Climbing the Ladder with the National League 6/8/2008
by Scott Powers
NL West turns into 2-horse race
Earlier this year, the Arizona Diamondbacks were pulling away from the pack with the best record in baseball, due primarily to the best offense and the best defense in the league.
Now the D’backs are just six games over .500, but they still hold a commanding lead over the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers.
Brandon Webb is not to blame for the team’s recent falters. He won another game Friday, going seven innings and allowing just one run.
The Dodgers have taken two in a row from the Chicago Cubs, including a shutout by rookie Hiroki Kuroda, the first complete game of his MLB career.
While the Dodgers are two games under .500, they may be the only team that can challenge the Diamondbacks. The San Francisco Giants, the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies are seven, eight and 10 games back respectively.
The Giants simply don’t have the talent to hang with the leaders, and the Padres and Rockies both suffered from rough stretches and injuries.
Things could turn around for the Padres, who have won four straight games by a score of 2-1. They should get their 1-2 starters Jake Peavy and Chris Young back soon.
Mark Prior on the other hand, won’t be coming back, at least not this season. He had season-ending surgery on his shoulder Wednesday.
Despite two losses to the Dodgers, the Cubs still have the best record in the league and are on pace to win 100 games. All of their regulars are having productive seasons, and they haven’t suffered much from injury yet.
Somehow, the St. Louis Cardinals managed to keep pace with the Cubs, lurking just 2.5 games back.
The rest of the division hovers around five hundred, and the big news is Ken Griffey Jr.’s looming 600th home run.
After wrapping up a series in Florida, the Reds will host the Cardinals next week. Look for Cardinal rookie Mitchell Boggs to give up that home run in the first game of the series.
Speaking of youngsters, Edison Volquez now has a sizable lead over his NL competitors in both strikeouts and ERA. He’ll look to increase the former and decrease the latter Monday against Boggs and the Cards.
Out east we have a new leader. The Philadelphia Phillies picked up five games on the Florida Marlins in their past 10 games to claim the top spot in the NL East.
Chase Utley had his typically stellar week, but it was the pitching that held opponents to an average of 2.57 runs this week. Cole Hamels threw a shutout, and Adam Eaton pitched a gem to earn his second consecutive win. Closer Brad Lidge recorded four saves during the week.
Next the Philles will meet the Marlins, whom they beat in a series at the end of May. He won’t be ready in time for this important series, but prospect Cameron Maybin, who came to Florida in the Cabrera-Willis trade, has been making strides in the minors, showing he may soon be ready for the Show.
The Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets had started to creep up in the standings, but they ended the week with two-game and three-game losing streaks, respectively.
The bad news for the Braves is that .420-hitter Chipper Jones is out of the lineup with a small quad tear, and it is unclear how long it will hold him out.
It should be noted that the MLB First-Year Player Draft took place Thursday and Friday. Six of the top 10 picks were made by NL teams, but only time will tell if they chose wisely.
