NL West

The National League West isn't known for its rivalries in the same manner as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees feud.

However, San Francisco Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez is doing his best to change that.

After the Giants lost 6-3 to the Atlanta Braves Sunday that extended San Diego's division lead to two games, Sanchez fired some heavy words in a tall statement.

The Colorado Rockies went into Pittsburgh desperate to prove that they could win away from Coors Field. The last time out on the road the club dropped nine out of 11 games.

When Ian Stewart hit the game-tying three run homer in the top of the 9th inning, things felt good. When Todd Helton, with all of his power zapped by a bad back, drilled a two-run home run in the top of the 10th, all of the pressure lifted. The Rockies were going to win the game that they should win, and put themselves right back in the playoff mix.

A few weeks ago, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports wrote an article that had a lot of the San Diego Padre fans up in arms. The day that article was released, I had one San Diego media member tell me, "I'd be upset if I actually knew who he was." Ouch.

Los Angeles Dodgers fans have been taking nothing short of a mental beating over the last week.

Heading into Wednesday evening's contest against the division-leading San Diego Padres, the Dodgers were informed that they would be without All-Star shortstop Rafael Furcal probably until the beginning of their East Coast road trip early next week.

And just moments before the game began, the team learned that everyday catcher Russell Martin was headed to the disabled list with a labrum tear in his right hip.

As much as it could be on Aug. 4, Wednesday afternoon's game against the Giants was a must-win for the Rockies.

What’s that saying? “What’s one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure?” However it goes, that saying doesn’t hold more true than with the case of Pat Burrell.

It is no secret. Everyone who watches the Rockies consistently knows it. There is no way around it. Aaron Cook is awful.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks returned to town to begin a four game series against the Washington Nationals, I was pretty excited. Not only had it been a week since the last Diamondbacks game I had attended, but it was the beginning of a full week of games at Chase Field.

In all my excitement I went down to the ballpark early to catch batting practice and to try and put some names with all of the new faces that were now on the roster as a result of the deals made at the trade deadline.

Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.

One couldn’t be surprised if Dodgers manager Joe Torre slipped into the role of Ted Striker from the movie “Airplane!” when talking to L.A.’s GM Ned Colletti's version of Dr. Rumack after hearing of the deals Colletti orchestrated at the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the reaction from Dodger fans trend towards language with a much higher concentration of salt and vinegar.