May 11: Mariners Reach .500, Astros Start Yankees Series Tonight

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 May. They completed a two-game sweep of the Phillies yesterday, getting eight runs in three innings off the Phillies bullpen. It's on to Toronto to face a struggling Blue Jays club in a four-game series.

The box. 

That killer top of the batting order continues to mash.

Angels (17-19)

The Angels haven't won a series in May after losing to the Athletics on Wednesday afternoon. Not coincidentally, they also haven't had Mike Trout for much of May. Of course they also haven't had ace Garrett Richards, closer Cam Bedrosian, reliever Huston Street and a bevy of other people. Look at it that way and its amazing they are just two games under .500. Next they host a Tigers club that is essentially an AL Central version of the Halos.

The box. 

We are about to find out what the Angels can do outside the American League West. 

Athletics (16-18)

The A's won their second series in a row - the first against the Tigers, this one against the Angels. This time it required no late innings heroics, just solid pitching. Starter Andrew Triggs started the game by walking three batters, then settled down to pitch six solid innings. Then the bullpen trio of Liam Hendricks, Ryan Madson and Santiago Castilla finished it off with three scoreless innings. Next up? The Rangers in Arlington.

The box. 

Warriors star Kevin Durant watches the A's, meets Ricky Henderson, falls in love with baseball 

Rangers (15-20)

The Rangers again beat the Padres - that's two out of three with a final game coming today. Too bad they can't play the Padres every game. They get back into the AL West this weekend, hosting the Athletics. The two teams are 3-3 against each other so far this season, with both clubs winning a series at home. 


New T-shirts available, as well as new food at The Ballpark in Arlington.   



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