AL West

Talk about a good walk spoiled. Brian Fuentes gave up a two out, three-run home run to former Oakland slugger Josh Willingham and the A's lost their seventh straight game, 3-2 in Minnesota. Fuentes took the loss, giving up all three runs on two hits and a walk. 

Josh Willingham hit 29 home runs for the Oakland A's in 2011. Tuesday night he hit a walk-off home run for the Minnesota Twins that defeated the A's.

It was a pitchers duel for most of the night but in the seventh inning, the Oakland A's looked like they might pull off the victory after they broke through for a run and followed it up in the eighth inning with another run.

Everybody has been waiting four months for this day to arrive: The date that Manny Ramirez is eligible to rejoin a major league ballclub.

Last December, Ramirez hinted that he was interested in un-retiring from baseball, following a seven-month absence in light of his positive drug test result during May of 2011, while he was playing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The task of catching the Texas Rangers has just become more difficult for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as they were forced to place Jered Weaver on the 15-day disabled list.

The move happens less than 24 hours after Weaver was forced to leave the game against the New York Yankees.

The American League may as well take the rest of the season off. There's no point in trying to win the AL pennant this year. The Texas Rangers have already secured it.

The Rangers, in case you haven't been paying attention, have been the Junior Circuit's best team all season. They may have hit a rough patch earlier this month, but they're going to end May with the best record in the AL and the best run differential of any team in the majors. 

The baseball gods are really testing the Los Angeles Angels' collective resolve this season.

First, the Angels had to deal with Albert Pujols' prolonged slump, which sucked the life out of their offense and was painful to watch from beginning to end. It also may or may not have cost hitting coach Mickey Hatcher his job.

That's gone by fast.

It seems as though just yesterday was the start of the 2012 MLB Season. Yet we find ourselves in the middle of May at the quarter-mark of the 162-game season wondering, "Where did all that time go?"

That's baseball for you, folks. The next quarter will fly by as quickly as the last, and soon enough, it will be September, in the heat of playoff races. And playoff time means time for awards. 

What a slow and boring past three years it has been for the Oakland Athletics organization regarding its interest in moving to the Silicon Valley.

Three bogus years of contrived interest in solving the issue of the Athletics' owner Lew Wolff’s desire to move the team down to San Jose. Three years later, and there’s still no resolution. Not even close.

It’s almost as if nothing has happened.

The San Diego Padres stand as the worst injury-bitten team in Major League Baseball. Mark Kotsay becomes the latest player to be added to the injured list, as the Los Angeles Angels make the 90-minute drive further south in California to visit the Padres Saturday night.

The Texas Rangers had Roy Oswalt throw a bullpen session for them on Friday, revealing the Rangers as the another team that saw him pitch.