Climbing the Ladder with the National League 8/24/2008

Cubs continue to roll

Little has changed in the NL division races in the past week of baseball.

The Arizona Diamondbacks widened the gap between them and the Los Angeles Dodgers from one game to three.

The Milwaukee Brewers remain four and a half games behind the Chicago Cubs.

The Philadelphia Phillies gained half a game on the division-leading New York Mets.

The problem is that everyone is winning. The division-leaders have combined to win 22 of their last 30 games, rendering any come-from-behind efforts futile.

The D’backs went 4-2 on the week after winning all six games the previous week.

It almost goes without saying that Brandon Webb put together another gem, this time seven innings of scoreless ball. He is now just one shy of the 20-win mark.

Adam Dunn hit his first two homers as a Diamondback in consecutive games, but those accounted for half of his hits this week. He certainly hasn’t lost his ability to draw the base on balls, however, with seven more this week.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, went 2-4 on the week, dropping series to the Colorado Rockies and the Philadelphia Phillies. Manny Ramirez, though, sustained his excellent hitting, going 6-for-18 in that span.

In the Central, the Cubs just continue to win the series they are supposed to win. They haven’t lost a series in a month.

Rich Harden has been a big part of that, allowing more than one run in only one start since joining the Cubs. He’s also been striking out batters like mad, having already recorded four 10-strikeout games.

Carlos Zambrano finally got back on track with his first quality start in August. On Thursday he went seven innings, allowing only one run to earn the victory.

Carlos Marmol finally allowed his first run since the break – on a home run, of course – but he’s been pitching well.

And Kerry Wood is back in the closer’s role. He’s converted two save opportunities since returning.

Indeed, everything seems to be clicking for the Cubs heading into September.

But matching the Cubs win for win are the Brewers, who got yet another dominant start from CC Sabathia – this time a complete-game win.

The way they are playing, the Brewers look like a shoo-in for a wild card birth. The only teams less than nine games out are the St. Louis Cardinals and the Phillies, both of whom are on their way down in the standings.

Because the Phillies clearly can’t depend on the wild card to get into the playoffs, they’ll have to do their best to top the Mets.

The Mets’ Johan Santana, though, has emerged as a dominant starter again. Having put together seven consecutive quality starts, he hasn’t lost since June. This week he twirled 16 scoreless innings.

If the Mets continue to play the way they have of late, it will be very difficult for the Phillies to catch them.

The year is winding down, and the division races are well-defined. Don’t expect a surprise this year.

In other news, the use of replay is nearing approval for use in Major League games. After initial misgivings, the umpire’s union signed an agreement Wednesday, and all that remains is for the players and the owners to finalize an agreement.

The replays will be used only to determine boundary calls on home runs. The office of Major League Advanced Media will receive feed of all ballgames and will send the feed back for umpires’ viewing when necessary.

This change should not significantly impact the game but will get rid of those bothersome replays on ESPN’s Sports Center of debatable home run calls.