Every 2008 MLB race charted day by day: AL East, AL Central, AL West, AL Wild Card, NL East, NL Central, NL West and NL Wild Card. Final standings, from a season that ran March 25 to September 30, 2008.
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AL East standings, 2008
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Streak
Tampa Bay Rays (TB)
97
65
.599
-
6-4
W1
Boston Red Sox (BOS)
95
67
.586
2
6-4
W1
New York Yankees (NYY)
89
73
.549
8
8-2
L1
Toronto Blue Jays (TOR)
86
76
.531
11
5-5
W1
Baltimore Orioles (BAL)
68
93
.422
28.5
1-9
L1
Final standings.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 16 times.
The Tampa Bay Rays trailed by as many as 5 games on April 21, 2008.
The Tampa Bay Rays took first place for good on July 18, 2008.
The Toronto Blue Jays won 10 games in a row from August 30, 2008 to September 9, 2008, the longest run of the race.
The Boston Red Sox led by 3.5 games as late as May 8, 2008.
The Tampa Bay Rays led by as many as 5.5 games on August 23, 2008.
The Tampa Bay Rays went 15-3 from June 15, 2008 to July 6, 2008, turning a deficit of 2.5 games into a lead of 5 games.
The top two ended the day within one game of each other on 72 of the 181 days played.
The Tampa Bay Rays spent 115 of the season's 190 charted days in first place.