Mariners have a great opportunity to continue to build AL West lead vs Athletics

The Mariners find themselves in an enviable position, one that many a team would love to be in. After playing what some sites had as the hardest 51 games to open the season in all of baseball, the Mariners get a taste of the other side of the coin, playing out a schedule that was supposed to be the easiest in baseball from that point forward.

They've taken advantage, and now sit at 34-27 with a 4.5 game lead in the AL West, in large part to having gone 12-4 against the AL West up to this point. They take that lead into Oakland to play the Athletics, who are a much different team than the Mariners saw when they played them last month.

The Mariners have a great chance to increase their AL West lead

Oakland was 18-21 when they came to Seattle, quietly playing some good baseball and giving off some Major League vibes as the modern-day version of that Cleveland team that everyone loved. However, they've been a completely different team since then. They've gone 6-16 since then, having been outscored by 36 runs over that span.

Mitch Spence and JP Spears will start and finish the series for Oakland, and have actually done pretty well this season with ERA's of 3.52 and 4.01, respectively. With the emergence of Mason Miller, their bullpen has actually been really good this season, ranking 5th in baseball with a 3.42 ERA. It hasn't been enough to stop the A's struggles, as everyone else on the team has been pitching rough essentially, to the tune of a 4.68 ERA the last 30 days, the 4th-worst mark in baseball.

All eyes should be on Brent Rooker, as he is trying to play his way out of Oakland. He leads the team with 12 homers and is playing well the last 30 days as well, having hit five in that span while slashing .299/.382/.505. With the Mariners needing to add a bat, especially one in the outfield to replace whatever it is that Mitch Haniger is doing, could Rooker essentially be posting a tryout for the Mariners?

Oakland has some nice young players, some fun ones to watch, and the tantalizing must-watch TV that is a Mason Miller appearance. However, the Mariners are a better team. This is a great opportunity to head to Oakland, kick off the short road trip (Kansas City next), and increase their AL West lead.

With George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Bryan Woo on the mound, they've got a great shot at winning this series. I'm always wary of calling for a sweep, but if the Mariners bats continue to show up, taking advantage of clutch situations (the Grand Slam) as well as errors (Neto's boot late), then the brooms are definitely in play.