May 17: Angels, Rangers Reach .500, At Long Last

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 Angels keep coming back. The Halos guaranteed themselves a series win against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday with a walk-off single by Albert Pujols in the 11th inning. Cameron Maybin had a five-hit game and J.C. Ramirez pitched seven strong innings.

Angels 7, White Sox 6

Here's Pujols game-winning hit. This is the first time the Angels have won three in a row since April 26.

Rangers (20-20)

The Rangers finally hit .500 after a weeks-long climb out of last place. Yu Darvish dominated, allowing one run in seven innings and striking out nine. The Rangers now have the longest active winning streak in Major League Baseball at seven games.

Rangers 5, Phillies 1

That winning feeling is back in DFW.


Mariners (18-22)

Let's just put it this way: the Mariners lose the rubber match today against the A's and they are back in last place. They got here by allowing the A's to score five runs in the top of the 9th. Well, actually, they got here for a lot of reasons - getting swept in Toronto for one thing and having one starter left from the original, planned rotation. But, still. Here they are.

Athletics 9, Mariners 6

More bad injury news for the Mariners: Robinson Cano was moved to the DL.

Athletics (17-22)

Quite a night for the A's. Ryon Healy hit a home run so hard it smashed a dude's phone.  Andrew Triggs didn't get the win but had another great performance, lowering his ERA to 2.12.  Matt Joyce - Matt Joyce! - tied the game with a 9th-inning homer, then recent call-up Mark Canha hit a three-run shot to put the A's ahead. They ended a five-game slide. They have a chance today to move out of last place.

Athletics 9, Mariners 6

Here's the sort of data breakdown I expect from A's fans.

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