American League Sucker-Punches NL, Grabs 64% Of Power Ratings

MLB League Rankings
1 - AL - 63.6%
2 - NL - 36.4%

MLB Division Rankings
1 - AL-E - 100.0%
2 - AL-W - 56.3%
3 - NL-C - 55.8%
4 - AL-C - 46.8%
5 - NL-E - 39.2%
6 - NL-W - 0.0%

Ouch. The AL won 12 of 14 interleague games last night and severely damaged the senior circuit's rankings both in league measures and in the division rankings. The AL West pushed to #2, embarrassing the NL Central who only a few weeks ago was the undisputed leader of divisions. The NL East also felt the blow, reeling towards division rank #5 -- and the East was ranked #2 just twenty days past.

The latest interleague play records are:
AL - 59-42 (.584)
NL - 42-59 (.416) - equivalent to a team winning only 67 games in a regular season

Out-of-division standings:
1. AL East - 118-86 (.578)
2. NL Central - 126-105 (.545)
3. AL West - 98-97 (.503)
4. NL East - 104-106 (.495)
5. AL Central - 94-110 (.461)
6. NL West - 88-124 (.415)

As per the past week or two, the NL Central holds onto the no. 2 division standings in pure wins and losses and the NL East retains the no. 4 position. The reason that the Baseball Playoffs Now rankings stated at the top of this post switch the standings between #2 and #3, and #4 and #5, is that there is a very distinct difference in overall power rankings between AL teams and NL teams. The American League has simply done very well in interleague play, and the division rankings are a secondhand reflection of this record. By wins and losses alone, the NL is a small percentage behind the AL. But by strength of schedule and run differential, the AL increases its lead by a substantial amount.