Cubs, Red Sox Have Best Odds At Winning World Series
(CBS) A recent tear by the Red Sox has elevated their World Series odds to about the same level as those of the Cubs.
Chicago (94-55) clinched the NL Central late last Thursday and holds a magic number of seven to clinch home-field advantage over Washington (88-61) throughout the National League playoffs. Past that, the experts are fivethirtyeight.com peg the Cubs with a 23 percent chance of winning the World Series, while they give the Red Sox the second-best odds at 19 percent. Boston holds a three-game lead in the AL East currently with 13 regular-season games left.
Fangraphs.com is a little more bullish on the Red Sox, giving them an 18.1 percent chance at winning the championship while the Cubs check in right behind them at 17.3 percent entering play Monday. After them come the Dodgers (14.8 percent) and Nationals (14.0 percent).
The Red Sox actually sport the third-best record in the AL, but they've won nine of their past 12 games and have baseball's best offense, averaging an MLB-best 5.6 runs per game with an .821 OPS.
