As the Carmine Hose await their rubber match with the Empire, it's instructive to look at the internals of the race for the division. The Red Sox (in large part due to their domination of the Yankees) own a stunning 32-16 record against the AL East (a devilishly good .666 clip). The Pinstriped Posers, on the other hand, are just 27-24 against their division rivals—again mostly because they are 3-11 against us.
Our home-road splits are nearly identical—both doing much better away from their fans than most other teams. So, why are we only 1.5 games ahead of these guys? Well, for starters, we are 21-13 against the rest of the Eastern teams, while the Empire is 24-13 (3 more wins for those of you who are math challenged). It still doesn't make sense, though, right? Well, the Red Sox have 4 more losses than the Evil Ones against the Central and West—maybe that explains some of it. How about inter-league play? The Red Sox were 10-8; the Empire 13-5. OK, that's three more wins.
To recap, New York has 3 more inter-league wins; 3 more non-Sox AL East wins; and the Sox have lost 4 more Central and West games. I guess that explains it.
My brain is starting to hurt.