exciting up-and-coming teams in baseball in 2019. That wasn’t necessarily the case early on, but they have turned it up of late to give fans a peek of the potential this group possesses. Atlanta has closed the gap on the Phillies in the National League East and will aim to stay hot on Sunday when they hit the road to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals.... 

A loss to the San Francisco Giants last Saturday didn’t appear to be too damaging at the time. However, it set in motion a series of events that dropped the Arizona Diamondbacks further down the NL West standings. That was the beginning of a season-long five-game losing streak that included a sweep by the San Diego Padres.... 

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been hanging tough in the National League Central thus far, but with a host of talented teams in the division, they need to keep playing well to avoid falling out of the race. Pittsburgh has a tough matchup on Saturday when it faces off against the Los Angeles Dodgers.... 

It’s only May, but forgive those for thinking we are already staring at a matchup from October. The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros will face off in a titanic American League showdown of contenders on Saturday. These two teams are widely expected to again qualify for the playoffs and it would shock no one if they eventually faced off with a World Series berth on the line.... 

Division leaders clash in the second game of a four-game set when the NL East’s Philadelphia Phillies invade Wrigley Field to take on the NL Central’s Chicago Cubs. After splitting a six-game road trip, the Cubbies are back in the friendly confines where they’ve won 15 of 21 games this season.... 

The San Francisco Giants retained a number of players from their championship years. The only problem is the last title came in 2014 and those players have gotten older and less productive. The Giants wish they had some young talent like the Atlanta Braves have on their roster. The youthful group sparked a playoff run last season and has the organization set up well for the future.... 

The Houston Astros got a taste of victory in 2017 by winning the World Series. It looks like they are trying to quench that hunger once again. Putting together their second 10-game winning streak of the season, the Astros have built a huge lead in the AL West and could have the division clinched by the All-Star break.... 

The Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals meet in primetime on Sunday night in the finale of a three-game weekend series. Coming into the year, this was supposed to be a showdown between two teams contending for a division title. While the Cubs seem to be living up to that billing, the Nationals are not. Chicago is the better team, but can the Cubbies take this series finale on the road? ... 

The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros meet up on Saturday night for the middle game of a three game series. This series is a rematch of sorts for these two clubs as it marks their first meeting since the Sox sent the Astros home in the ALCS. Both Boston and Houston come into the series—and this game—playing excellent baseball. It should go a good contest.... 

The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves wrap up a three-game series on Thursday night. This series, and its finale, feature two contending teams struggling a bit in mid-May, but very much in the race in their respective divisions. The venue and recent trends should give the Braves an edge as the Cardinals are under-.500 on the road and have really struggled to find consistency of late, but they still boast a better overall record the Braves.... 

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The San Diego Padres remain one of the biggest early season surprises in the game. Despite a loaded farm system and some key free agent acquisitions the last couple years, most view the Padres as still being a season or two away. For now, they find themselves in the thick of things as they get set for the final game of a brief two-game series against the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers will host the Padres in the contest, looking to expand their division lead against the upstart... 

The Tampa Bay Rays currently sit atop the AL East standings, but the New York Yankees have done an excellent job navigating a plethora of injuries to keep their heads more than a float in the early going. Now these teams will meet in a weekend series down in the Sunshine State. The series wraps up with an afternoon showdown on Sunday. The Rays have home field advantage, but the Yankees do have a massive following in the Tampa area and will be well represented in the stands as always.... 

The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs will wrap up a weekend series on Sunday night on ESPN. Both teams head into the series playing some quality baseball, having climbed into the top two spots in the NL Central. The Brew Crew edged out the Cubs for the division crown last season, but for now, the Cubs seem in control early with the best run differential in the NL. Can the Brewers slow a red-hot Chicago team that’s been nearly unbeatable at home? It’ll be an uphill climb for sure.... 

Both the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics eclipsed 90 wins last season in route to a playoff berth. While the Indians would technically be in line for a Wild Card spot if the season ended today, there are still major areas of concern for both teams as they meet in Oakland six weeks into the regular season. It’s the pivotal middle game of the three game set between the two clubs on Saturday afternoon.... 

Both the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers have playoff aspirations this season, but only one has gotten off to a strong start through the first month with the Nationals lounging below-.500. These two teams will kick off a four-game weekend series in L.A. on Thursday night with the Nationals trying to get back on track with a big win and the Dodgers looking to maintain their solid lead in the NL West....