NL East

Well, I suppose you have to do something to liven things up when the two teams playing are a combined 32 games out of first place in their own division, with only a month left to the season. This goes double when the game is already a blowout in the sixth inning.

The Marlins and Nationals apparently decided to liven things up, ironically, by trying to kill each other.

Well, it was a little more complicated than that.

After Rob Dibble made these comments (on his XM Radio show) about Washington Nationals rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg—"Okay, you throw a pitch, it bothers your arm, and you immediately call out the manager and the trainer? Suck it up, kid"—it was conveniently announced that he was on vacation.

Wednesday night's Nationals-Marlins benches-clearing brawl, which could have arguably been started via the Marlins bench after Nyjer Morgan was "unsportsmanlike" in stealing second and third with a Nationals deficit, and Morgan's WWE-like exit from the field may have been the icing on the cake for Morgan's season.

Baserunner/catcher home plate collisions are back in the news after Nyjer Morgan instigated two such collisions that ended up costing his team runs and generated controversy.

Well, Mets fans, we have endured another very difficult season watching our favorite team struggle night-in and night-out. Last night, the team saw their 2-1 lead be shattered by a seven-run Braves fifth inning, highlighted by Luis Castillo's error on a routine double play ball.

Let's not anoint Stephen Strasburg the next Mark Prior yet. There's no need.

After the revelation that Strasburg needs Tommy John surgery, people are ready to compare him to busts just as quickly as they heaped praise upon him. When you are a pitcher of his magnitude, that is what happens.

Strasburg came into the major leagues with great fanfare. We all know that. Of course, when you have all this hype, you have the burden of living up to it. And for a short time this summer, he did.

Minus just one shaky outing, Strasburg pitched like an ace.

But now this.

Update: I thought the Marlins would be smart enough to shut down Ricky Nolasco for the season, but apparently I was wrong.

With a torn meniscus in his right knee, Nolasco took the mound on Saturday and got torched for seven hits and six runs in two innings by the Atlanta Braves.

Florida Marlins president David Samson has no shortage of critics these days in Miami-Dade County. He can thank Deadspin.com for his troubles.

On Monday, August 23, Deadspin.com obtained the financial records of the Marlins covering the 2008-09 seasons, and the fallout was not pretty.

It’s time to continue our journey around the league, looking at each team’s closer situation.  

The AL Central is home to one of the most fluid closing situations and also one of the most stable options in the league.  Let’s take a look at their updated situation, as well as the other three teams in the division:

Chicago White Sox

What a wacky week for incredible comebacks: The Colorado Rockies were down 10-1 to the NL East leading Atlanta Braves—in the blink of an eye, it became a 12-10 Rockies win. Going on at almost the same exact time, the Cincinnati Reds blew a 10-2 lead before having to grind out a 12-11 victory over the San Francisco Giants.