Photo credit: whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com

On the MLB The Show podcast with Matt:

The Oakland A’s are the toast of baseball with their series opening win over the Houston Astros in 10 innings on Friday night at the Oakland Coliseum 4-3. The A’s now move just one game back behind first place Houston in the AL West. The Astros have been snake bitten with five of their key players on the disabled list.

The Los Angeles Dodgers keep the pressure up as they pick up their second straight win this time in a laugher at Safeco Field against the Seattle Mariners 11-1. For the Mariners, their third loss in their last four games and trying to get some traction since the A’s passed them up in the AL West standings the M’s are now 4 1/2 games back. The Dodgers are now just two games back of first place Arizona in the NL West.

Despite being 25 games out of first place in the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox have won three straight in a 9-3 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Friday night. Their not drawing record breaking crowds but considering where they are in mid-August. They drew over 24,000 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The New York Yankees–still holding onto a wild card spot and some 10 1/5 games behind first place Boston–were able to get a two run win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yanks’ Neil Walker hit a three-run homer and Giancarlo Stanton hit an opposite field homer in the cause.

The race for the NL East between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies got a little interesting Friday night. The Braves who lost and the Phils, who won tighten their pace by a 1/2 game. The second place Phils are now a 1/2 game out as the first place Braves lost to the Colorado Rockies 11-5 and the Phillies got a two-run win over the Mets 4-2 after the Mets crushed the Phillies on Thursday 24-4.

Matt Harrington does the Oakland A’s coverage each Friday and MLB The Show podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com