It’s hard to complain about being in first place, even if you’ve taken an uneven path to get there.

The Oakland A’s entered May atop the AL West, ½ game ahead of Texas. But the A’s didn’t take a direct route to the top in the season’s first four weeks.

Oakland already has experienced a three-game winning streak, a four-game winning streak, a three-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak.

And the calendar just flipped to May.

Oakland started fast. After dropping the first game of the season, the A’s won four straight. The next week, a three-game win streak followed, pushing Oakland’s record to 9-4 on the season.

Then the A’s gave it back, starting with a three-game losing skid. A four-game slide to end the month brought Oakland back to .500 at 12-12.

May started on an upswing, though, the A’s snapping the losing streak with a 4-3 victory at Toronto. Gio Gonzalez got the win, improving to 3-1 on the season by striking out eight in 6 2/3 innings.

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Duchscherer missed all of the 2009 season because of an elbow injury. He was also treated for depression, which may or may not have stemmed from his season-ending injury.

The two-time All-Star converted into a starting pitcher in 2008 and had a great deal of success. He went 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA while throwing a career-high number of innings.

Those 141 innings he pitched may very well be the reason why missed all of the following season with an elbow injury. Nonetheless, the team is expected to put him back in the starting rotation in 2010.

The 32-year old will add a much needed veteran presence to a young starting rotation that the A’s hope will eventually lead them back to the postseason.