The American League West

I didn't pick those words in the headline - I have been reading them since April about the American League West. The division, apparently, isn't any good according to many pundits across the country. But is it true? So far, not really, if you look at the records. Yes, as documented here every day for a month, much of the division played below .500 through early May. Of course, that's early in the season and teams sometimes come slow out of the gate (see Boston Red Sox , St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers this season). Still, if you wanted to throw around terms like "weak" or "mediocre" or "sucks," then that would have been the time to do it. But now? It doesn't really apply. Here are a few facts about the AL West to ponder. The Houston Astros The AL West is being won - and likely will be won barring injury or having to play the Cleveland Indians every weekend - by the team with the best record in baseball, the Houston ...

Astros (31-15) So, I guess it was just the Cleveland Indians, after all.    With The Tribe out of town and the Detroit Tigers coming into Minute Maid, the Astros resumed the roll they've been on all season. Starter Lance McCullers Jr. extended his scoreless innings streak to 22. The Astros look to win the four-game series with Charlie Morton on the mound tonight. Astros 6, Tigers 2 Rangers (24-22) Andrew Cashner gave up five earned runs in five innings as the Rangers, who had won 11 of 12, lost their first game of a six-game road trip to the Boston Red Sox. On the plus side , Joey Gallo hit his 14th homer. Red Sox 11, Rangers 6  Angels (25-23) The Angels kept rolling, taking the second game of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays and winning their third in a row. Matt Shoemaker pitched well until loading the bases in the 7th, when Yusmeiro Petit came in and  - in the game's most exciting moments - got out of the jam by striking out Steven...

Athletics (20-24) Nice week for the always unpredictable Oakland A's. After losing a series to the Mariners and falling into last place, they climbed their way out by winning three out of four against the Boston Red Sox.  That extended their home record to 14-9, just a half game worse than the Astros' record at Minute Maid. Unfortunately, that's only really worth mentioning to juxtapose against the dismal A's road record of 6-15. You know what else is weird about the A's? They are four games under .500, but they are 8-5 against clubs outside of the American League West, including being .500 on the road. I know, small data sets produce strange results, but things could get better for the A's playing outside the division. Which is exactly what they are doing until June 19. Athletics Schedule and Links The A's start the week tonight at the Coliseum with a two-game set against the Miami Marlins . They then take their dismal road record to the Big...

Mariners (20-25) Ah, man, I know it's a Mariners post when I read it over and it contains the words tough, rough, brutal, ludicrous, nosedive and decimated and I didn't even mean to do that.  But here goes... The last-place Mariners are now underway at Nationals Park, where they face the first-place Washington Nationals in a three-game series. They have a 7-16 road record, They have Christian Bergman on the mound, making just his third start of the season - all of which have happened because of a decimated Mariners rotation. The Mariners are coming off a series against the Chicago White Sox where they looked the worst they have all season - yes, even worse than that four-game sweep in Toronto that was the beginning of this latest nosedive down the standings. So,,,yeah. They have all that going for them. But stranger things have happened than turning around a rough first quarter of a season on a road trip. And all the things written here just the other day still a...

Houston Astros (30-15) With Dallas Keuchel out, the Astros ran long reliever Brad Peacock out on the mound against the Detroit Tigers.  And it worked, with the Astros picking up their Major League-leading 30th win. Peacock threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings and the bullpen finished it out. In all, the Tigers got just one hit. Jose Altuve drove in the winning run. Astros 1, Tigers 0  The Astros have called up reliever Jordan Jankowski , who has spent more than two seasons in the minors and got dogpiled by his Triple-A teammates when the call-up news came through. Texas Rangers (24-21) Monday was a travel day for the Ranger. Tonight they begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. Adrian Beltre is on his way back, which means the Rangers have to decide what to do with Joey Gallo , who leads the team in home runs. Globe Life Park was named the most vegan friendly  ballpark by PETA. I know that's random, but you didn't expect that from...

