Ryan Howard struck out ten times this past week, but did hit two round-trippers and two doubles.

Florida Marlins

Congratulations, Florida, your Marlins are still on top of the division. Hanley Ramirez is still the top shortstop and he received a lot of hitting help this week. Mike Jacobs had three home runs and the highest OPS on the team. Also, Jeremy Hermida was finally activated and responded with seven hits, including two doubles and two homers, in his first 22 at bats. Andrew Miller fell to 0-2 this week, but continued to strike out more than one per inning. Unfortunately, he is also allowing more than one run per inning, and more than two hits per inning. In the bullpen, Kevin Gregg picked up his first two saves

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phils squeezed in seven games in the last week. Offensively, Pat Burrell provided much of the spark with three homers, seven RBI, and six runs. Ryan Howard struck out ten times, and was only five for 27 but did have two roundtrippers and two doubles. Pedro Feliz was five for 26 with two home runs. Cole Hamels won his two starts, striking out a total of nine and only allowing one run and eleven runners. Brett Myers won his start, going eight innings while striking out five and walking none. Brad Lidge got two saves in four scoreless innings.

New York Mets

Forget an end of the season plummet, the Mets are having trouble getting things done right now. In the last week, David Wright hit two home runs and Carlos Delgado hit one. However, their batting averages were .227 and .217. Carlos Beltran only hit .211. Additionally, those were the only home runs. Angel Pagan has had the team’s best batting average, including ten hits in 23 at bats in the last week. Moises Alou is due back in a week or two, so Pagan’s time may be limited soon. The rotation was all over the place. Johan Santana gave up three homers in a 6.2 innings start. Oliver Perez only lasted ten innings in two starts and walked as many as he struck out. John Maine struck out one and walked five but only allowed one run in his win. Nelson Figueroa filled in as a started and only gave up two hits and walks while he struck out six in his win.

Atlanta Braves

Chipper Jones led the team in hitting this week with a .391 average. He also added on five RBI and a homer. Yunel Escobar continues to be one of the most productive shortstops in the NL. He hit .375 this week with a homer and seven runs. Mark Teixiera has scuffled recently going five for 21 with only one RBI. At the top of their rotation, Tim Hudson and John Smoltz each got a win with five strikeouts and only two walks. However, they had disastrous starts from Chuck James (six earned runs in three innings) and Tom Glavine (left in the first inning on Sunday with an apparent hamstring injury-which so far doesn’t seem serious).

Washington Nationals

Despite a beautiful stadium this could be a really long season for the Nats. They are 1-9 in the last ten, with the only win being the game Glavine came out of, in which they were basically spotted five runs. The “good” news for the team was activating “closer” Chad Cordero and Wily Mo Pena. However neither was particularly effective in their first game-Cordero was taken out to give the save to Jon Rauch, and Pena struck out three times. Cordero would seem to be on a short leash again. Hopefully, Shawn Hill and Elijah Dukes will be back fairly soon and give them a little more depth. Cristian Guzman is leading the team’s offense with an OPS of 1.127 over the last week with five runs and four RBI. Lastings Milledge hit .364 on the week, but that was just about it for the team’s positive contributions. Matt Chico suffered a loss in an eight inning performance in which he only allowed one run and six runners total. Odalis Perez is really a good example of what has been wrong with their recent pitching staff. He was used as a last minute opening day starter, and has actually pitched decently, for a guy who has been given up on by most everyone, but had a no decision when he allowed one run and a loss when he allowed two.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Cards maintain the top spot in the Central. As a writer, I like to see stats that make sense like these. Albert Pujols led the team in virtually every offensive stat this week, including stolen bases (one) and was second in runs scored. The next most productive hitters were Skip Schumaker and Ryan Ludwick (who only had 16 at bats). So ignore, my second sentence. The pitching staff is a conundrum. I hate to say anything bad about a team that is winning. Especially when that team is the Cards…you can rack up some good hate mail that way. A rotation with Kyle Lohse, Braden Looper, Todd Wellemeyer, and Joel Pineiro just doesn’t seem like a potential world champion. However, they are holding down walks and keeping the score close, and the team does have some pretty good pitching on the DL.

Pittsburgh Pirates

You pick up your teammates when they are down. Adam LaRoche, Jose Bautista, and Freddie Sanchez have combined for 18 hits this year. In the last week, Jason Bay has an OPS of 1.310 with three homers. Nate McLouth  hit .370 with four runs and four RBI, and has built on his 13 home runs and 22 stolen bases in around 300 at bats last year. Xavier Nady had a home run, and has been one of the team’s best hitters so far. The team is still seeking a dominant starter as shown by this week’s performances. Zach Duke had the best start with six K’s and only one walk and one earned run, followed by Paul Maholm, but Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny were the only starters to receive wins. Matt Capps saved two games while striking out four, walking none, and only allowing three hits.

Arizona Diamondbacks

I am making a bold prediction of 120 wins for the D-backs with one proviso…they play the Rockies 90 times more. This week they out hit their opponents .327 to .267. Justin Upton and Eric Byrnes both hit over .450 and accounted for 25 total runs-only four less than their opponents had. Mark Reynolds hit three home runs and drove in nine and scored seven. Orlando Hudson had two homers with six runs and seven RBI. Dan Haren had two very good starts for two wins. Brandon Webb only allowed two runs and struck out six in his win and Doug Davis only allowed two and struck out seven in his last start before going on the DL with his thyroid cancer treatment. Randy Johnson returns to the team Monday night with high hopes. Brandon Lyon picked up his second save of the year. I didn’t expect Lyon to keep the job for long this year and he has been shaky (three runs in one appearance without recording an out and blowing another save, but has been effective in his other three games. With this team, that could be enough to keep the job all year long.

Los Angeles Dodgers

If anyone is doubting James Loney-how about hitting in every game so far? In the last week he has an OPS of 1.201. Rafael Furcal had an OPS of 1.140. Juan Pierre, who has kind of been forgotten, had 17 at bats, getting six hits and two stolen bases. Andruw Jones was one for eighteen. Ouch! He has four hits on the year with one RBI-way to earn your paycheck. Derek Lowe was the only really effective starter this week, getting a win, six strikeouts and no walks. Hiroki Kuroda didn’t do as well in his second start of the year as his first, but still has an ERA of 2.13, WHIP of 1.11, and an 8/2 K/BB ratio so far. With the team only winning one game this week, it continues to be hard for Takashi Saito to get his props as a closer.