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 coming off a 12-game win streak with a bit of a cold streak and the rival Angels coming off a no-hitter on Wednesday to close to within two games.

1. Texas Rangers (59-46) โ€” After being the hottest team in baseball, the Rangers still have a chance at a great month of July, but it's cooled off a bit recently. The Rangers opened a series against the Twins with a resounding 20-6 win, but have since lost two straight with the finale of the four-game series coming tonight and are now just 5-5 in their last 10 games. The Rangers have been in need of bullpen help all season, and right now they're in dire need of it. But help is likely coming before Sunday's MLB trade deadline. The Rangers are still the best team in this division and still have 10 games remaining against the Angels. After tonight's finale against the Twins, the Rangers go on the road to Toronto and then to Detroit before returning home next weekend.

2. Los Angeles Angels (57-48) โ€” As the Rangers have cooled off, the Angels have made up ground. That continued on Wednesday when Ervin Santana tossed a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians to pull the Angels within two games, which is the closest they've been to the Rangers in two weeks. The Angels start a four-game set in Detroit today before the Rangers travel there to start a series next week.

3. Oakland A's (47-57) โ€” Now 11 1/2 games out of first place, the A's are turning into sellers, and the Rangers might be after a couple of their bullpen arms in closer Andrew Bailey and Grant Balfour. The A's have been decimated by injuries this year but they were overrated from the beginning with their terribly mediocre offense.

4. Seattle Mariners (44-60) โ€” See above. It's pretty surprising the Mariners aren't having a firesale of their own with a guy like Felix Hernandez there for the taking, but they're holding on to their stud, for this year at least. Their offense is one of the worst in years and they finally won a game Wednesday against the Yankees with Hernandez on the hill to snap a 17-game losing skid.

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