Houston Astros Eclipse 50 Wins

Drawing an eerily similar result of the first half of the season to last year's, the Astros are now posted up at 50-43 and are eyeing the vaunted Texas Rangers atop the AL West.

Of course, even with all the struggles on the mound for Texas, the team is still an AL ace, and Houston will have to buck up and will its way past the Rangers during the waning time of the season. As we dig further into divisional battling, the Astros are in the catbird seat, but simply have to play good ball against the Rangers, which they haven't been able to do much this season.

It will be peculiarly interesting to see what the Astros (and Rangers) do before the trade deadline. Word is they aren't quite as poised as last year, but talks are still definitely being held.

With the AL West race heating up by the day, we can all expect one hell of a finish between not only the 'Stros and Rangers, but possibly the Mariners...