AL West

Making his ninth start of the season and the 10th of his career, Los Angeles Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker struck out seven Houston Astros over six innings in Thursday's 5-2 victory.

The Oakland Athletics own the best record in baseball but are currently fighting through injuries to critical players, most notably outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

Seattle Mariners outfielder James Jones had a night to remember Monday against the Houston Astros, as he became just the second player in franchise history to record four hits and three stolen bases in the same game, per MLB Stat of the Day.

For the first time since 2010, the Seattle Mariners will have a position player representative at the All-Star Game.

Robinson Cano will be making the trip to Minnesota on July 15 to play in his fifth consecutive All-Star contest. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will join teammate Felix Hernandez, who would be making his fourth straight appearance.

Things haven't been nearly as bad in Houston as many expected they would be, with the Astros looking very much like a team that has finally taken a big step back towards respectability after years of being the laughingstock of the game.

General manager Jeff Luhnow has done a remarkable job in recent years of unloading his veterans for younger, less-expensive talent, and the current roster doesn't have much in the way of valuable trade chips to peddle at the trade deadline.

The Los Angeles Angels weren't going to wait for the calendar to flip to July before making a move, trading their own disappointing closer, Ernesto Frieri, to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for another disappointing closer, Jason Grilli, toward the end of June.