As the final quarter of the 2023 Major League Baseball season gets underway, four of the league's six divisions – including all three in the American League – have a genuine race within five games entering Monday.
The AL West is the closest division in baseball with the defending World Series champion Houston Astros trailing the Texas Rangers by 2 ½ games. In the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles have a three-game advantage over the second-place Rays and the Cleveland Guardians lead the Minnesota Twins by 4½ in the Central.
The NL Central has three teams in the hunt as the Milwaukee Brewers hold a 3½-game cushion over the Chicago Cubs and (fading) Cincinnati Reds.