Angels (23-23) After seven weeks of preseason hopes despite a top-heavy payroll , a hot first week featuring an epic seven-run comeback, a completely ridiculous amount of pitching injuries, a trip to the DL for Mike Trout, a flurry of moves by Billy Eppler and the Office of the GM, Albert Pujols stealing third base,  fans playing catch with Trout, the ups and downs of young Alex Meyer and many appearances by the mascot Dodgers fan envy , the Angels are right back where they started. 23 dash 23. Circling back to the beginning. Deja vu, all over again. But actually better off  than they were at 0-0. Every team was even at the beginning of the season. Now the Angels are one of 10 teams at or above .500. Given the loss of Garret Richards, Cam Bedrosian , Yunel Escobar , Tyler Skaggs , Andrew Bailey and Huston Street, that's fairly remarkable. These Angels abide . Angels fans should take some comfort in that. Angels Schedule and Links So, what now? For the next ...

Houston Astros (29-15) So, the Astros finally met their match. Yes, the Cleveland Indians had taken a series from the Astros earlier this season in Ohio. And yes, it's still just May. But as noted here Saturday , and by many who type the word "Astros" every day for fun or profit, this was a kind of big deal series. And it ended with the Astros getting swept at home. Not to mention it happened on the same weekend the Astros lost both Dallas Keuchel and Brian McCann to the DL. That's not good in any month of the season. For those just enjoying the horse race and not living and dying on the result of every Astros' game, things just got a little bit more interesting in the American League West and a lot more interesting in the wider context of the American League pennant race. . Of course if you're an Astros fan, ha ha , that's not so great. Every Astros fan getting through their the usual grey Monday drudgery workday is thinking in the back ...

Mariners (20-24) Like the friend who shows up at your door with a six-pack of good craft beer or a bottle of wine ready to try and cheer you up after a depressing event, I have arrived this morning to look at the bright side for the 2017 Seattle Mariners. Yes, I am relatively sure they have angered the baseball gods in some as-yet unknown way (Jerry Dipito may know). But let's not worry about higher powers. Or 15-run victories. The past can be a troubling, worrying place. Let's not go there. Let me open that for you. Sit back and relax and contemplate what I am trying to say to you. They've only played 27 percent of their games, plenty of time to turn it around The 538 blog still says the Mariners have a 20 percent chance of making the playoffs - that's better than just about half of MLB. That's stat geeks talking, not me.  The rookie right fielders are studs . Ben Gamel has played well, and Mitch Haniger is on his way back. You're four games below...

Athletics (20-23)  I like to think that Billy Beane and David Forst and some dude that looks like Jonah Hill in "Moneyball" are all in a crappy basement somewhere that has been transformed into a data analyzing, numbers-crunching tech center where they figure out how to do things in the strangest way possible so that no one can understand how, for example, they lead the American League in home runs and are just three games below .500 with this lineup of unproven youngsters and aging veterans. They, improbably, earned a series win over the Red Sox last night. Khris Davis, Chad Pinder and Mark Canha all went yard in the 5th inning with monster moonshots. Pinder hit the ball so hard he "kind of" blacked out. Sean Manaea picked up his second win less than a week after one of the weirdest pitching performances you will see this season - an all or nothing affair where he walked five batters while also striking out seven. Last night he walked no one. The A...

Angels (22-23) Great. New York, right? It's bad enough dealing with the New York Yankees , a club that's always contending even when they are in a "rebuilding year." But when the Angels , coming off a solid homestand, traveled to the Big Apple this weekend, they were facing the New York Mets , a high-salary team mired in injuries and losses and turmoil and a growing sense of Epic Fail brewing out there in Queens. You know, a New York team below .500. So of course the Angels have lost this series. They can at least avoid the sweep today (they just took a 5-run lead in the first).  Last night, the Halos did what they do - rally back from a 4-0 deficit, scoring 2 in the 7th and 3 in the 9th. But...the Mets scored 3 in the 8th inning off  Y usmeiro Petit. And that was that. The Angels continue to hover in that "around .500" area that was good enough for second place until the Rangers caught fire. The box.  Billy Eppler and the Office of the GM continue...

