Checking in with the AL West: Houston and Anaheim slug it out at the top of the division

Last week, we examined how the AL West was starting to become a two-team race, with Houston and the Angels at the top, a significant gulf, and then the bottom three teams. After a week of underperformance, it’s not surprising that gulf has become a veritable Mariana Trench. This week, at last, the Mariners will see two AL West foes back-to-back in the A’s and the Astros, who will roll into town to face a reeling Seattle ballclub. Unfortunately, that could do even more damage to a playoff picture that’s already looking pretty bleak for the Mariners, as you can see on FanGraphs’ playoff odds tracker:

Both Houston and Anaheim hold steady as the boss of the AL West applesauce, while Seattle’s playoff chances have been cut by more than half—from 14.