Monday Microscope: Top 10 MLB Musings

1. Twins Tanking -- The Terry Ryan Hands Watch continues, and yes, he's still sitting on them. The Twins' GM has had multiple opportunities to address his surprising first-place team's shortcomings -- for example, after DH David Ortiz was lost for 2½ months with a broken wrist on May 5. Or when No. 4 starter Mark Redman went on the DL two weeks later, essentially lost for the season with a shoulder injury. Or when All-Star Cristian Guzman also hit the DL with a shoulder problem on July 13. Instead, Ryan has remained a wallflower at the big GM square dance, and the Twins have lost eight of 11 since the break, including seven of their last eight. At least Ryan has given Twins fans the answer to a painful question: Q: What do you do to make a five-game lead evaporate in one week? A: Absolutely nothing.

2. Phree Phalling -- As bad as it's gotten in Minnesota, at least the Twins are still in first place (for now). The Phillies started the week with a four-game losing streak, including a two-game sweep at lowly Montreal, and even after taking two of three from the Mets, the season's other Cinderella story is now two games behind the Braves in the NL East. The Phils are hitting .236 since the All-Star break, prompting manager Larry Bowa to tell the Philadelphia Enquirer, "Every pitcher that goes out there looks like Cy Young against us." If the Braves stay hot, it will be Cy-anora to the Phillies' division title hopes.

3. Astros Smash -- Don't look now, but Houston has climbed back into the NL Central race, checking in at two games behind the Cubs on Monday morning. Leading the Houston resurgence is, of course, Jeff Bagwell, who has six home runs in his last 10 games. The 'Stros even threw their first shutout at Enron Field as Shane Reynolds went seven strong and the bullpen finished the job against the Cubs on Sunday. With Octavio Dotel setting up Billy Wagner, Astros pitchers know they only have to get to the seventh inning to give their team a realistic chance of winning, especially with Bagwell, Lance Berkman, Moises Alou, et al on fire at the plate.

4. Those Swingin' A's -- No, they won't catch Seattle, but if you were the betting type, you could do worse than putting your hard-earned dough on the A's returning to the playoffs this year. They're 8-3 since the break and have terrorized AL pitching in the process. After a 2-10 start they're now within four games of the Wild Card and have 16 games remaining with Boston, New York, Minnesota and Cleveland, the four teams they'll be battling for the final playoff spot. Jeremy Giambi, who drove in six against the Twins on Wednesday, is suddenly emerging from his big brother's big shadow, and with young guns like Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito in the rotation, the A's appear ready to bury the effects of their April slump.

5. NL Power Surge -- The top three home run hitters in the majors are in the NL -- Barry Bonds with 42, Luis Gonzalez with 38 and Sammy Sosa with 33. In the good old days (circa 1994) the only NL park that gave pitchers the hives was Wrigley Field. But now such homer-friendly parks as Coors, Pac Bell, Miller and Enron are on the NL scene, and home run totals have gone through the retractable roof. Beefed up sluggers are turning games into beer-league softball battles -- note the Twins' seven HRs in a 13-5 win at Miller on July 12, or the Astros' 17-11 win over St. Louis Wednesday, or the Dodgers' 22-7 win at Coors on Saturday, or . . .

6. Razz-Barry -- For the first time since April, Bonds is two games behind Mark McGwire's record HR pace of 1998. He's got a grand total of three homers since June 24, although with a three-game series at Coors Field this week, he could be at 50 by week's end. Bonds has never been a star under the glare of the national spotlight -- he's 19-for-97 (.196) with one home run in postseason play -- and the constant attention to The Record could be what keeps him from attaining it. The 'Scope will go one step further -- Bonds won't even lead the league in homers this year. Gonzalez is Mr. Clutch, and with the D-Backs in it for the long haul, he'll have plenty of opportunity to rise to the occasion.

7. Now That's Relief -- Speaking of the desert snakes, did you catch Randy Johnson's act on Thursday? After Wednesday's game was suspended in the second inning due to a power outage, Johnson relieved Curt Schilling the next day and finished the game in style -- to the tune of seven innings pitched, one hit, one walk, and 16 strikeouts. Yes, that's right, he struck out 16 of the 23 batters he faced. In the process he broke the major league record for strikeouts by a relief pitcher, knocking Walter Johnson out of the record book. At least Ben Davis didn't break up the no-hitter with a bunt -- it was a clean swinging single by Wiki Gonzalez in the eighth that prevented an extra layer of history at The Murph.

8. Blue Light Special -- Pedro Astacio -- General managers are drooling all over themselves in the hunt to land Astacio from the Rockies for their pennant drive. But perhaps the price tag went down just a notch or two after his Sunday night performance on national TV -- 3 2/3 innings, eight earned runs, 12 hits, two walks and three home runs. Astacio retired only 10 of the 24 hitters he faced, and even for a Coors Field game, that can't add much to his trade value.

9. Elbow Room -- The Dodgers began the season with visions of a starting rotation that featured Kevin Brown, Andy Ashby, Chan Ho Park and Darren Dreifort. Ashby went down with season-ending elbow surgery after making just two starts, Dreifort is on the shelf for at least 12 months after reconstructive surgery on his elbow, and Brown went on the DL Tuesday for the second time this season with -- guess what? -- a slight tendon tear in his elbow. Maybe Sandy Koufax has a few innings left in him . . .

10. Weird Stat Of The Week -- In the month of July, Rockies leadoff man Juan Pierre has not walked, nor has he struck out. That's 75 at-bats without a walk or a strikeout from the guy who is supposed to be setting the table for the Rockies' big bats. Just reason No. 231 that Colorado has lost 17 of its last 20.

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