Rangers (23-21) It's always a sad feeling when a win streak ends. In your heart, you through it might go on for, well, let's face it Rangers fans, forever. Or at least just one more game. But the Detroit Tigers ended that dream with a thumping last night, including approximately 1 gazillion home runs  off Rangers starter  A.J. Griffin in the first inning. Or three. Interestingly - or horrifyingly, if you live and die by the Rangers - the 10-game wining streak ended with Griffin on the mound. He's been one of the club's best starters. He came into the game 4-0. He left 4-1, having given up 9 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. But the streak was epic. The streak was the longest in the majors this season. The streak also propelled the Rangers from last place to second place and back into the contenders conversation again - exactly where they have been in just about every season the last decade. The box. The New York Times gives the Rangers some love.   But perh...

Astros (29-14) Mike Fiers takes his fair share of abuse from Astros fans. "I hate that guy," a fan told me while watching a game last week. I wanted to say, "Hate's a strong word, dude," but he appeared the sort of guy who had reached that tipping point of alcohol-to-body mass ratio where bad things were going to happen any minute now with any sort of catalyst. I didn't want to be that catalyst. Let this be a lesson to you, gentle reader. Anyway...I noticed Fiers came in for an enormous amount of abuse on social media last night - although these people totally get it.   Fiers went 6 innings last night and gave up 1 - far beyond a quality start (an uber-quality start?). No, what happened last night is that Mike Clevinger dropped the hammer on one of the major's best offenses. Or one of the major's best offenses failed to hit Mike Clevinger. Take your pick. So Fiers got it together for one of his best outings of the season...and lost. Thaaa...

The Astros numbers so far are the stuff of pennant winners. They have: The best record in Major League Baseball Won almost 70 percent of their games Baseball's best starting pitcher in Dallas Keuchel , who is 7-0 with a 1.84 ERA The best staff ERA in the American League The most strikeouts in the the majors The most hits in the American League An amazing record of 18-7 against the rest of the American League West They look like the Supermen of the American League. But while it's still only mid-May, the Astros' Kryptomite seems already apparent: the Cleveland Indians, also known as the defending American League champions. . While this afternoon's game in Houston is just one of 162, it's a long season, blah blah blah, it seems a tad more important than the usual mid-May game. Why? Because if the Astros lose it, they will have lost both series to the Indians this year, no matter what happens on Sunday. On the other hand, if the Astros win today and Sun...

Indians 5, Astros 3  After winning an April series in Cleveland between these two clubs, the Cleveland Indians took the first game in a three-game set in Houston behind a strong outing from Trevor Bauer  (9 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings) and a shutout performance from the bullpen. The box. Athletics 3, Red Sox 2 The A's would not be denied. After an amazing catch from Jackie Badley Jr. robbed Ryon Healy of a game-winning home run in the 9th, Mark Canha won it with a home run of his own in the 10th. Kendall Graveman had a quality start and the A's bullpen pitched four scoreless innings The box. Rangers 5, Tigers 3 The Rangers kept it rolling on the road against the Detroit Tigers , winning their 10th in a row. Nick Martinez picked up his first win since 2015. The Rangers are now three over .500. The box. Mets 3, Angels 0 The Angels ran into Jacob deGrom in the Big Apple, getting shut out against the New York Mets . The starter struck out 9 in 7 innings....

Athletics 8, Red Sox 3 The Athletics , fresh off yet another disappointing road trip, came home to the Coliseum and promptly beat the mighty (at least on paper) Boston   Red Sox . Sonny Gray got his first victory of the year. The box. Mariners 5, White Sox 4 The Mariners won in the 9th with a walk-off single by Guillermo Heredia that scored Jarrod Dyson . Desperate for pitching after a rash of injuries, the Mariners turned to Sam Gaviglio , who threw five shutout innings. The box. Rangers 8, Phillies 4 The Rangers wrapped up an eight-game home stand with their ninth win in a row. Martin Perez pitched 7 innings, striking out 8 and giving up just two runs.  The box.

