No, not the American League West. Although, if the Rangers do what the Padres have done and lose 10 in a row. We could very well be having that discussion next week.Three weeks ago, San Diego was more or less running away with the division, they had a seven game lead on the San Fransisco Giants then they have a 10 game losing streak. They are doing right now what every manager hopes he never has to go through. They played great baseball for five months. But in the last 3 weeks everything has gone downhill. The Padres made trades for 2 hitters that really didn't pan out how they wanted so far. They picked up Miguel 'how old am I?' Tejada, and Ryan Ludwick. But, their run scoring really hasn't gotten much better. Really that's been their biggest problem all season. The pitching has been superb. From Cy Young contender Matt Latos to all-star closer Heath Bell. Perhaps they have too many innings on them? Your guess is as good as mine! San Fransisco has come from nowhere to take over the division lead. Led by first baseman Aubrey Huff, and rookie catcher Buster Posey. Posey will probably be shorted in the voting for rookie of the year, although he has had the stuff to win. He's going to fall in that category of where he has enough games to not be called a rookie next season, but doesn't have enough games to really win the award this season. In reality, who wins the NL West comes down to 1 person. Barry Zito. If he shows up as good as he has a few times this year, the Giants staff is the best in the NL. But if he shows up as bad as we've seen him this year as well, then they are just a mediocre staff. Bullpen wise San Diego has the advantage. When you have the guy with the most strikeouts since the end of the 2007 season in Tim Lincecum, and Matt Cain added with a potential good Barry Zito, you have a very dangerous team for the NL playoffs. the Giants finish the season off with 3 games against the Padres in what will be a very big final series of the regular season.The Colorado Rockies have absolutely come unglued lately having won 10 in a row at one point and have currently won 18 out of their last 23 and are leading the Dodgers in the 5th inning 5-3 right now. With the Padres having already lost, and the Giants being 3 hit and shutout in the 6th inning against Milwaukee tonight. It looks as though at the end of the night the Rockies will be down 1.5 to the Giants in their division. The Rockies have played all they will play against the Padres and only have 3 games left against the Giants. They have been led this season by Ubaldo Jiminez and Carlos Gonzalez. CarGo leads the team in every offensive category, and what he has done this season has really overshadowed the good year that Troy Tulowitski has had.
In the end this is all going to come down to the last series with the Giants and Padres. If Bruce Bochy plays his cards right and can finegle his pitching staff to have Lincecum, Cain, and Zito in the last series against the Padres, I full expect them to win it all.
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