Everyone but the Cardinals was at least moderately stinky this week, so let's forgo any formal intro and get down to business.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

   Season Record	12-5
   Week's Record	6-1
   Games Back	--
   Change	+3

   They were the only team in the division with a winning record this week (The Cubs were 3-3. Again.), and after outscoring their opponents 40-17, it's a wonder they lost at all. But even more than the domination of divisional underlings, the Cardinals are celebrating the return of the One True Mark Mulder, who threw eighteen innings of scoreless ball - ten of them in a complete game versus the Astros - while giving up a mere 7 hits and 3 walks.

   He's still not striking anyone out, but when you only give up about one baserunner every two innings, you find yourself worrying less about such things.

2. Cincinnati Reds

   Season Record	9-9
   Week's Record	3-4
   Games Back	3.5
   Change	-3

   The Reds took two more games by a skinny run this week, their fifth and sixth victories in one-run games on the year, leading the National League. They started off in similar fashion in 2004 when they led the division in late May/early June, despite being outscored by their opponents on the season during much of the run.

   Much like the last year's fantasy of divisional contention, this year's fond illusion of a .500 ballclub will fade all too quickly if they don't start removing luck from the equation through the occasional sound beating of the opposition.

3. Houston Astros

   Season Record	8-10
   Week's Record	3-4
   Games Back	4.5
   Change	-3

   It's not the best week ever, but when your team's offensive leader for the span is Adam Everett, you have to feel good about escaping with minimal damage. The thing is, the week could have even been a triumphant 5-2 had they been able to score just a single run in regulation against Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder.

   The Astros are going to have more games where someone like Oswalt or Clemens is pitching brilliantly while the opposition does the same, and they're going to have to find ways to pull some of those out if they want to have a shot in this division.

4. Milwaukee Brewers

   Season Record	7-11
   Week's Record	2-5
   Games Back	5.5
   Change	-4

   Apparently, The Crew has decided to skip that whole flirting with .500 thing they had going until July last year. This week in particular, their pitching did them in, as only three of their twelve pitchers kept their ERA under 5.40 over the span - the best being the surprising Victor Santos, who allowed only one run during his complete game outing versus the Giants, and has arguably been the Brewers' best starter thus far.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

   Season Record	6-12
   Week's Record	2-4
   Games Back	6.5
   Change	-3.5

   Consistency: It's a word that always seems to come up when struggling teams talk about their inability to get it done, but what happens when you are, indeed, consistent - just consistently bad? If things keep up in Pittsburgh we're likely to find out, as a rainout and continued poor play conspired to leave the Pirates at 2-4 this week, exactly matching their records in weeks one and two. Things had best change soon, or I'm going to run out of ways to say that this is a bad, bad team.