Heading into the All-Star break the San Francisco Giants held a narrow lead in the NL West standings, and one series into the second half of the season, their lead remains very fleeting indeed. at 55-41 San Francisco is only 3.5 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that has found new life under new skipper Kirk Gibson. Arizona is the only team aside from the Giants in the NL West to even sport a winning record, and it appears a two team race will be duking it out the rest of the way, unless the rest of the division can stage a serious late season charge.
A team known for their late season success are the Colorado Rockies. Currently five games under .500 the Rocks can always get hot and in a hurry with the offensive power they have in their lineup, although they've had some struggles in the pitching department this year. They, along with the Dodgers, lost two of three to the Diamondbacks and Brewers respectfully as the Rocks get set to host the Braves while the Dodgers are headed to AT&T to face the Giants. Then we have San Diego, 14 games under .500 and losers of three of four in their series with San Francisco over the weekend, two of which were in extra innings. For as much as the Padres were a thorn in the Giants side last season, the tables have seemingly switched in 2011 so far.