MLB

A nice sunny day game and a victory—that’s all the Dodgers needed before the long road trip before the All-Star Break. It also made the Dodgers the first team to 50 wins this season, with the second place Giants trailing by 6.5 games in the National League west division.

Wednesday's victory started with Rafael Furcal's pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning, which led to the Dodgers beating the Colorado Rockies, 1-0, in the final game of Manny Ramirez's 50-game drug suspension.

I'll tell you what, although watching Albert Pujols hit two gigantic bombs last night was exciting, I would still much rather watch Jeremy Affeldt's intense celebrations after clutch double plays.

And I'll tell you another thing: Nobody would have predicted that come the dawn of July, the team with the second-best winning percentage in the National League would be 26th in runs scored, third to last (28th) in home runs, and dead last in walks.

However, for as putrid as those numbers may seem, the Giants would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

As the 2009, Non-waiver trade deadline quickly approaches many teams scurry around to find that extra player or two that can put their team over the edge and on pace to play in October.

That July 31st deadline has brought in Kyle Farnsworth and Sean Casey over the past few season for the Detroit Tigers.

This season, the Tigers look to add a solid bat to the middle or bottom third of an already pretty stacked lineup.

On paper the Rockies just lost a series with the Dodgers after a 1-0 pitchers duel where Jason Hammel came out on the wrong end.

However, after a winning road trip and a hard-fought series against the team with the best record in the Major Leagues, the Rockies should head back to Coors Field with a little more confidence.

Michael Cuddyer said it best when he described the baseball season recently.

"The first forty games you look to keep close, the next eighty or so you look to pull ahead, and the final forty you look to hold that lead."

The first phase of the season was successful for Minnesota. They stuck right in the race through the first forty games, staying within within four games or so of first place in the American League Central.

We are not quite mid-way through the season and Alex Rodiguez is less than two months removed from his time on the disabled list, and nowhere near removed from the media's flaming maw.

After blowing a nine-run lead Tuesday night, the Red Sox showed the Orioles how it feels as Boston rallied in the ninth inning Wednesday to win 6-5.

Baltimore starter Brad Bergesen pitched lights-out through eight innings. The rookie held Boston to just one run on four hits, no walks, and six strikeouts. He left the game with a 5-1 lead.

Those of you that follow the Sox closely may have heard the reference to the "three-year board" before. General Manager Kenny Williams has mentioned in the past that he has a board that he uses as a reference with all of the players in the organization and which ones he expects to be a part of the roster over the next three seasons.

I will now create my own three-year Board with my own guesses concerning the following:

-Which Sox players will still be around for the 2012 season

-Which Sox prospects we can reasonably expect to contribute to the team

If you've read my first two articles, "The Stolen Base: A Lost Art. Will we ever see a 100 Steal Man Again?" and "Gimmie Five!