The 2014 Major League Baseball season has less than 15 games remaining in it.

Baseball fans everywhere are watching anxiously as 30 teams will decrease to just 10 this October. One of the closest races currently going on is in the American League Wild Card.

The Oakland Athletics currently own the top spot with an 83-66 record. The Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners are battling for the second wild card spot in the American League.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals have been in contention all season long battling with the Detroit Tigers (83-66) in the American League Central. The Royals are currently 81-67 and find themselves one game ahead of the Mariners. Unfortunately, things haven't been going their way lately.

The Royals are just 3-6 in their last nine games, and many doubts remain on whether or not this team will playing in October. Royals fans have seen this before, as their team hasn't made a single postseason appearance since 1985, when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

The Royals have the fewest home runs in the entire league this season with just 91. For perspective, the Baltimore Orioles have 193. Fortunately for the Royals, their team earned runs against average ranks ninth best in baseball.

Venezuelan shortstop Alcides Escobar is having a great season with a team-leading 144 hits. Although the Royals haven't been hitting the long ball at a very high rate, left-handed hitter Alex Gordon has a team leading 19 home runs and 67 runs batted in.

Starting pitcher James Shields has won more than 10 games for the eighth consecutive season.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners haven't made the playoffs since that incredible regular season in 2001, when they won a record 116 games. The Mariners have a lot of good and bad things going for them as the season closes.

One good thing for the Mariners is, they are currently 80-68, just one game behind the Royals. Despite being behind the Royals in the win column, the Mariners hold a 5-2 advantage against the Royals this season in their seven meetings. If the Royals and Mariners are tied at season's end, the Mariners have the tiebreaker.

The bad news for the Mariners is, they have a much tougher schedule going forward. With just 14 games remaining, the Mariners must play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim seven more times, four of which are on the road. The Mariners also have to play the Athletics two more games. This Mariners club has a very tough schedule to close out the season.

Surprisingly, the Mariners now have the No. 1 team ERA in all of baseball with just three earned runs against average per game. The Latin American pitching combination of Fernando Rodney and Felix Hernandez has been arguably the best in MLB this year. The two pitchers have combined for 14 wins, 45 saves and 294 strikeouts this season. There's a good chance both pitchers will receive awards at season's end.

Seattle fans recently witnessed their team win a Super Bowl. Could a World series be waiting in the future?

The American League postseason race is getting tighter by the day. The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays are also in the mix. Both the Royals and Mariners will be must watch teams to follow as the season winds down.

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