AL West

In the fifth inning of Saturday's 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim top prospect Mike Trout showed why the team was so keen on bringing him up to the majors in favor of the recently-released Bobby Abreu.

The Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians will close out a three-game American League series on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field, with the first pitch scheduled 1:05 p.m. ET.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have established the Rangers as -150 road favorites, while the total stands at 8.5, but is facing downward pressure in the market.

Players want to have their names in the record books—but not for records like this. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have had very few things to celebrate this season, and on Friday night they set a record that would have been better left unbroken.

The Oakland A's put runs on the board early and Jarrod Parker made them stand up. But it took Jordan Norberto to bail out scuffling Grant Balfour as the A's defeated Boston 5-3 tonight at Fenway Park.

Parker went a solid 6 2/3 innings. He allowed a single run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. The key was getting ahead in the count and Parker threw 59 strikes in 98 pitches.

It was one of the biggest mysteries concerning Josh Hamilton‘s ability on the field. During the past couple seasons, he was a superstar during night games but looked somewhat mortal when the sun was up.

It should be noted that Hamilton’s at bats during the evening more than double his amount during day games. But, his stats still told an interesting story. 

Albert Pujols was having one of the greatest starts to an MLB career of all time. In Pujols' 11 full seasons, all with the St. Louis Cardinals, he hit at least .299, 30 homers, scored 99 runs and drove in 99 more in all of them. 

However, it's clear Pujols' skill-set is rapidly declining, and faster than we could have ever imagined. 

The Oakland A's are one of the teams that are thankful for the extra wild-card spot in the playoffs.

Although they are still long-shots to make the playoffs, a winning start has boosted fans' spirits as the season unfolds.

Last season they began the season very similar to this year, by hovering around .500. Their downfall began after they were 27-27.

In the following 14 games they lost all but one, including 10 in a row at one point. The season was all but lost after that run.

The Oakland Athletics have a glaring hole at third base—one that could be filled effectively by Brandon Inge.

The former Detroit Tiger was cut Thursday, ending a 12-year career in the Motor City.

Inge is only a .234 career hitter.

There is no way I can hide my excitement.

Watching the Angels and Nationals play today will be equal to my tearing open a retail pack of baseball cards as a 12-year-old.

The first step to being successful is getting over .500 and the Oakland Athletics have taken that step. 

The A's took a 3-1 lead on an Eric Sogard two-run home run and never looked back on Friday night. 

Josh Reddick added a home run for Oakland and finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Brandon McCarthy picked up his first win of the year. He was solid for seven innings allowing two runs while striking out four and issuing three walks.