NL East

With what essentially was a three-game sweep at the hands of the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, the Florida Marlins can officially kiss their last playoff hopes goodbye.

The ship began sailing when Ricky Nolasco went down and now recently with Josh Johnson and his back. JJ might be shut down to avoid any further injury when the team is no longer in the race. 

How do the Phillies follow up their reclaiming of first place in the NL East? With a game that was almost too much fun to watch. The first inning brought two quick scores by the Phillies, as the Phils jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

The party came to a halt however, when Jimmy Rollins left the game with a, then, undisclosed injury in the third inning. The Phillies are now calling it "tightness in the hamstring."

I have a few choice words for the New York Mets. In particular three specific players that did not partake in a life-changing experience. Those players are Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez, and Luis Castillo. They recently denied the chance to take part in visiting wounded veterans to thank them for their service.

The choice words: solidarity, brotherhood, camaraderie, unity, and one accord.

I know, its three seasons away, and with the money Jeffrey Loria has that he isn't spending, it seems ridiculous that we'd even have to wait that long for a another playoff berth, and we might not, but by 2013 this team will be one of the most potent in all of baseball.

They will continue to compete this year and will have similar seasons for the next two years, be in it until middle of September but never really have a solid chance.

Legend has it that Billy Martin, the oft-hired and fired coach of the New York Yankees, would occasionally arrange batting orders by picking names out of a hat in an effort to break out of hitting slumps.

Ever since I started following baseball and pretty much all four major sports, my favorite team has been the New York Mets. Why? I have no idea. But I have never been more disappointed with the Mets than the 2010 season. They have had so many bad memories and so few good ones.

The Mets have to make changes in the offseason and it starts off when Jeff Wilpon fires both Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel. These two alone have been absolutely awful for the franchise. Here is a list of the good players Minaya has gotten:

Cuban defector Yunesky Maya made his debut last night for the Washington Nationals against the New York Mets, and let’s just say he got off to a rough start.

The 29-year-old (so they say) gave up five runs, five hits, and two walks in five innings of work. One of those hits was an absolute bomb by Mets’ rookie first baseman Ike Davis.

We all knew it would come. Now it's that time.

Like a man on death row, you just sit and wait—you wait on your sentence and hope, something, somehow, could change your fate.

Then the inevitable day comes, and all of a sudden...you've lost first place.

Those Phightin's, I don't know how they do it, but, they live up to that name of theirs year after year.

This year in baseball is truly a race for October meant for the history books.

Just about every division in baseball is up for grabs and the contending teams are overflowing with young and veteran talent.

However, a championship-caliber team does not solely depend on it's talent.

It also depends on how you use and coach that talent.

This slideshow will rank all of the managers at the helm of teams in the middle of the pennant race.

The New York Mets beat Yuniesky Maya and the Nationals tonight 4-1.  Ike Davis’ three-run homer was the big hit.  Dillon Gee, also making his first major league start was the winning pitcher.

It was the first time both starters were making their major league debuts since the Tigers’ Rick Porcello and the Blue Jays’ Ricky Romero faced each other on April 9, 2009 and only the fifth such game since 1980.