Last Week In Baseball

With the All Star break upon us, we'll take a break from the usual format and take a team-by-team look at how the first half wrapped up.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
New York (48-39, 2-5) -- So maybe the offense managed more than five runs in three games at Coors Field, something that escaped the cross-town rival Yankees a few weks ago. But at least the Yanks held Colorado to just thirteen. The Mets only scored twelve runs in getting swept by the Rockies this week, while giving up a whopping 34. For those keeping score at home, that's three losses by an average of more than seven runs-per-game. A split of four games with Houston doesn't really wash out the bad taste, either. Atlanta, who was playing a poorly as anybody two weeks ago, has now snuck within two games of first, and Philadelphia is lurking at four and a half back.

Atlanta (47-42, 4-3) -- With a really good week, the Braves could have actually caught the Mets and moved into first. As it is, they'll have to settle for a solid week, splitting four with Los Angeles and taking two of three from San Diego. The bigger picture is brighter for Atlanta; since their infamous four-shutouts-in-five-days two weeks ago, they've won nine of thirteen. Plus, they get creampuffs Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis out of the break, all at home. Compare that to the Mets, who also play Cincy at home, but then have to travel to Los Angeles and San Diego. So while some might consider a Mets division title an inevitability, we might only be a week and a half away from the Braves taking over first place.

Philadelphia (44-44, 2-4) -- The big news in Philly heading into the break was the Phillies coming to the rescue of an overmatched Colorado grounds crew, then dodging their 10,000th loss later that night. Like Charlie Manuel said following loss 9,999 on Saturday, the big number is irrelevant to the players, who have been involved at most in a few hundred of those 10k. What is impressive is the amount of loyalty the city has shown, and is still showing, to a team that's had that many awful years, that many defeats piling up. In a lot of cities, atendence would have plummeted, and the team would have bailed out for greener pastures a long time ago. (See Expos, Montreal)

Florida (42-47, 4-3) -- It was a non-descript end to a non-descript first half for the Marlins. This week, they won four but lostthree, scored 26 but gave up 26, beat All Star starter Jake Peavy but couldn't solve Mark Hendrickson, who lost 15 games last year. It's been that kind of season so far, and that probably won't change after the break. And nothing against Fredi Gonzalez, but you have to wonder what kind of season it would be if Joe Girardi was still at the helm.

Washington (36-52, 3-4) -- The Nationals are tied with Cincinnati for the worst record in the NL, but after a 9-25 start, anything other than being the sole worst team in all of baseball has to count for something. This week, the Nats should keep an eye out for a fruit basket from Chicago, after giving the Cubs three wins in four games, then turning around and taking two of three from first-place Milwaukee.

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
Milwaukee (49-39, 2-5) -- The darling of the National League crawled into the break, losing seven of its last ten. With Chicago finally playing better, it's going to be interesting to see see how long the Brew Crew can maintain its hold on baseball's worst division. If they keep losing series to the Pittsburghs and Washingtons of the world, it won't be very long.

Chicago (44-43, 4-3) -- The Cubs' plans to finish strong were scuttled in Pittsburgh this weekend, as the Pirates took two of three. But the North Siders still went 12-4 down the stretch to give Milwaukee cause to start sweating a little. And for those who are keeping track, Chicago is 22-12 since the Barrett-Zambrano-Piniella debacle of a weekend.

St. Louis (40-45, 4-3) -- The Cardinals opened the season with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Mets. They're still waiting for things to really start getting better. The defending NL champs' longest winning streak so far is a measly four games, and that came April 8-11. Their longest streak since spring actually arrived is only three, which they've only done twice. Not exactly a recipe for success, but then again, they didn't let mediocrity stop them last year either. With Milwaukee's recent struggles, the Redbirds have pull within seven and a half in first, but this isn't a bandwagon I'd recommend jumping on.

Pittsburgh (40-48, 5-2) -- They may be the only team to get swept by St. Louis this year, but if you do want to pick a dark horse in the second half, the Pirates are really interesting. If you haven't familiarized yourself with Tom Gorzelanny (9-4, 3.10 ERA) or Ian Snell (7-5, 2.93), you probably should. And while maybe you can't ride two young guns to a division title, it's not like the three teams ahead of them inspire all that much confidence right now. After all, the Pirates were able to make pretty quick work of the top two teams this week, going 5-2. Now they just have to figure out the Cardinals ...

Houston (39-50, 4-3) -- If Pittsburgh's going to try rising to the top of the division with just two pitchers, the Astros are going to have to do it with one. Roy Oswalt is 8-5 with a 3.53 ERA, while the other starters on staff are 19-31 with a 4.58 ERA. Though the 'Stros have to like what they've seen out of Wandy Rodriguez in his last two starts (2-0, 16 IP, 0 R, 7 H).

Cincinnati (36-52, 5-1) -- The Reds finished stronger than any other team in the division, taking advantage of a collapsing Arizona squad that's lost five straight. The rest of the season, of course, leaves a lot to be desired. But hey, the Bengals' season is right around the corner.

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
San Diego (49-38, 3-4) -- The Padres only lead Los Angeles by a game out west, but the consolation right now is still the wild card, which takes some of the urgency out of the race. Arizona is falling back, and Colorado is still trying to shake off its 1-9 road trip from last week. Though San Diego didn't close strong against Florida and Atlanta this week, the most important thing was taking two of three from LA last weekend.

Los Angeles (49-40, 3-4) -- The Dodgers had the same record as the Padres this week against the same two teams. Like St. Louis, LA hasn't really had a definitive winning stretch yet, though they've had more than their share of three- and four-game streaks, which is why they're in much better shape than the Cardinals. The wild card lead is two games over Atlanta.

Arizona (47-43, 1-6) -- Two weeks ago, the Diamondbacks were in first place; since then, they've gone 3-11, relinquished the division lead to San Diego, and are threatening to fall past Colorado into fourth place. This week alone, they lost three of four to a very average St. Louis club, then got swept by last-place Cincinnati. They are still just two and a half behind the Dodgers in the wild card, but the way they're playing, that won't last either.

Colorado (44-44, 5-1) -- The Rockies are seven games over .500 at home, where they've swept both the Mets and Yankees. They're seven games under .500 away from Coors Field, including a 1-9 road trip that mercifully ended last Sunday. This Sunday, a loss to Philly was the only thing that kept them from a perfect homestand. So despite the fact they moved back within five and a half games of first this week, the ten-game road swing to open the second half doesn't bode well.

San Francico (38-48, 3-3) -- Between Barry Bonds and this week's All Star festivities, al eyes are squarely on the Bay Area. The way the Giants are playing these days, it's probably not a good thing. They seem to have moved past the eight-game slide from a couple weeks ago, but they're only 8-6 since then, which isn't something to write home about. And it's certainly not helping them dig out of the NL West basement,

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