Climbing the Ladder with the National League 5/11/2008
by Scott Powers
Astros climb Central standings
Little changed in the NL West this week. The division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks struggled for the first time all season, winning only two games.
One of those wins was Brandon Webb’s eighth. He went the distance for his eighth win in eight starts this season.
Also struggling through a cold week were the San Francisco Giants. Their only win of the week came on the strength of Tim Lincecum’s eight-inning, two-run performance. His eight Ks brought his total to a league-leading 53. His 1.61 ERA is second-best in the NL.
Even colder were the San Diego Padres, who could salvage only one win in the week, a one-run squeaker over the Colorado Rockies. Greg Maddux earned his 350th career win.
The Padres have struggled to last place, two games behind the Giants and 10 behind the D’backs. Their offense has scored an MLB-low 122 runs.
Justin Germano is out of the San Diego rotation after allowing 22 runs in his last three starts. He was replaced by Shawn Estes in the fifth starter role.
In a rematch of last year’s NLDS, the Chicago Cubs hosted the Diamondbacks at the end of the week. The Cubs took the first two games thanks to big starts from Ted Lilly and Ryan Dempster.
Lilly has given the Cubs four straight quality starts after failing to record any in his first four starts. Dempster, meanwhile, has been giving the Cubs quality starts all season and is now 4-1 with a 2.76 ERA.
The Cubs have climbed back to one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals, who split the first two games of an important series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Cards and the Brewers both had problems closing games this weekend. Former St. Louis closer Jason Isringhausen said he didn’t want the ball in the ninth inning anymore, and former Milwaukee closer Eric Gagne said he didn’t deserve it.
Isringhausen blew his fifth save in the first game, and his rough stretch of three saves in seven opportunities overshadows the hot start of eights in nine opportunities that it followed.
Gagne allowed two runs in the ninth inning of the second game to earn the loss. He, too, has blown five saves this season.
The Houston Astros are benefiting from the struggle at the top of the division, going 7-1 to open April. Lance Berkman had an unbelievable week, going 18-for-23 with six walks and three long balls.
Also gaining ground this week were the Florida Marlins, who went 6-0 to extend their NL West lead to two games. The double-play combination of Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez got the job done at the plate, batting 19-for-42 combined with six long balls to lead the way.
On the mound Andrew Miller turned around a rough start, winning has past two starts with a total 13 innings pitched and two runs allowed. Staff leader Scott Olsen also contributed to the streak, falling one out short of his first complete game and shutout.
The Atlanta Braves finally one a one-run game on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Matt Diaz, scoring Chipper Jones. It was their sixth straight win at the time.
If anyone thought Jones was done in 2004 after hitting a career-low .248, he proved them wrong, improving his average every season to what is now .400. At 36 years old, he is on pace for career highs in hits, home runs and RBIs.
The only team without a winning record are the Washington Nationals, even though all but the Marlins lost Saturday. The other four teams are separated by just three and a half games.
