A's and Giants give the Bay Area high hopes for playoffs

The small-budget Oakland Athletics are baseball's best team at the break in a division featuring some of the sport's highest-paid stars. The San Francisco Giants are right in the chase for the NL West title despite recent stumbles.

Bay Area baseball has delivered a stellar first half. It is only mid-July and there is already talk of a special October and, perhaps, the first Bay Bridge Series since 1989.

California could have four teams still playing into October. The two organizations in northern California have set the tone.