Five things to watch for this week in Yahoo's Free MLB Game of the Day

Welcome to another week of baseball. As usual, we have a wide array of storylines to watch this week, and some of them you can see up close and personal right here on Yahoo Sports.

Our Free MLB Game of the Day features two of the best teams in MLB right now in the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. You also get two looks at Josh Donaldson’s return to Oakland as the Blue Jays face the A’s. The White Sox, Mets, Rangers and Angels all make an appearance too.

[Fantasy Football is open! Sign up now]

As always, you can stream the MLB Free Game of the Day on the Yahoo Sports MLB page or on the Free Game of the Day tab. Local blackouts apply per MLB rules. This week’s schedule is below and after that, you’ll find some storylines to watch this week.

MLB FREE GAME OF THE DAY SCHEDULE
Monday: Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 p.m. ET
Tuesday: St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 p.m. ET
Wednesday: Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Athletics, 3:35 p.m. ET
Thursday: Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays, 7:10 p.m. ET
Friday: Texas Rangers vs. Washington Nationals, 7:05 p.m. ET
Saturday: Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros, 4:10 p.m. ET
Sunday: New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves, 1:35 p.m. ET

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1. JOSH DONALDSON VS. THE A’S
Some fans in Oakland still wonder “what if?” about Josh Donaldson, the star third baseman the A’s traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2014. Donaldson turned into a perennial MVP candidate (and the winner in 2015) and that isn’t lost on anyone in Oakland. None of this is new information, but the history will certainly be a part of this week’s series between the two teams. You can catch two of the games here on Yahoo Sports — Monday night’s game at 10:05 p.m. ET and Wednesday’s 3:35 p.m. ET matinee.

2. IS ADAM WAINWRIGHT BACK?
Adam Wainwright was a hot mess most of last season and the start of this season. But the erstwhile St. Louis Cardinals ace looks to be more like the Waino we’ve seen over the years. He’s allowed one total run in his past four starts, helping his ERA to drop from 6.37 to 3.79 in that time. He’s facing the Reds on Tuesday in the Game of the Day.

3. WILL THE ASTROS LOSE AGAIN?
The Astros head into this week as winners of 10 in a row and an impressive 41 games total. The question is — by Saturday, when they’re featured in the Free Game of the Day — will they have lost? The Astros enter the week with an absurd 13.5-game lead in the AL West. So get ready for the question about these Astros to be, “How many games can they win?”

4. THE NATS ARE THE ASTROS OF THE NL
The Washington Nationals don’t have the best record in the NL entering play this week, but they do have the largest division lead — a plump 10.5 games over the Atlanta Braves. The Nats feel a lot like the Astros, actually. They’ve got a huge lead in a division where nobody else is even over .500. They’ll meet up with the Texas Rangers (the Astros chief rival!) in Friday’s Game of the Day.

5. YES, THE BRAVES ARE IN SECOND PLACE
As we mentioned above, yes, the Atlanta Braves aren’t the cellar-dwellers we expected this season. That, of course, is graded on the NL East curve. They enter place this week in second place by just a tick over the Mets and Marlins — the Braves are 24-30 and the Mets and Marlins are 24-31. Still, the Braves have at least been an interesting team to watch. Matt Kemp is good again, that helps. See them in Sunday’s Game of the Day against the Mets, who are every bit as disappointing this season as the second-place Braves are surprising.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed

– – – – – –

Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz