The second half of the American Association season kicked off last Friday, with one of the glaring themes being a few series that seemed to be rather…decisive. Two ended in sweeps: Sioux Falls over Lincoln and Cleburne over Sioux City, but a couple other matchups showed one time that was clearly making a statement over the weekend.

As a result, division races that were very tight (especially the last five spots in the West) started to loosen up a little bit. With a few matchup in particular coming this week, we could start to see a lot more clarity in the playoff race by the end of July

East Almost on Ice?

The East Division has emerged as the more quote-unquote “normal” division this year: i.e. a clear front-runner or two (Lake Country and Milwaukee), a couple other mid-tier teams (Cleburne and Kane County), and two bottom feeders (Gary SouthShore and Chicago).

This past weekend, a Gary team badly in need of some wins after a 4-13 finish to the first half started their series at home against Milwaukee by sweeping a Friday doubleheader…only to drop the next two games and wind up right back where they started.

Meanwhile, Cleburne solidified their footing with three wins against Sioux City and Kane County did the same by going to Kansas City and winning two of three against the Monarchs, further hampering Gary SouthShore. Chicago lost two of three at Fargo-Moorhead (and needed a late RedHawks meltdown on Sunday just to get one) and continued to fall further out of the playoff picture.

The 4.5 games out of the playoff race are the most for the RailCats this season, while Chicago is a season-high 13.5 games out of first and is a full eight games out of the playoff picture. The Dogs are one of two teams (Fargo-Moorhead) to make the playoffs every season since 2021, but barring a miracle, their playoff streak will end at five seasons.

EAST	W	L	GB	Post-All-Star Movement
Milwaukee	34	22	–	0.0
Lake Country	31	23	2.0	+0.5
Cleburne	30	26	4.0	+1.5
Kane County	27	26	5.5	+0.5
Gary SouthShore	24	32	10.0	0.0
Chicago	19	34	13.5	-0.5

West Tighter at Top, but Inches Wider Elsewhere

Going into the All-Star break, the West Division was an interesting sight. Kansas City was sitting pretty with a 32-20 record with a 6.5-game lead…and the entire rest of the group was below .500, with five teams separated by just 1.5 games, including Sioux Falls, Fargo-Moorhead, and Winnipeg all tied for second.

The two teams that started at the bottom, Lincoln and Sioux City, saw their spots in the basement secured by both being swept, with the X’s suffering two particularly deflating losses to finish an 0-3 weekend at Cleburne, while Lincoln was pummeled from first pitch at Sioux Falls.

The Canaries were the biggest beneficiary in the West, not from just pulling into sole possession of second place, but they gained two games on Kansas City after the Monarchs dropped a home series to Kane County. Sioux Falls is also now 4.0 games clear of the playoff cut line.

Fargo-Moorhead had a great chance to keep pace with the Canaries in second after blasting Chicago on Friday and Saturday and taking a 6-1 lead on Sunday, only for a seven-run seventh costing the RedHawks a sweep and sending them back to .500.

Winnipeg managed to gain a game on Lincoln and Sioux City after salvaging Sunday’s finale at Lake Country, moving to two games above the playoff cut line. However, the Goldeyes fell behind both the Canaries and RedHawks.

WEST	W	L	GB	Post-All-Star Movement
Kansas City	33	22	–	-2.0
Sioux Falls	29	27	4.5	+2.0
Fargo-Moorhead	27	27	5.5	+1.0
Winnipeg	26	28	6.5	0.0
Lincoln	25	31	8.5	-1.0
Sioux City	24	31	9.0	-1.0

More Separation on Horizon

Several opportunities for the standings to widen are on tap for this week, including two series that start tonight. Fargo-Moorhead hosts a struggling Gary SouthShore with another chance to move above .500 and try to get out neutral.

Meanwhile, Kane County will travel to Chicago for four games starting tonight. That set affords the Cougars a golden opportunity to try to get out of the fourth spot, thanks to difficult Milwaukee-Lake Country and Cleburne-Kansas City matchups occupying the three teams ahead of them in the East.

On Tuesday, Sioux Falls will host Winnipeg looking to solidify their spot in second place and build off their weekend sweep. That same day, a notable series also takes place at the bottom of the West, where Sioux City and Lincoln both look to pick up the pieces after being swept. The loser of that set will obviously be in worse shape for a playoff push than they are now, especially if it ends in a sweep.

That Sioux City-Lincoln matchup is especially important for both teams because of what’s looming next weekend: Sioux City tangles with first-place Kansas City, while Lincoln hosts a red-hot Cleburne club.

Sioux Falls, meanwhile, has another soft matchup with Gary SouthShore coming to the Birdcage next weekend, while Fargo-Moorhead heads across the border to Winnipeg in another matchup where a decisive series could be devastating to the loser.

With a host of impactful matchups on the docket for this week, we could start to see playoff races shape up more clearly this week…or maybe we instead wind up with a muddled mess again.

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