Pennant Fever

There's still a long way to go, but we're seeing some good baseball lately. With so many teams still in contention, each game becomes more important than the last, even more so when you've got an epic Yankees-Red Sox matchup as each tries to take control of the AL East and the Cards and Cubs play see-saw with the NL Central lead or upstarts such as the Giants and Rockies (as well as several other potential contenders) go at it for the NL wild card.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't recall in the past 10 or so years a more intriguing stretch run with as many teams involved in the race. This is baseball at its best.

Tip of the Cup. Clutch hitting by Kosuke Fukudome and Derrek Lee, a solid outing from Ryan Dempster and some nifty glovework by Ryan Theriot led the Cubs over the Rockies and kept them on pace with the NL Central-leading Cardinals and the wild-card-leading Giants. Special mention to the Giants' Bengie Molina for answering the critics with his 3-for-4, three-RBI performance from the cleanup spot.