Phillies are the Clear Cut #1

Just about 50 games remain in the regular season of the baseball season and only a few teams have truly separated themselves from the rest of the pack. In the American League, the division leaders are the Rangers, Tigers, and the Red Sox. The Yankees hold a large lead in the wild card, as the Angels are 7 games back. The AL West is becoming one of the best races of the summer, with the Angels pulling within 1 game of the Rangers. The Central is still undetermined, but the White Sox and Indians have struggled so much lately that the Tigers seem to be the only consistent team in the division.

In the National League, the Giants have fallen back a bit, which has allowed the Arizona Diamondbacks to climb back in the race. The Snakes are just a half game back and play their next seven games against the Houston Astros and New York Mets. The Giants play Pittsburgh this week, before travelling to Florida during the weekend. Despite the surge by the Diamondbacks, they still trail the Braves by 4 games in the Wild Card. The only other team with a realistic shot at the Wild Card are the Cardinals, who are 4.5 games back. With the recent 10 game losing streak of the Pirates and the fall of the Cincinnati Reds, the NL Central has become a two-team race, with the Brewers leading by 3.5 games.

With all of these close races, there is one team in the NL that has basically cemented their name for October. The Philadelphia Phillies have won 9 of their past 10 and have a ridiculous record of 73-40. They own the best pitching staff in baseball, but more importantly their offense is doing enough to win games. The addition of Hunter Pence will be crucial for this team in October, as it adds a right handed bat to protect Ryan Howard. The Phils seem to be unstoppable right now. They hold a 8.5 game lead on the Braves and have proven they have the guns to beat the Giants this timearound. The Phillies are a battle tested team and are clearly the best team in baseball right now. With all the hype around the Red Sox and Yankees, the Phillies are better than both. Just looking down the roster, the Red Sox and Yankees don't have enough pitching to match the Phillies. The only team with the rotation to give Philadelphia a problem is San Francisco.