Hey, the AL West looks like a "normal" division this morning with three teams at or above .500 (OK, only one is above) and another two fighting to stay out of last. This is how Abner Doubleday intended things, had he actually invented baseball . The Angels and the Rangers both hit .500 on the same day. The Astros continued to roll against the last place Miami Marlins . And the Athletics came back in the 9th inning to beat the Mariners in Seattle. Astros (28-12) The best team in baseball keeps being the best team in baseball. They now officially have won 70 percent of their games, which is flat-out ridiculous. Last night, they beat the Marlins like a gong, scoring 12 runs, including two two-run home runs by Jake Marisnick. Dallas Keuchel picked up his seventh win. They are en fuego. The race is over . Astros 12, Marlins 2 No big surprise: This is the best 40-game start in team history . Angels (21-21) Much like one of the famous bands from Orange County, the Ang...

A bit late, forget to hit "publish" button yesterday. I'm just a caveman, your technology frightens and confuses me . So we've looked at the playoff probabilities and the chance the Mariners might have angered the baseball gods . Now it's time to get back to simply looking at the week ahead for each AL West club as we move into the second quarter of the season. After beating up on each other all April and early May, most of the teams play outside the division the rest of May. Click Keep Reading for more. Houston Astros (27-12) The Astros face opposite ends of the spectrum this week. They finish their current road trip in Miami - they've already taken Game 1 from the last-place Marlins - before coming home to face the Indians . The Astros lost a series in Cleveland in April, one of the few they've lost all year. Los Angeles Angels (20-21) The Angels play the rest of the month out of the division. This week, the stay in the Big A, hosting first th...

The Astros rolled into Miami and kept up their winning ways, extending their Major League-best record. The Angels continue to do Angels things - they took the first game of their series at home against the White Sox to pull back within one game of .500 and ahead of the idle Rangers . Sean Manaea had one of the strangest starts you will ever see for the A's , and the Mariners stopped a late rally to win a close one. Notes, box scores and links if you Keep Reading. Astros (27-12) Who can stop the Astros ? Not the Marlins last night. Yuli Gurriel hit a grand slam in the 6th inning and Joe Musgrove pitched a strong 5 2/3, leading the Astros to their league-leading 27th victory. All this after Marlins starter Dan Straily no-hit the Astros into the 5th inning. The Astros have won almost 70 percent of their games. 70! Astros 7, Marlins 2 Do the Astros have one of the best double-play combos ever ? Angels (20-21) New day in the AL West, new team in second place. The ...

No paid professional will write this because they don't want someone to throw it in their face down the road if everything goes sideways in Houston, but I'm just doing this for fun so let me state the obvious: The AL West race is over. The Houston Astros have won it. They now have an 81 percent chance of winning the division, according to data analytics wizardry. Yes, yes, of course a hundred things could go wrong and baseball is a sport known for spectacular collapses. And every blogger, beat writer, radio show host, television talking head and beer-buzzed fan sitting in a sports bar stool from Humble to Galveston knows the Astros need a third ace starter. Even so. Clearly the Astros are the best in the West, and are now contenders for the best in baseball. Outside of that, the division gets pretty bleh. Or ugh. Or meh. Pick the unsatisfied sound of your choice. On the other hand, it hasn't been a total disaster, either. So you know what that means. That means ...

The Astros ended the week much like they began it: winning. They took three out of four from the Yankees in the Bronx, winning with Charlie Morton on the mound in the final game. They swept a two-game series against the Braves on Tuesday and Wednesday, going 5-1 for the week. At 26-12, the Astros have the best record in all of Major League Baseball. In the AL West, they are 7 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Rangers and it's just May 15.  Click on Keep Reading for notes and links. Astros (26-12) In addition to what you just read above, the Astros also have the third best staff ERA in MLB (3.57), and 7th best FIP (3.82). On offense, they are second in the league in hits (355), fifth in home runs (51), fourth in RBIs (180). second in team batting average (.274) and fourth in OPS (.785), Yankees 11, Astros 6 Astros 10, Yankees 7 The Hardball Times ranks the best Astros players of all time. Rangers (19-20) One week ago the Rangers were dead last, had just lost a...

