Baseball Update- National League East

N.L East
W-L GB
1. New York Mets- 65-52 -
2. Philadelphia Phillies- 62-55 3
3. Atlanta Braves- 62-56 3.5
4. Florida Marlins 55-63 10.5
5. Washington Nationals- 54-64 11.5

Recap: The Mets flattened the Marlins last night. Oliver Perez got the win. Moises Alou showed he is still a major threat by slamming 2 homers. Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado also hit homers. Perez didn't pitch good but good enough for the win. The Marlins are basically out of the race anyway. The Phillies hosted the Braves. The Phillies survived a 2 run first by the Braves to win 5-3. Moyer won his 11th game. With the Phillies losing 2-1 in the bottom of the 5, Ryan Howard smacked his 33 homer of Buddy Carlyle into the left field seats. Rollins hit his 15th triple of the year last night. Brett Myers, the former ace, got his 9 save. Jeff Francouer looked like Roberto Clemente when he gunned 2 runners down at home plate. Buddy Carlyle got the loss.
The Nationals won a close one in Arizona, 7-6. Micah Owings pitched very well in just 6 1/3 innings, only giving up 1 run. Mike Bacsik, that name may sound familiar because he gave up 756 to Barry Bonds, gave up 5 runs in 4 innings. The Nats had a big inning in the 8th, when they scored 4 runs off the Arizona bullpen. The big blow in that inning came in the form of a Ryan Church homer. Chad Cordero got the save and Jesus Flores hit a homer in a 2-run ninth for the Nationals.

Prediction: Even though I hate to say it, the Mets will win the division again. With Pedro Martinez coming back to bolster their pitching staff and one of the best all-around lineups in the league, the Mets will repeat as N.L. East champs. Now even saying that, either the Phillies or the Braves could catch up and beat the Mets. The Marlins and Nationals are out of the race. It should be intresting anyway.