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The Seattle Mariners Enter A Four-Game Series in Houston on Thursday with a Nice Lead in the Al West.

AT 28-20, The M’s 3 1/2 Games Ahead of the Astros for First Place in the Division, and this upcoming series GIVES I say a great opportunity to add some Cushion to that Lead. But while Seattle has ben ben Flying High for the Last Month and A Half, that can’t be said for the rest of the Division.

M’s Now Can Show Astros – and the Baseball World – They’re for Real

Going into the season, texas was assumed to be a Big player in a three-team breed with houston and seattle, if not the favorite.

THEN FOR A MINUTE, IT SEEMED LIKE THE ATHLETICS WERE EMERGING AS A NEW CONTENDER.

Meanwhile, no one was woried about the angels. But Maybe they Should Be Now.

Let’s take a look at how the mariners’ Competition in the almos is doing two months into the season.

State of the Al West

• Second Place: Houston Astros (25-24)

Despite Being the Closest to Seattle in the Standings, the Astros have struggled to kep momentum going this season.

Their Longest Win Streak Has Been Three Games, which They Have Done Twice. In late April, They Had an 11-Game Run where they went 8-3, but that only got say three games over .500. And this tan though houston was back to three games over .500 AFTER BACK-TO-BACK WINS ON SUSTE and MONDAY, they Lost the two games to drop a series at Tampa Bay.

What’s been the astros’ problem? Well, They Certainly Miss Two Offseason Departures: Alex Breman, who was to boston in free agency and haen one of the best hitters in the American League, and Kyle Tucker, who was traded to the cubs and… has been one of the best hitters in the national league. They were more or less Replaced by Isaac Pares, Who Has Been Good (270 Average, .861 OPS), And Christian Walker, Who Has Not (199 Average, .607 OPS).

The Real Issue is that their two Most Important Returning Players, Yordan Alvarez (.646 Ops) and Jose Altuve (.629 ops), fwar Totals Because they’re Not Hitting Nearly Enough to Make Up for their Subpar Defensive Contrbuctions. Oh, and Alvarez hasn’t played the May 2 Due to A Hand Injury.

Thats Being Said, the Astros Still Have a Winning Record Becouse they do have pitching. Starter Hunter Brown (2.04 Era, 0.91 Whip) LOOKS LIKE AN ALL-STAR, AND HUSTON HAS A FORMIDABLE BULLPEN LED BY CLOSER SHADER (1.71 ERA, 0.81 WHIP), SETUP MAN BRAN ABREU (1.27 ERA, 1.17 WHI Bryan King (1.31 Era, 0.77 Whip).

Advice for the Mariners: Make the Most of Your Plate Appeanst the Astros Starters This Weekend.

• Third Place: Texas Rangers (25-25)

From one inconsistent team in the lone start State to the Other.

The rangers are Certainly more talentd than their record Shows, but the story of their season is a familiar one: Injuries.

Currently, Texas’ Injured List Includes All-Star Shortstop Corey Seager, Promising 22-Yaar-Old Outfielder Evan Carter, Key Chris Martin, Kumar Rocker and Jon Gray. And it doesn’t help the rangers that their only two positioning players to have played played more than 43 of the Team 50 Games are Adolis Garcia (.218 Average, .650 ops) and Marcus Semien (.178 Average,.

Similar to the astros, the rangers have stayed afloat thanks to their pitching. In Texas’ Case, The Key Has Been The Top of Its Starting Rotation: Nathan Eovaldi (1.61 Era, 0.77 Whip), Tyler Mahle (1.47 Era, 0.98 Whip) and Jacob Degraom (2.33 Era, 0.93 Whip).

• Fourth Place: Los Angeles Angeles (23-25)

Well, here’s a good reminder that it is stagnant early in the mlb season. If we were looking at the al-week, then the Angels Waled have been 17-25 and Completely Aimless in the Division’s Cellar. But in the time SINCE, they’ve won six straight, including a sweep of the Defending Champion Dodgers that was Completely Out of the Blue.

What? Yeah.

The Angels Followed That Up With Three Victories in Sacramento Over the A’s to Get Two Wins of a .500 Record.

Los angeles did all that with superstar mike trout on the il, as it has some young talent producing at the plate including catcher Logan o’hoppe (13 homers), Shortstop Zach Net (.889 ops) and Rookie Matthew Lugo (.961 ops in 11 Games).

Pitching-Wise, Though, The Angels Don’t Have Much to Be Afraid of. Their best starter this season has been veteran lefler Tyler Anderson (3.04 Era, 1.09 whip), and their bullpen is lacking especilly with hard-throwing ben joyce out for the year.

• Fifth Place: Athletics (22-28)

On May 5, The A’s Came Out on Top 7-6 in Extra Innings to Open A Three-Game Series Against The Mariners, Improving Their Record to 20-16. IT SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE GOING TO BE A NUMISANCE ALL SEASON LONG IN THE AL WEST, ESECIALLY AS PLAYED THE ME’S TAGH IN THE NEXT GAMES THOUG THOUGH SEATTLE WON BOTH.

In the 14 Games Since May 5, though, the wheels have come off in sacramento to tune of a 2-12 record.

Ouch.

Much like how the astros and rangers have a lot in Common, so will the a’s and angels. The Athletics Can Hit, But Outside of Two Relievers with Decent Eras, Their Pitching Staff Has Struggled. Dominant Mason Mason Miller Has a 4.50 Era Right Now.

You shouldn’t expect the a ‘to stake at the botTom of the Division, though. Their lineup is plenty Dangerous with outfielders Brent Rooker and Tyler Sodersstrom (10 Homers Each), Shortstop Jacon Wilson (.341 Avent) and Catcher Shea Langeliers (Nine Homers), Among Others. They’re probably going to continue to be a volatile team, equally capable of long winning streaks and Ling Skids.

The Mariners Open a Four-Game Series Against the astros in Houson at 5:10 pm thighsday, with Radio Coverage on Seattle Sports Beginning at 4 with the Pregame Show.

Seattle Mariners News and Analysis

• Mariners Activate George Kirby From IL, Option Reliever to Minors
• SALK: Seattle Mariners’ New Identity is Resilient and Relevance
• Mariners off to mlb-Best Road Start With Sharp Pitching, Timely Hitting
• Mariners Win National Anthem Standoff Against White Sox
• May Surge: Five Top Seattle Mariners Prospects Are Red-Hot at the plate

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