Of course, I know, there are no baseball gods. Or are there? Covering baseball by the numbers is fascinating fun and I'm a statistics fan just as much as the next guy or gal  but come on,  sometimes you look at a situation and think there is no way that such things can happen without the intervention of a wrathful spirit. Such a situation has developed with the 2017 Seattle Mariners.It's the sort of thing that leads to game recaps like this one from Lookout Landing's Kate Preusser Almost a quarter of the way through a season where management spent big bucks to end a) 40 years of not winning the AL pennant and b) a playoff drought that has reached 15 years, the Mariners are three games under .500 and in fourth place. I speculated they would turn it around on this current road trip against the hapless Phillies and formerly hapless Blue Jays . One could say I mis-speculated, if mis-speculated was a word. But it's not just what has happened. It's the way things...

Deep in the heart of the Texas, they are celebrating as the Rangers completed the strange trip between last place and second place. The Angels , in second yesterday, fell to the Tigers . The Mariners, once in second and rising, seem cursed. The A's have last place all to themselves. Notes, boxes and links on each team if your Keep Reading . Astros (25-11) Nature made sure the Yankees didn't lose to the Astros. Apparently nature is one of the few things that can stop this team. Today they send Mike Fiers to the mound and go for the sweep in the Bronx - Fiers has been a weak link in the rotation, although not he pitched well his last outing in Orange County against the Angels. More on the Astros rotation and who might get the call-up from the minors. Rangers (18-20) At least one Texas writer was calling it a lost season  just days ago, and yet here we are. The Rangers didn't wait until the last inning to win against the A's this time, instead taking the lea...

Technically, there is still a race in the American League West, but it feels like its all theater, now. The Astros cleared a major hurdle by winning a tough game on the road with someone other than Dallas Kuechel pitching .  The Mariners lost to the Blue Jays and also lost Hisashi Iwakuma.  The Angels proved how tightly packed the sub.-.500 group is by rocketing to second place with one victory. The Athletics  ended up on the wrong end of a walkoff game, this time. Click Keep Reading for notes, boxes and links. Astros (25-11) Lance McCullers Jr. looked like an ace out there last night, mixing pitches, keeping the Yankees off balance and throwing a shut out through 6 innings.   Brian McCann hit a three-run homer against his former club, adding insult to the Yankees' injuries. The Astros have won five in a row with the 5-1 victory. The box.  McCann truly enjoys the short porch in right field at Yankees Stadium. Angels (18-20) The Halos shut out ...

Astros (24-11) Right now, the Astros are just better. They have the best record in the American League. They have the best record on the road. They have the best record over the last 10 games. They have the best ace in Dallas Keuchel, something the Yankees discovered firsthand last night. However, if I may ask you to think back   to April 25 , the Indians lost the first game in a series against the Astros with Keuchel on the mound. Then they won the series. The next three games at Yankees Stadium will show if the Astros can win big games behind someone other than Keuchel. The box. The Yankees need starting pitching depth, too. The New York Daily News says a Yankees vs. Astros bidding war is possible. Who will benefit? Probably the Chicago White Sox . Mariners (17-18) The mercurial Chris De Jong got knocked around again last night and the Mariners dropped their first game in the current road trip, losing to the Blue Jays . But when you click on the link to the box ...

Well, I thought the Mariners looked to have   the best chance this week to reach .500 and take over second place. Took them two days. The Astros finished the tune up for the Yankees series by again beating the Braves . The Angels and A's find themselves mired in the middle after the A's won the series between the two yesterday, leaving both clubs two games under .500. The Rangers are fighting their way back to mediocrity by beating up on the lowly Padres . Click Keep Reading to get notes, links and boxes. Astros (23-11) The next four games in New York pit two of the four best clubs in the American League (the others being the Orioles and Indians)  against each other. If you are not looking forward to this series then you do not really like baseball. Dallas Keuchel takes the mound for Game 1 tonight. The box.  Some interesting Astros statistics.  Mariners (17-17) From last to second for the second time this year. The Mariners are 6-2 in Ma...

