At 47-50 and 12 games behind first-place Detroit after beating the Mets Sunday afternoon, the frustratingly inconsistent Kansas City Royals almost certainly won't win the American League Central Division championship this season. Their pitching is good, but their offense is simply too weak to fire the Royals to the kind of sizzling second-half required to catch and overtake the Tigers.
Fortunately, though, Kansas City remains within striking distance of an AL Wild Card — entering this week's All-Star Break, the traditional but not mathematically precise season midpoint, the club is only 4.5 games behind Seattle for the third AL berth.