The Major League Baseball standings are getting primed for a summer run and after starting the season off with an awful record, the Los Angeles Dodgers have turned things around and now have sole possession of first place in the National League west with a half-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks after pulling off a sweep of the Blue Jays.
The team now has a 53-48 record and holds a lead over the Diamondbacks after chasing them all season and the play of Hanley Ramirez over the past month has been a huge boost, as he has just been killing the ball. The arrival of Yasiel Puig and the managing skills of Don Mattingly as Matt Kemp battles injuries has been fantastic and that is one reason why the team is now in first place and they are 7-3 in their last 10 games, while the rest of their division is just 5-5 over that span.
Arizona is now a half-game back, while the Rockies have 49 wins and are five games back in the division and the Giants are seven out, while San Diego is in last place with 46 wins after having a nice run earlier in the summer. The Giants are in danger of missing the playoffs, while the Dodgers are playing their best ball at the right time of the year. The team made the move to get Ricky Nolasco and there is a chance they could go for more later down the line as well.
The St. Louis Cardinals have a 2.5 game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 62-37 record and they have the best record and the most wins in the league. The Pirates are trying to break a 20-year losing record streak and playoff drought and they may do it this season, but the Reds are close behind with 59 wins and they are just five games out of the division lead. The Cubs and Brewers are far out of it and may become sellers at the deadline now.
The Central looks like a three team race, while the East is a one man show with the Braves in the NL, as Atlanta is eight games up on the Phillies and Nationals, who may miss the playoffs if they don't shape up in the Wild Card race soon. The Red Sox have a .5 game division lead in the East over the Rays after the team went 8-2 over their last 10 and Boston was just 5-5 and now the Yankees and Rays will play a series and with New York just 6.5 games out of the division lead, they need to build up some wins.
The West is getting somewhat interesting, as Texas is three games back of Oakland and the Mariners have gone 9-1 over their last 10 to get back in the Wild card race. While the team doesn't feel like they are quite in it yet, the Angels feel they are and now the M's are tied with the Angels in the division at 10 games back as they started a series with an 8-2 win over the Twins.
