The Oakland Athletics head into the final week of the first half of the regular season looking to use a key stretch of games to make up some ground in the AL West. The A's took two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks while the Texas Rangers lost two of three, which allowed Oakland to gain a game in the standings. Now the A's get three games with Seattle and four games with Texas in which they can make up a decent chunk of space in the standings.
This final week of the first half before the All Star break features an interesting mix of matchups within the division. Given how much action will be going on, it's impossible to predict where the AL West race will settle in a week. The A's play the Mariners and Rangers. The Mariners follow up their three in Oakland with four at the Angels. With six games separating first place from last place the next week could set up an exciting second half in the AL West.