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 and creating some space between themselves and the Angels in what has officially become a two-horse race.
1. Texas Rangers (56-42) — Rangers fans, breathe easy. The 12-game win streak came to an end on Wednesday in pretty devastating fashion, but it's still just one loss. Look at it this way, at this time a week ago, the Rangers were clinging to a 1-game lead over the Angels, now they have a 4-game cushion going into today's series finale, so at the very worst, they'll lose the series and still have a 3-game lead in the division. Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson go today, which should make for a great pitching matchup and a rather quick game.
2. Los Angeles Angels (52-46) — The Angels' comeback after a devastating five-run inning for the Rangers on Wednesday might have been a season saver. Getting blown out in two straight games wouldn't have been good for the Angels' confidence heading into today's finale. Now, they have Jered Weaver going to try to win a series against the team they're chasing.
3. Seattle Mariners (43-54) — At times this season, the Mariners made believe that they could possibly be contenders in the AL West. That thought has been officially put to bed as they've lost 11 straight games to nearly match the Rangers' 12-game win streak. That streak is still going though, it hasn't been snapped yet. They finish a series against Toronto on Thursday before the Blue Jays head to Arlington on Friday for a weekend set. Now, the Mariners have gone from a Cinderella contender to a half-game out of last place, and plenty separated from the No. 2 team.
4. Oakland A's (43-55) — Wonder where all of those folks are now that were saying the A's were going to run away with the AL West? Me too. Sure, they've had injury problems, particularly in their pitching staff, but that revamped offense hasn't really come to light either. This division is clearly now a two-horse race between two teams that will play each other 10 more times after Thursday.