The Angels keep hope alive that they can win their first series in May after they evened up against the A's in Oakland. The A's, ending their run of miracle finishes, tumble back into fourth place. The Astros, playing in their own division, put the lumber to the Braves . The Mariners , as expected, take the first game on the road against the Phillies . The Rangers finally scored runs against a hapless Padres club - too bad they couldn't spread those out over a few games. Notes, links and boxes if you care to Keep Reading. Astros (22-11) Did you see the Astros last night? Most Houstonians didn't - they were watching the Rockets lose a heartbreaker in San Antonio. The Astros scored five on Braves starter Bartolo Colon in the first, including home runs by Carlos Correa and Carlos Beltran . They never looked back, winning 8-3. It's the best start for the Astros since 1973 - a season they ended with an 82-80 record and in fourth place. Something tells me that...

The Athletics continued their string of walk-off wins. After beating the Tigers that way twice in a row, they did it again last night against the struggling Angels. Scores and boxes below, notes and links on each team if you Keep Reading. A's 3, Angels 2 Another of the A's veterans came through last night. Jed Lowrie hit a home run in the 4th, then won the game with another home run in the 11th. Trevor Plouffe had tied the game in the 5th with a solo shot of his own. After giving up a two-run homer in the 1st, Kendall Graveman settled in and pitched seven strong innings. The A's pitchers didn't allow a run for the rest of the game. The box,.  Padres 5, Rangers 1 This series seemed like a chance for the Rangers to get it together, but instead things continue to fall apart. Starter Nick Martinez gave up four earned runs in six innings - not quality. The Rangers continue to look for answers in the second game tonight before hosting the Padres in two ga...

At this point, we're not looking for anyone to actually challenge the Astros . Ha ha ha! That'd be like asking one of those sub.500 clubs in the National League East to challenge the Washington Nationals. Just look at those standings . No, but it would be nice to see at least one other team climb above .500 and stay there for long than two days (we are looking at you, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ). Who has the best chance? See where everyone in the Al West is playing this week if you click Read More.  The Astros  host the Braves and then go on the road to play...the Yankees . Yes! This four-game series will provide a true test of where the Astros are at this point, because the "rebuilding" Yankees have the best record in the American League. Nervous Astros fans will recall they didn't do so well against the Indians , losing two out of three in Cleveland April 25-27. The Angels  travel to Oakland for a three-game set against the A's , a team they swept ...

Of course it's too soon to call the division for the Astros. It's May 8, for Pete's sake. But this week, they took three of four from Arch Enemy the Rangers and then won a series on the road against the second place Angels . Actually, you can't blame Astros fans for looking over at the Indians , Yankees and Orioles and wondering how they will stack up. No one in the rest of the Al West is even over .500. Astros (21-11) Has there been a better week than last week for Astros fans in a long, long time? They knocked around the Rangers and then flew out to Orange County and won a series. Stories also surfaced indicating they are looking for another ace to create Wonder Twin superpowers with the Koufaxian Dallas Keuchel . It's all; beautiful in Bayou City right now. And looky here, there are more on the way . Angel (16-17) Mike Trout sat out games with a sore hammy. The Angels lost a series on the road in Seattle. Then they went home and lost a series ag...

So that's why you keep watching. Both the Angels and A's are keeping things interesting in their respective series against teams that look a whole lot better than they do with wins in their last at-bats. The Mariners evened up the series against the Rangers with a seven-run explosion. All five AL West teams play to win a series today. Team notes and links when you click Read More. Astros (20-11) The Astros have a chance to put even more daylight between themselves and the Angels today, with Mike Fiers getting another chance to show he can be a solid back of the rotation guy. The Astros bullpen has been knocked around a bit in this series - last night it was the usually unhittable Chris Devenski.  More on the Astros search for another starter, with the focus on White Sox ace Jose Quintana . The box. Angels (16-16) The Angels send Matt Shoemaker to the mound today to try to get the win in this series. The Halos have offered up what has become their commonpla...