Someone asked me last night if I thought the Diamondbacks were through in the NL West race.

Not yet, and short of the Giants opening up 25-3 and the Diamondbacks falling to say a 6-20 mark, there is still plenty of season left to right the ship.

If today was September 16th instead of April 16th, then yes, Arizona could pack up the bats and wait until next year.

One winning streak of seven games (one week) coupled with a Giants losing streak of similar proportions and we have three or four games separating the teams in April or May or June or whenever. The key is not to fall 15 to 20 games behind, anything else is workable.

Having Miguel Batista pitch tonight against Colorado instead of the injured Big Unit doesn’t help things in Phoenix.

Arizona needs to trade some young pitching for an established hitter and get some offense on the field. Until they do that they will be a.500 team or slightly better.

Mike Mussina, a perrenial Cy Young candidate, won his third game last night. Maybe this will be his year.

More baseball just click read more.The A’s lost their sixth in a row last night in Seattle. Mariner DH Edgar Martinez barely able to run or generate his usual power can still swing the pole and his big hits defeated the A’s.

Carlos Guillen had an amazing 15 pitch at bat against Ted Lilly before striking out. Lilly pitched 5.6 innings and threw 107 pitches before leaving.

Like Mark Mulder the night before, Lilly got better as the game wore on, unfortunately his pitch count was so high from early inning struggles, that he had to turn the game over to the pen in the sixth.

The toughest part of the game for any manager is choosing the three or four relievers to finish a typical major league game.

Rookie manager Ken Macha is finding out the hard way that these decisions aren’t easy. Lefty Micah Bowie is best in non pressure seventh inning situations and Ricardo Rincon is the guy to bring in late in the game when the tension is highest.

The A’s don’t need cosmetic changes on the fringe of the roster, but need the big guns to hit consistently.

This will happen as soon as Texas, Detroit, and Cleveland come to town starting Friday and the A’s bats will sing a different tune. Can a winning streak be on the horizon?

Freddy Garcia can make a statement tonight against Oakland. If he is the ace of the staff, tonight is the night to give his team that performance that everyone will rave about.

Tim Hudson needs to keep the ball down and not walk five batters, but more importantly, he needs to give the bull pen the lead in the eighth inning and not the leave the game in the sixth.

The Rangers Mark Teixeira is hitting .086. One of the highest rated rookies this year, Teixeira may be on his way to AAA if he doesn’t get some hits soon. Facing John Lackey tonight won’t help if the rookie is in the lineup.

Texas came back and beat the Angels last night behind a credible performance from starter Colby Lewis and excellent relief work from Aaron Fultz and Ugueth Urbina. Fultz has absolutely been a pleasant surprise in the pen, but he needs help.

Chan Ho Park goes for the Rangers tonight. Park got away with a seven walk performance against Seattle in his last start, if he does that tonight the Angels are a team that will make him pay.

The Braves got a big hit from Gary Sheffield and excellent pitching from Shane Reynolds for five innings and snapped the Expos winning streak. Tomo Ohka who has thrown exceptionally well gets the ball today for Montreal/San Juan.

The Royals won last night with four in the ninth off of White Sox closer Billy Koch who entered the game with his team leading 5-4.

This was the second meltdown for Koch who now has an ERA of 7.36.

Runelvys Hernadez 3-0 goes against Jon Garland as the Royals try to extend their best start ever tonight in Comiskey Park.

Ramiro Mendoza must have something wrong with his arm because the new Red Sox set up man is just getting blasted every time out. His ERA is now 16.71, and he is someone who knows how to pitch. It must be physical. His performance cost Casey Fossum the win after the lefty pitched seven strong innings against Tampa Bay.

David Wells never loses in Yankee Stadium, Cory Lidle tries to snap the big lefty’s streak in the Bronx. Good luck, Jason Giambi will raise his .200 batting average against his former teammate.

Will I eat my words on the future success of Shawn Estes? Perhaps, he certainly pitched one of his vintage “A” games against the Reds Tuesday.

More power today for Chicago with young fireballer Carlos Zambrano on the hill against a rejuvenated Paul Wilson. The Reds bull pen is so worn out that Bob Boone left starter Danny Graves out there for a nine run pounding over five dreadful innings. Relievers turned starters have trouble the second and third time through the line up and that seems to be Graves’ trouble.

Can David Cone keep his spot in the Mets rotation? If he gets hit hard by the Pirates I feel his days are numbered. Neither the Pirates nor the Mets hit very much so this one should be another close game.

The Giants win at home, they always have played well at Pac Bell. Kirk Reuter is on top of his game and Brian Moehler is another rehabbing pitcher. Unless the Astros get a lead late in the game and turn the ball over to Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner, a Giant sweep is probable.

Joe Nathan is helping the Giants bull pen with a quality middle relief outing every time he comes into the game. He is their key set up man and may evolve into the eighth inning guy if Robb Nen is out for an extended period.

Why is it that San Diego owns the Dodgers? Soft tossing Brian Lawrence, a heady pitcher goes against Ishii tonight in LA.

So, if you are in Arizona, don’t worry you still have 148 games to go, a lot will happen between today and September 1st.

Trust me.