Whether its the AL West or the NL West in MLB, the level of play seems to drop off substantially when rating the various divisions. In the AL West, the LA Angels and the Oakland As are presently tied for the lead, but then a team like Texas drops four in a row and they still only find themselves 1 games back of first place.
Over in the NL West, I have a sneaky suspicion that the San Diego Padres are about to make a definitive move on their rivals who are playing sub-par ball. San Diego has won 4 in a row on the road and now heads to Colorado for a weekend set against a floundering club.
The Padres got some great news yesterday when their presumed ace, prior to the season, Jake Peavy won his first game in two months. Peavy helped himself on Wednesday with a homer, a double and four RBIs as the NL West-leading Padres rolled to a 10-3 victory.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have lost eight straight, are 1-13 since the All-Star break and have been outscored 81-29 during this stretch. They are eight games under .500 (47-55) and a season-worst 7 1/2 games out of first place in Grady Littles first season as manager.
Peavy (5-10) threw 129 pitches over seven...