The Oakland Athletics open a three-game series with the New York Yankees on Monday looking to build on their current four-game winning streak. The A's dropped to four games under .500 following a sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. The A's rebounded by splitting four games at the Angels and following that up with a three game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.
The AL West is one big knot at the moment as all four teams are playing fairly well. The Seattle Mariners are the hottest team in the division having won eight of their last ten, including a series victory over the Yankees. The Mariners entered the season with a lot of question marks and they appeared set to finish in the cellar. A weak start reinforced that view, but their recent run has them providing stiff competition for the rest of the division.
The A's schedule includes no divisional matchups the entire month of June. The A's wrap up the first half of the season with seven games against Seattle and Texas but will be everywhere but the West for June. Given the relative lack of divisional contests in June, it's possible the next few weeks could tighten up the wildcard race as well. Of course, that would require the AL West teams maintaining their hot streaks. It should make for an interesting June.