Despite this weekend's travails, the Cubs were the only team in the NL Central to post a winning record for the week, going 3-2 in great part due to the largesse of Jose Mesa. What's really odd, though, is that all of the remaining five teams lost or gained ground at exactly the same rate as they had last week. That was good news for only one team, and as these things often go, it happened to be the squad at the top.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

   Season Record	27-16
   Week's Record	3-3
   Games Back	--
   Change	+1.5

   Since taking over most of the third base duties from the injured Scott Rolen, John Mabry has put up a .343/.382/.625 line in 34 PAs. My God, what's the rest of the division to do when even this team's tough breaks turn to gold?

2. Milwaukee Brewers

   Season Record	20-23
   Week's Record	2-5
   Games Back	7.0
   Change	-1.5

   For those of us Cub fans who complain about our team's institutional impatience at the plate, we may now have some empathy from Brewers fans, who suffered through a game on Friday where their boys saw a mere 74 pitches from Carlos Silva over the entire nine innings. Just for kicks, here are some lowlights:

   • Only two Milwaukee at bats went as deep as five pitches.
   • Nine at bats ended on one pitch.
   • Six at bats ended on two pitches.
   • The sixth inning ended with only three pitches thrown, and that was after a leadoff single.

   That's a rough spell at the office, kids, and it wasn't even getaway day!

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

   Season Record	19-22
   Week's Record	2-3
   Games Back	7.0
   Change	-0.5

   While the series win against the Rockies that followed might have helped salve their wounds, losing two consecutive games to the Cubs during their final at bat couldn't have been pleasant. Meanwhile, the Pirates' front office has to be hoping that they didn't wait two games too long to shop Jose Mesa.

4. Cincinnati Reds

   Season Record	15-28
   Week's Record	1-5
   Games Back	12.0
   Change	-2.0

   All hail Aaron Harang, whose 3.32 ERA makes him the only Reds pitcher who has started a game and still has an ERA under 4.71, and for a mere $440K to boot. Counter that with Eric Milton's 7.16 for $5.33M (with oodles more to come), and one can see at least one reason why this team is having issues staying above the .350 mark.

5. Houston Astros

   Season Record	15-28
   Week's Record	1-5
   Games Back	12.0
   Change	-2.0

   The week began with their third victory in a row on the strength of eight innings of Roy Oswalt shutout, and ended five losses later on another fine outing by Oswalt, this one wasted by the team's inability to score on Chan Ho Park (aka, the Ranger's real Worst Contract Ever). May the circle be unbroken.