Mad Dog makes bold AL East prediction for Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees

After being neck and neck all summer, the race for the AL East is now exciting.

Going into Wednesday's game, the Baltimore Orioles (83-63) are only half a game behind the New York Yankees (83-62). The Orioles have 16 games left in the schedule, the Yankees have 17.

This includes a decisive three-game series at Yankee Stadium from September 24 to 26. As the penultimate series of the regular season, it could decide the division.

Frustrating for both sides, neither team has been able to pull away due to their mediocre play over the past few months. New York has a record of just 32-40 since June 15, while Baltimore has a record of 26-30 since July 8. Had either team only achieved a .500 record during that time, the race would look very different.

As it stands, the race is too exciting to predict a winner and could go either way, but that didn't stop well-known sports radio host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo from weighing in on MLB Network.

Russo is a notorious Yankees fan and believes his team will hold on and win the division.

“The Orioles are having some problems in the AL East right now. The Yankees are going to win the division. I'm pretty confident the Yankees are going to win the division,” Russo predicted Tuesday. “The Orioles are going to target fourth place and that's where they're going to be vulnerable.”

Russo addressed several challenges facing Baltimore, namely the depleted pitching staff and the difficult schedule against the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants and Minnesota Twins.

None of these teams are a walk in the park, and 10 of the Orioles' remaining 16 games are on the road.

“Their pitching is a disaster. The Orioles are in big trouble here in the American League,” Russo said. “Their schedule is not that easy.”

FanGraphs agrees with Russo, giving New York a 61 percent chance of winning the AL East while Baltimore has just a 39 percent chance. Still, the division is still wide open and anything can happen in the next few weeks.