The Oakland Athletics went into their series with the New York Mets sitting 5 1/2 games back of the Texas Rangers. Although the A's lost two of the three games, they head into Philadelphia having lost only 1/2 game. Oakland is sitting at 34-42 and six games back of the Rangers entering a series that could help get them some momentum heading into the All Star Break in a couple weeks.
While the A's are facing the Phillies, the Rangers will be hosting the New York Mets for three games. Elsewhere, the Mariners will be playing three games in Miami against the Florida Marlins and the Angels will be playing three "road" games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The AL West is bunching up more and more as the All Star Break approaches. For Oakland, that means that even with their rather poor record, they're still hanging in there in the race. The A's are at a point where they just need to tread water while they get healthy and try and figure out their next move. After the A's get through their three games in Philadelphia, they head home to face Arizona for three games. They wrap up the first half with three at home against Seattle and four on the road at Texas. As long as they can hold their ground against Philadelphia and Arizona, the A's could be in prime position to make a move in the division before the All Star Break.