Just when you think you have the division races figured out along comes interleague play to complicate matters.

The National league has a decided advantage when playing interleague games in their home parks because the big powerful American League teams lose the DH.

Bud Selig should actually do something that matters and declare that the DH can be used in all interleague games.

Click below for more!This year the traditional rivalries present some competitive match ups.

Texas meets the Astros in Houston. The Astros have Roy Oswalt ready to pitch. The Rangers won’t have DH Phil Nevin in the NL park Texas comes into Houston after six games against the Red Sox and Yankees. Advantage Astros.

Angels-Dodgers in Chavez Ravine. Angels are still looking for some hitters to help Vladimir Guerrero. Halos have good pitching, but don’t score many runs. Playing NL ball is not a problem for Mike Scoscia’s team. Angels starting to take their walks and work the count. Dodgers look like a middle of the road team. Advantage Angels.

Yankees at the Mets. The Yankees are looking for an outfielder to replace Hideki Matsui. The Twins Torii Hunter would be terrific replacement. If Hunter played center, then the Yanks could move Johnny Damon to left field where his weak throwing arm would be less noticeable.

The Mets have two aces in Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine. The Yanks won’t be Pedro’s Daddy this time around. Advantage Mets.

Boston at Philadelphia. It’s hard to believe, but Citizens Bank is a better hitters park than Fenway. The Red Sox sluggers will be right at home in Philly. Boston’s Keith Foulke is excelling in a set up role. Despite their recent success the Phils starting pitchers give up too many runs, and to make matters worse they have an unreliable pen in front of closer Tom Gordon. Advantage Red Sox.

Cincinnati versus Detroit at Comerica Park. Before the season started who would have thought this series would matter. Now it matches the two surprise teams in baseball. The Tigers starting pitching is leveling off just a bit, but the bull pen is still first class. Detroit’s flame throwing rookie set up man Joel Zumaya looks like a star. Jim Leyland is the early favorite for AL manager of the year.

The Reds rely on the long ball. Detroit has a spacious yard. This should be a tight series perhaps the best of all the interleague matchups. Unless Reds pitchers Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang are perfect, I say advantage Tigers.
San Diego at Seattle. All of a sudden the Padres have a lights out set up man in Scott Cassidy. The Pads don’t hit at home so maybe a trip to the Northwest will invigorate their moribund offense.

Seattle is waiting for its hitting to click in. Maybe Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre will light up some NL pitching. The Mariners starting pitching is quietly becoming effective once again. Advantage Padres because they can close a game without jitters.

The Giants cross the Bay Bridge to meet the A’s in Oakland. Both teams are banged up. The Barry Bonds saga is weighing on the entire Giants organization. Jason Schmidt and Noah Lowery are capable of winning anytime they pitch. The SF pen is always suffering from overuse.

The A’s are basically a .500 club marking time until the walking wounded get back on the field. Based on recent history between these two rivals, I’ll say the A’s take two of three simply because that’s the way it usually plays out in Oakland.

If Bonds is serious about playing next season in the AL the Giants should seriously consider granting the troubled slugger his wish a few months early.

For a trade to be a remote thought the Feds would have to shift their focus from Bonds and his hat size to something important like why the price of gasoline today looks like Dave Parker’s 1977 NL leading batting average.

If reason prevailed in the Department of Justice, then maybe an AL contender would become interested.