Guest Author - David Landry

AL East
The Red Sox appear to have peaked early again. The Yankees have picked up six games in head to head contests and another three this week when the Jays swept the Sox. It’s down to one and a half games and the Red Sox are reeling. Their formerly stellar bullpen is floundering. Okajima has been benched with a dead arm and Papelbon has been hittable. Eric Gagne has single handedly blown four games ad shows no signs of improvement.

Red Sox run support is diminished by the fact that Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp and Kevin Youkilis have not been in the lineup. The only bright spot has been rookie call-up Jacoby Ellsbury, whose added speed and OBP to the lineup.

The Yankees, meanwhile, have recovered from their battered spring and returned to being the juggernaught they were supposed to be this year. The acquisition of Roger Clemens and the rookie trio of Joba Chamberlain, Philip Hughes and Eduar Ramirez have proven to be the missing links needed for Yankee dominance.

Count on the Yankees to win the division yet again. Ultimately, the Sox should win the wild card, but they’ll limp into the playoffs with little chance of going all the way.

NL East
The Mets are up by one and a half over the Phillies, but they seem to be fading as fast as the Red Sox. They’ve lost seven of their last ten. Last night, their closer Billy Wagner failed to come out for the ninth inning due to a back injury. As a result, Florida was able to tie the game up in the ninth and win it in the tenth with a walk-off double by Dan Uggla.

Just as the Yankees have made up most of their deficit through head-to-head competition, the Phillies have swept two straight series, to pick up seven games on the Mets. Both teams face relatively week competition in the remaining games. It is going to be a simple matter of which team can pull it together and win in the stretch. The Mets have only won three of their last ten, while Philly has won seven of ten. If they mirror that performance over the rest of the season, Philly wins the Division. If the Mets play really well, Philly still has a shot at the Wild Card. They are currently 2.5 games behind San Diego.

NL Central
This one’s been a seesaw match throughout most of the season. Will Lou Pinella and the Cubs manage to hang in there for another week and a half or will Milwaukee recover their position at the top of the division? I think they will.

NL West
Arizona is a half game ahead of Dan Diego, so Philly actually has a tougher task taking the wild card than it does in taking the NL East..

NL Wild Card
San Diego is on top with a two game lead over Philly. Arizona is a half game ahead of Dan Diego, so Philly actually has a tougher task taking the wild card than it does in taking the NL East..


Read a great book about the man who started home run mania: