Take away the mighty Cardinals, and it was a lousy week for the division. Shoot, leave 'em in there and it still stank, with the Centralistas going a pathetic 12-25. We know how sad the Cubs were, but how did the rest of this group contribute to this display incompetence.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

   Season Record	44-24
   Week's Record	4-2
   Games Back	--
   Change	+3.0

   Up is up again, black is black once more, cats are back to hating dogs, and the Cardinals gained ground on the entire division. Oh, and Scott Rolen's back, so even if their closest competition wasn't a whopping 9 1/2 games back, it would take a disaster for St. Louis to lose the Central.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates

   Season Record	31-36
   Week's Record	1-5
   Games Back	12.5
   Change	-3.0

   Their offense had carried them through their recent run of competence, but it's abandoned them now, as they were only able to score 13 runs on the week while getting shut out twice. Of course, it didn't help that their opponents scored at least six runs in five of their six games on the week. Gee, with a total team collapse like that you'd think they were the Cubs.

3. Milwaukee Brewers

   Season Record	31-37
   Week's Record	3-3
   Games Back	13.0
   Change	-1.0

   The Prince Fielder/Rickie Weeks era has begun, and while they aren't All-Stars yet, they've certainly held their own early on. Fielder might not stick around for much longer (after the last DH series against the Twins this coming weekend, he'll likely be sent back to Indy to play everyday), but it won't be much of a wait for fans of The Crew to see these gentlemen sharing the field daily.

4. Houston Astros

   Season Record	28-39
   Week's Record	2-4
   Games Back	15.5
   Change	-2.0

   Their season-high five game winning streak ran into the Baltimore offense on Monday, and after three days of getting knocked around, they were fortunate to meet up with the Kansas City Patsies, where their series win improved their road record to 9-27. That's right, I said "improved".

5. Cincinnati Reds

   Season Record	27-42
   Week's Record	1-6
   Games Back	17.5
   Change	-3.5

   They became the first NL team to allow 400 runs this week, beating even the Anti-Gravity All-Stars to the dubious mark. For those who might mention the taterific tendencies of their home park, I would point out their 6.28 staff road ERA - 1.05 runs worse than their work at home. Like it or not, these guys just can't pitch.