NL West

Ever since the Giants parted ways with Barry Bonds in 2008, wait check that, ever since the last couple seasons of Bonds's career, the San Francisco Giants simply couldn't score runs.

From 2006-2009, the Giants lived and died with their pitching staff. And prior to 2009, they did nothing but die with their pitching staff because in each of the previous four seasons, San Francisco finished under .500.

But then came 2009, and the Giants pitching staff put together one of the best seasons a staff has ever had.

Whether it was the lack of mystical energy from a magical wizard or just plain being outplayed on the diamond, the Dodgers had a difficult weekend on the home front, as the Los Angeles Angels completed their first ever sweep of the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

James Loney sparked the Dodger bats with two doubles and three RBI late in the series finale on Sunday, but it wan't enough as the Angels held on for a 6-5 victory and swept the series.

The Angels, who have been torrid in the AL West as of late, registered their 10th win in their last 12 games.

This is why everyone thought the Rockies would be so good.

Jason Hammel has figured out the winning formula when the offense doesn't score many runs. That formula? Don't allow the opponents any runs.

When the Cleveland Indians traded 3B Casey Blake to the Los Angeles Dodgers back in the summer of 2008 for prospect Carlos Santana, I was really surprised. Santana was a rising prospect in the Dodgers’ organization and was hitting .323 with 14 home runs in High Single A at the time of the trade.

Sometimes there is a silver lining.

Where is Jim Mora when you need him?

Wade LeBlanc pitched another beauty for the San Diego Padres, a team that has relied heavily on a brilliant pitching staff to lead the National League West.

Entering this season, I presumed the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies would duke it out for the National League West crown. I tossed aside the Arizona Diamondbacks, and, given by their play this year, that choice was a smart one.

But the division’s other team, which I also thought would struggle, has been one of the great surprises so far.

The Colorado Rockies have a good problem.

Armando Galarraga, James Joyce. You know these names, you know what happened. But there was still a lot of baseball last week in 28 cities not named Detroit or Cleveland. What happened? A lot more than everyone realizes.

You have your Power Rankings, you have your Web Gems, you have your local sports radio, you have your biases.