Watching the Dodgers play the Giants Monday night it became obvious to me that the Giants sputtering offense is light years beyond what the Dodgers batsmen can generate.

The Giants have one constant going for them…Barry Bonds who is a threat to produce a game winning event every time he steps into the batters box.

Bonds drew a leadoff walk from Eric Gagne in the 11th inning, then stole second base (his 500th lifetime steal), then rode home on the Giants other legitimate hitter’s (Benito Santiago) single to win the game.

In the dugout after Bonds scored the run, Gagne kicked the water bucket, threw his glove violently against the railing, then stormed away into the runway leading to the clubhouse. One of the great childish temper tantrums of all time.

The Dodgers don’t have much to offer at the plate. I don’t care how much pitching they have, they don’t have the offensive tools to make this pitching stand up over the course of 162 games. They don’t have an offense based on speed like the Dodgers of the 60’s had, they don’t have legit power threats in the lineup, they just don’t have very good offensive players, save for Paul Lo Duca who puts the ball in play with some authority. Shawn Green is a fine man, but cannot carry this team alone.

LA’s pitching keeps them in the game, but its offense needs a transfusion big time.

Scott Hatteberg delivered once again with men on base for the A’s against the Rangers. Hatteberg is shocked when he doesn’t put the bat on the ball, he delivered with his team down by one in the ninth with the bags loaded after Joe Hardy (Eric Byrnes) struck out looking for out number one.

Teams are coming in hard on Byrnes and he must adjust, he took three strikes well on the inside part of the plate and did not look good in his last at bat. You know baseball is a game of adjustments, well Byrnes better adjust to the inside fastball pronto.

click below for more!Seattle is in Anaheim tonight to begin an important series. Freddy Garcia tries to take another step back to respectability against Aaron Sele who merely would like to still be in the game around the sixth inning.

The Mariners need a closer and soon. Forget about Ugueth Urbina who doesn’t seem to have the control to take a team all the way or Armando Benitez who wilts against the Yankees, a likely postseason opponent for any AL team. They need help because Arthur Rhodes, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, and Jeff Nelson are the best set up men in baseball, but can’t keep coming into the ninth inning much longer and be effective.

The Mariners play great defense, hit when they need to, and use their speed during the game, but the A’s match up quite well with them and get Seattle for four games next week in Oakland, where the A’s are 28-11. If the A’s can chop another game or two off the Seattle lead this week, watch them further close the gap next week in Oakland.

Of course this weekend Seattle gets the Pads at home, while the A’s go into Pac Bell where the Giants are very tough.

Barry Zito allowed only four hits in six innings, another low hit game for the A’s lefty. If you saw him struggle in the sixth inning with his curveball, you now know why Zito has been subpar lately. Even though Zito is tough to hit under any circumstance, his curve makes him special.

This lack of command of the curve is not of great concern right now, but it has shown up in Zito’s starts more than the A’s would like.

Brett Tomko pitches for the Cards today against the Reds. Tomko upset Tony La Russa this week when he implied that one of his (Tomko’s) friends made a pitching suggestion which helped Tomko straighten out his mechanics. The Cardinal manager took umbrage at the suggestion that one of Tomko’s friends knew more about pitching mechanics than Cards pitching guru Dave Duncan.

Pressure on Tomko and his friend to come through tonight.

The Cards get most of their offense back today with Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, and JD Drew back in the lineup against Jimmy Haynes. Ouch.

Is Brad Lidge starting to unwind? Houston’s trio of Lidge to Dotel to Wagner has propelled the Astros right into the thick of the AL Central lead. Jimy Williams skipped Lidge for Kirk Saarloos the other day, and last night Lidge was all over the place, blowing a 2-2 game wide open. Peter Munro gave up Lidge’s runners when he came into the game, but Lidge didn’t fare well before Munro poured gasoline on the situation.

Keep a close eye on Lidge in the future because the Astros need him. Ron Villone threw his second excellent game for the Astros last night to no avail.

Toronto added Juan Acevedo to its bullpen in a very good move. The Blue Jays are still crushing the ball, but their pitching isn’t playoff material by a longshot. Roy Halladay is the only sure thing on the hill for Toronto, everyone else is benefiting from the offense which might be the best in baseball right now.

Boston would like to send Jeremy Giambi on his way and perhaps add Gabe Kapler to the mix. Kapler can help somebody and will sign this week.

The Red Sox hit much better at home and with Detroit in town, this should be a good beginning to the week.

I wonder how many games Roger Clemens will win this year? After yesterday’s loss to Tampa Bay, Clemens is 7-5. I’ll say 13-10 before he rides off into the sunset.

Hideki Matsui is a doubles machine and getting better. Looks like he will hit .270 to .280 with 16 homers and 49 doubles, not a total disaster.

Good start for Jeremy Affeldt, whatever happened to Runelvys Hernandez? Seems like he has been on the DL for a long time without much progress.

I’m actually looking forward to Dontrelle Willis’s next start.

Phillies Braves in Atlanta. Will the Phillies pick it up? Last night someone suggested that the Phillies may want to trade David Bell for Edgardo Alfonzo in an exchange of disappointing 20 million dollar players.

Mark Mulder against Mario Ramos. The Mariners will be watching the scoreboard carefully to see if Texas can pull off a miracle.

The All Star game is three weeks from today meaning that most teams will have close to 90 games under their belt before the break, short second half to straighten out the problems and get to the .500 mark before August 1st.

If your team is playing .500 ball by August one, then it has a good shot to get into the playoff race.

Just ask the Diamondbacks who are slowly getting their confidence back.