Team Chases

Best record, last 30 days 2026-08-06 → 2026-09-05 · 30 of 30 clubs with 10+ games

1. 1 Phillies 18-8 .692 +33
2. · Blue Jays 18-9 .667 +28
3. · Yankees 17-10 .630 +37
4. · Rays 17-11 .607 +8
5. · Dodgers 16-11 .593 +10

The runs behind it: the Phillies outscored their opponents 125–92 in this window, 1.27 a game. Runs like that usually buy a .637 record; this one is .056 better than that, so some of the margin is close games going their way.

The Phillies came into this window playing to a .516 level, and over 26 games a club of that quality posts a run this good about once in 16 tries on its own. But the board tests 30 clubs across 3 windows — 90 chances — and if every one of those chances were as unlikely as this one you would still expect about 5.6 of them to come off, so seeing one is what a board this size turns up anyway rather than anything about this club. What is left is a board position: the Phillies sit first on this window's board among the 30 clubs that played 10 games or more.

Whether they are hotter than the Blue Jays is a different question, and no window a season can offer will settle it: the gap is .026, the margin runs -.216 to +.262, and an exact test on the two records gives 100.0%. Over windows this length — 26 games and 27 — two records have to sit about .192 apart before the arithmetic can tell them apart at all, and the true difference between the two best clubs in a 30-club league is nearer .020.

Best record, last 60 days 2026-07-07 → 2026-09-05 · 30 of 30 clubs with 10+ games

1. 1 Red Sox 37-17 .685 +72
2. · Braves 32-20 .615 +32
3. · Yankees 31-20 .608 +38
4. · Rays 32-21 .604 +16
5. · Phillies 29-21 .580 +39

The runs behind it: the Red Sox outscored their opponents 274–202 in this window, 1.33 a game. Runs like that usually buy a .636 record; this one is .049 better than that, so some of the margin is close games going their way.

The Red Sox came into this window playing to a .484 level, and over 54 games a club of that quality posts a run this good about once in 186 tries on its own. But the board tests 30 clubs across 3 windows — 90 chances — and across those 90 chances a run this good turns up somewhere at most 48.4% of the time, short of the bar for saying the run is more than a good stretch. What is left is a board position: the Red Sox sit first on this window's board among the 30 clubs that played 10 games or more.

Whether they are hotter than the Braves is a different question, and no window a season can offer will settle it: the gap is .070, the margin runs -.109 to +.243, and an exact test on the two records gives 54.2%. Over windows this length — 54 games and 52 — two records have to sit about .096 apart before the arithmetic can tell them apart at all, and the true difference between the two best clubs in a 30-club league is nearer .020.

Best record, since the All-Star break 2026-07-11 → 2026-09-05 · 30 of 30 clubs with 10+ games

1. 1 Red Sox 32-17 .653 +57
2. · Braves 29-18 .617 +27
3. · Brewers 29-18 .617 +46
4. · Rays 29-19 .604 +17
5. · Yankees 27-19 .587 +27

The runs behind it: the Red Sox outscored their opponents 254–197 in this window, 1.16 a game. Runs like that usually buy a .614 record; this one is .039 better than that, so some of the margin is close games going their way.

Measured from July 11: the standings row stored for July 12 did not move, because that night's results had already been credited to July 11. Subtracting from July 11 therefore leaves the July 12 games outside this window — which is what the label means, since the break began after they were played.

The Red Sox came into this window playing to a .496 level, and over 49 games a club of that quality posts a run this good about once in 33 tries on its own. But the board tests 30 clubs across 3 windows — 90 chances — and if every one of those chances were as unlikely as this one you would still expect about 2.7 of them to come off, so seeing one is what a board this size turns up anyway rather than anything about this club. What is left is a board position: the Red Sox sit first on this window's board among the 30 clubs that played 10 games or more.

Whether they are hotter than the Braves is a different question, and no window a season can offer will settle it: the gap is .036, the margin runs -.152 to +.221, and an exact test on the two records gives 83.2%. Over windows this length — 49 games and 47 — two records have to sit about .106 apart before the arithmetic can tell them apart at all, and the true difference between the two best clubs in a 30-club league is nearer .020.