AL West Week 4 Review: Astros All Alone At The Top, Angels Make Move Up The Standings


The Astros stayed in first while the rest of the division scrambled to see who will emerge as a solid No. 2, For now, that looks to be the Angels, who swept the A's at home and then took two out of three from the Rangers. The A's dropped like a stone, going 1-6 in their last seven games. It wasn't pretty for the Rangers, either, losing series at home to the Twins and Angels. And the Mariners? They went 3-3 on a road trip to Detroit and Cleveland, but they still remain in last place. A look at the week ahead below.


Astros (16-9)

The Astros lost a series against the Indians, but the most important development was the continued dominance of Dallas Keuchel, who beat both the Indians and A's in the past week, as well as solid performances from back of the rotation guys Charlie Morton and Joe Musgrove. They found themselves in dog fights against the scrappy A's, but they clearly proved in April they are the cream of the crop in the AL West. They've been in first since April 13.

Coming up: The Lone Star Series, which starts today. The Astros struggled against the Rangers last year - they need to prove they've turned it around against their arch rivals this week. They then travel to Los Angeles.

Angels (14-13)

Great week, just like Week 1. The most intriguing development is the solid starting pitching. Everyone knew the bats would come around, and they have. The Angels went 6-1 against division opponents. After one month, they are part of the wildcard race conversation.

Coming up: The Halos stay in the division this week, with a road series in Seattle and a home series against the Astros. Yet another week in which they can move dramatically up the standings.

Athletics (11-14)

A week to forget for the A's, who dropped back below .500. They actually played well against the Astros in spurts, but also committed strange mistakes such as balks and catcher's inference and also stumbled around in the field. They got Kendall Graveman back last week and Sonny Gray returns this week, giving them a young and talented starting rotation. But can they pitch them into contention in May?

Coming up: The A's have played just one series outside the division so far - a series they won against the Royals. This week, they have are on the road to face the Twins and then at home against the Tigers.

Rangers (11-14)

Ugh, a frustrating week with more bullpen woes and a lack of offense when needed. That said, Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish still are pitching like front line aces, and they can make up a whole lot of ground this week in the Lone Star Series.

Coming up: The Rangers travel to Houston. They owned the Astros last year and will play four games in Houston to start the week. Obviously, winning that series could spark a turnaround in May. They will spend next weekend in Seattle.

Mariners (11-15)

As noted, they played .500 ball on a very difficult road trip. It's just that when they lost, they lost in spectacular fashion. They started the road trip giving up 19 runs to the Tigers. They ended it giving up 12 runs to the Indians.

Coming up: With back-to-back series at home against the Angels and Rangers, the Mariners have a chance to end the week in much better position than they are starting it.


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