We are six weeks into the MLB season and there is no tighter race than the AL West right now. What started out as a neck-and-neck battle between the Texas Rangers and The Seattle Mariners has quickly become a hydro boat race between the Mariners, Astros and Athletics. The Seattle Mariners won nine straight series before getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend. The Mariners opening four game series against The Athletics resulted in a tie before they went on to lose their next series to the Detroit Tigers 1-2 at home and then being swept by The Giants in San Francisco. Mariners' fans were concerned about the season however, their luck seemed to turn around when they beat the Astros in Seattle 2-1. The Mariners then swept The Rangers knocking them out of their top position and went on to win seven more series, securing their first-place spot in the division. However, all this momentum came to an abrupt halt when the Blue Jays visited Seattle, sweeping the Ms. This opened up a world of possibilities for the Houston Astros who have won seven of thirteen series, sweeping the Blue Jays and also being swept by the Giants. The Astros sit at .513 PCT (win percentage) and two games behind
The Athletics are also in the race at two games behind with a .512 PCT. The A's lost three of their first five series before sweeping the Chicago White Socks and beating out the Brewers in Milwaukee 2-1. The Athletics then went on to contribute to the Rangers woes by beating them in Sacramento 2-1. Their next series against the Mariners resulted in a loss, that being the ninth consecutive series win for Seattle. The athletics also lost their Series over the weekend to The Yankees and now face the number One team in the league, The L.A Dodgers, giving the Mariners and Astros a small amount of room for error.
The Texas Rangers are not out of the fight, sitting at three games behind with a .488 PCT. The Rangers started out hot, winning their first three series before losing to The Cubs in Chicago and then being swept by the Mariners in Seattle. That was followed by an easy series sweep against the Angels before losing the next six series consecutively. This came at a time when rivalry teams were just heating up pushing the Rangers from 1st place in the division to 4th. The rangers have a mixed matchup coming up. They should be able to slide by the Colorado Rockies with ease who are currently 7-33, the worst record in a league, but then will be forced to face division rivals Houston Astros and AL East Leaders New York Yankees before there is a light at the end of the tunnel in the White Sox.
The Angels continue to fall further behind at 16-23 and six games behind, but they haven't had the easiest matchup thus far. They won their first four series against the White Sox, Cardinals, Guardians and Rays before falling to the Astros and Rangers. They then beat the Giants who have been one of the toughest teams in the league, especially early on to beat. Unfortunately, they then lost three series straight, including back-to-back sweeps by both the Twins in a three-game series and The Mariners in a two-game series. The Angels beating out teams like the Guardians, Giants and Blue Jays is no small accomplishment. With right fielder Mike Trout out with a knee injury for an undetermined amount of time and series against a tough Padres team starting today, followed by The Dodgers, it doesn't look promising for the Angels to come up any time soon.
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