East Division
Philadelphia Phillies (68-49) –
With three consecutive wins, all of which involved the opposition scoring just
one run per game, the Phillies are approaching the 20-game above .500 mark
again. Cliff Lee has been fabulous since putting on that Phils jersey.
He’s 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA and 34 strikeouts. Just this past Wednesday night he
went the distance tossing a two-hitter and beating Dan Haren. Ryan Howard had been on fire, leading the Phillies during this recent streak. Not
only did he knock a three-run homer out against Haren, but he has six home runs
in his last seven games with 12 RBI.
Florida Marlins (64-56) – Hanley Ramirez was hitting .340 just 13 games ago. He’s managed to add 18 points to
his batting average since then. That’s not easy when you are already getting a
hit more than once in every three at-bats. In that span he had 11 multi-hit
games and added 13 RBI to his total of 82. The Marlins are very much in the
playoff hunt, and with the prospect of starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez
coming back this week, Florida is starting to look intriguing
again.
Atlanta Braves (63-57) – The Braves just
don’t score a whole lot of runs. Brian McCann is leading the team in RBI and he
has driven in just 61 runs. It is likely that the Braves will end the season
without a 100-RBI man. Meanwhile, Nate McLouth, who had been helping out the
team offense, landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left
hamstring.
New York Mets (56-64) – Amidst
their disabled list woes, David Wright was leading the Mets in batting
average, RBI, runs, and stolen bases. Now Wright joins many of his fellow
teammates on the DL with post-concussion symptoms. And what a difference a year
makes! Francisco Rodriguez saved 62 games last season for the Angels.
He’s saved just 26 this season, and in the past month he has blown two save
opportunities and suffered two losses raising his ERA from 2.06 to
3.27.
Washington Nationals (43-77) – The
Nationals win streak was cracked last week, stopping it at eight. They dropped
three straight and then went on to take three in a row against Cincinnati. After going
0-2 in his first four starts, rookie pitcher J.D. Martin settled in for
back-to-back wins against Arizona and Cincinnati. His stats
aren’t stellar striking out just two batters over 11 innings of work in those
two games, but he was effective scattering 11 hits and only giving up one earned
run.
Central
Division
St. Louis Cardinals (69-53) – Like
what we seem to see year after year, the Cardinals keep winning and finding
players that thrive in their uniform. Since joining the Cardinals 23 games ago,
Matt Holliday is hitting .430 with five home runs and 22 RBI in 93
at-bats. That’s almost half his production in Oakland in a quarter of the time. The Cards are
hoping to strike gold again with John Smoltz. St. Louis picked up the
42-year-old likely Hall of Famer with plans to fill their number five spot in
the rotation. If that doesn’t work out all that well, Smoltz could move into the
setup role.
Chicago Cubs (61-57) – Chasing a
red hot Cardinals team, the Cubs just don’t seem to have the stamina. And lately
they’ve been running out of gas in the ninth inning. Kevin Gregg was the
club’s closer, but he has gone 0-3 with three blown saves this month. His most
recent flop came in San
Diego Monday night when he blew a 1-0 lead, giving up
four runs in the ninth inning for the loss. Manager Lou Piniella demoted
Gregg and put setup man Carlos Marmol in the closer role. Marmol has four
blown saves of his own this season, and though he has 67 strikeouts in 56.1
innings of work, he also has 52 walks. Can the Cub fans’ tickers handle Marmol
in the closer role?
Milwaukee Brewers (58-62) – With
four straight losses, the Brewers are now four games under .500. They managed to
get swept by the lowly Pirates in a three game set this week. And they traded
away Bill Hall to the Mariners. In 2006 Hall hit 35 home runs and scored
101 runs earning a monster contract, but that one season turned out to be the
blip in his career. In two and a half seasons since then he has just 35 total
home runs, and in 76 games this season, Hall was hitting just
.201.
Houston Astros (58-62) – It doesn’t
happen often in Houston, but it looks like the Astros are
packing it in. The club traded away catcher Ivan Rodriquez to the Texas
Rangers giving the sign that a playoff berth might very well be out of reach for
the club this season. Miguel Tejada, meanwhile, has fallen into a bit of
a slump. He was hitless in six straight games before having an RBI double in
Wednesday’s contest against Florida.
Cincinnati Reds (50-69) – The Reds have lost
five straight games. At the All-Star break they were just three games under .500
and very much in the playoff picture. Just over a month later and an 8-24
stretch, the club finds themselves with a 50-69 record. Aaron Harang is
6-14 with a 4.35 ERA. Johnny Cueto has lost six straight decisions and is
8-10 on the season with a 4.61 ERA. And Bronson Arroyo, who leads the
team with 11 wins, is 3-6 in his last 10 starts. That pretty much tells the
story.
Pittsburgh Pirates (49-70) – With
a sweep of Milwaukee, the Pirates host the Reds this
weekend with hopes of getting out of the cellar and locking their Ohio-based
neighbors there for good. Starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf has quietly
amassed a solid season. He’s 11-8 with a 4.15 ERA, and he’s 3-0 in his last four
starts.
West Division
Los
Angeles Dodgers (71-50) – The Dodgers are
4-8 in their last 12 games and just lost two of three to the NL Central leading
Cardinals. Starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda went on the DL with
post-concussion syndrome after being hit in the head with a line drive. To help
in their pitching rotation, the club did sign veteran starter Vicente
Padilla, who was released by the Rangers this week.
Colorado Rockies (67-53) –
Throughout his career Jason Marquis has been known to be a great
first-half pitcher that tends to fade late in the season. Marquis has gone 2-2
since the All-Star break and is now 13-8. His career high in wins is 15, which
he set in 2004 with St.
Louis. Carlos Gonzalez is also having a career
year, granted this is only his second season in the bigs. Gonzalez homered again
Wednesday, making it his fourth straight game with a round-tripper, and sixth
long ball in his last eight games.
San
Francisco Giants (66-54) – Matt Cain
has lasted at least 7.0 innings in each of his last four starts, but he is 0-2
during that span. He still maintains a 12-4 record with a 2.49 ERA. And Tim Lincecum is winless in his last three starts getting a no-decision in each.
Though he was touched up by Cincinnati in the last game for five runs in
6.0 innings, Lincecum’s 12-3 record has been unchanged since August
1.
Arizona Diamondbacks (54-67) –
Back on July 18, Dan Haren faced his former team, the St. Louis
Cardinals, and pitched a gem lowering his ERA under two to 1.96. Since then he’s
going 2-3 and has given up 23 earned runs in his last seven starts pushing his
ERA up to a still impressive 2.74.
San Diego Padres (51-71) – Sunday
evening, Heath Bell and the Padres blew a 5-4 lead in a rain-delayed game
against the Cardinals to lose 7-5. But both Bell and the club bounced back against the
Cubs. The scored four runs in the ninth inning Monday to rally for a 4-1
victory, with Bell earning the win, and then held
on to a 6-3 win Tuesday, with Bell earning the save.
Got questions or comments? Email
them to pete@petekhazen.com.