A Look Around the West

In what is a weekly segment, let's take a look around the rest of the AL West, which includes your Texas Rangers failing to separate themselves from a terrible division despite an easy stretch of games.

1. Texas Rangers (43-38) โ€” After reaching the mathematical halfway point of the season after Wednesday night's win over Houston, the Rangers are on pace for 86 wins this season, which would likely be enough to win the worst division in baseball. With a stretch of 16 of 19 games at home leading up to the All-Star break, and all of those games coming against losing teams, we thought they might separate a little, but not so much. At least not yet. The Rangers are just 6-4 in their last 10 with two straight wins over the lowly Astros. They finish the series tonight, having already won the coveted Silver Boot (when's the parade, by the way?) and then head back home until the All-Star break to host the Florida Marlins. A win tonight would give them a 2 game lead over the Angels, who are off tonight. There's still a chance to separate, but so far they've blown a great chance.

2. Los Angeles Angels (42-40) โ€” So we were starting to count the Angels out, and BAM, they're back. That was probably a bad idea since they're always in contention but I'm still not sold on this team. They have a pretty potent lineup that just hasn't done much this year, and their starting pitching has always been scary, especially in the top 3 spots. Right now, that starting pitching is clicking, which has led them to an 8-2 stretch in their last 10 games and three wins in a row in a sweep over the Washington Nationals. Next up is a three-game set against the crosstown rival Dodgers.

3. Seattle Mariners (39-42) โ€” After showing a surprising bit of umph, the Mariners are starting to turn back into the Mariners. Erik Bedard is hurt again, believe it or not, and that's been a big blow to the only strength on this team which is its starting rotation. They have absolutely no offense and their shining star in the lineup, Ichiro, is having a career-worst year. They just got swept by the Braves and have won just three of their last 10 and will host a three-game set against the Padres beginning Friday.

4. Oakland A's (36-45) โ€” See above. This team just wasn't as great as everyone thought to start out with, but now after injuries have decimated the club they really have no hope. Even with all that said, they're just seven games out of first and we just saw the Minnesota Twins make up almost 10 games in just a month in the AL Central. Crazier things have happened, but it won't happen here.

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