As of this morning, the St. Louis Cardinals are 84-58, 10.5 games in front of the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. 

How have they achieved this success?

One may attribute it to the MVP caliber season of Albert Pujols, the trade deadline acquisition of Matt Holliday, or the amazing pitching of Adam Wainwright.

Or Chris Carpenter.

The 34-year-old is 16-3, with a league leading 2.16 ERA in 24 starts this season.

For the third consecutive year, the Chicago Cubs have gotten sparkling performances out of their starting rotation. Even with injuries to each of the top four slated starters, and inconsistent play from Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster and Rich Harden, the team's starters have been their strength: Chicago leads the league in quality start percentage, at 61 percent, and Chicago's relievers have entered with a lead the fourth-most times of any team in the league.

The Chicago Cubs won their fourth consecutive game Friday, beating Cincinnati 6-4 in the opener of a three-game weekend set at Wrigley Field. Starter Rich Harden lasted just four innings, but got help from the Cubs bats, as Geovany Soto homered and Aramis Ramirez went three-for-three.

Honestly, this article could write itself after almost any Greinke non-win this season. 

The awful team on the field behind him finds a way to squander another Greinke gem. 

Two hits and no runs allowed through six are proven to be immaterial, as the hapless Royals strand runners, ground into double plays, fall astray on the basepaths, and subvert his best efforts on defense.

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Earlier this week, the Pirates lost their 82nd game of the season, thus assuring that their record will be under .500 at season's end.

Astute fans have noticed that this is no ordinary losing season--this is the Pirates' 17th consecutive year of mediocrity.

After browsing on the blogosphere, I found this article on the Daily Dish, a SB Nation MLB trade rumors blog.

Basically, in summary, it is suggesting that if the San Francisco Giants are looking for an upgrade in power, they should look in their own backyard and sign Barry Bonds.

It is a very intriguing suggestion.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost starting pitcher Eric Milton for an extended period of time after he underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove a herniated disc from his back. The 33-year-old is most likely out for the rest of the season.

The initial injury occurred sometime during an outing against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 5.

During the game, Milton failed to cover first base on a ground ball. When Milton returned to the dugout, he denied that he had been hurt. However, manager Joe Torre saw Milton grasping his back and knew something was most likely wrong.

I remember my first baseball game as if it were yesterday. At the age of 35 there is nothing more disheartening AND exhilarating than going to your first MLB game.

To most, this is a memory that is usually forged in childhood. The proverbial game with Dad, baseball cap hanging so low you have to look up an extra six inches just to see. The hot dog dripping with ketchup, or mustard, down to your sneakers as you watch your team throw around the ball in preparation of the game.

To the national media, the Royals' trade for Yuniesky Betancourt was a somewhat minor transaction:  partly because of the two cities involved and partly because of the players involved. To those of us who doggedly follow the Royals, however, this trade was a big, big deal, and one that was almost universally disparaged.