MLB: NL Sorting Itself Out

While most eyes were on the American League over the weekend (with the 3 big series) the National League was seeing some shifts at the top. No changes but things got a lot closer.

The Phillies are still on top of the National League East. The Cardinals have a little bit of breathing room in the NL Central. And the Dodgers continue to lead the National League West. However, this is where there is some news.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost 3 straight games to the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants have crawled to within 5.5 games. I don’t think the Dodgers will be caught but I didn’t think it would get this close either. Now the Dodgers and the Giants will begin a huge series. With so much baseball left to play it’s tough to put too much weight on this series but this is a big series.

Meanwhile, the Rockies are playing the Cubs tonight. So this is a big series too. The Rockies are trying to catch the Dodgers and the Cubs are chasing the Cards. But these teams are also battling for a Wild Card berth. The Rockies and Giants are tied but the Cubs are only 2 games back. So, this is a very important series too. And the Cubs will next play the Phillies.

In the NL East the Phillies have been stumbling too. They just lost 3 straight to the Marlins. So, this is a division that just might be up for grabs again. The Marlins are just 4 games back and the Braves are just 4.5 games back.

The Phillies and the Dodgers should win their divisions easily. I do like the Cards in the Central. However, the Wild Card is just too close to call right now. I’ll still go with the Giants because they have really good pitching at the top of their rotations.