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Had I asked you in April who you saw leading the NL West in mid-August, you'd likely have answered with either the Rockies or the Dodgers. I know I would have.

The Dodgers won the division with the best record in the National League last season, and the Rockies made the playoffs as the NL's wild-card.

Both teams entered the season with young, talented rosters, coming off a highly successful season, and having suffered only minimal off-season losses.

So it made sense to think one of these teams would win the division.

Many rookie sensations have been turning the heads of baseball fans throughout the nation this year, but none more recently than Jeremy Hellickson of the Tampa Bay Rays. Hellickson made his Major League debut against the AL Central leaders, the Minnesota Twins.

When talking about the favorites to win the National League Cy Young Award, the most common names mentioned are Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson, and Adam Wainwright.

The Rockies walked off with a win on Sunday. Their fans walked off sick to their stomachs.

Many Twins fans are probably upset by the move Twins manager Ron Gardenhire made by pulling Kevin Slowey, but they shouldn't be.

Here's why: Kevin Slowey had a no-hitter through seven innings, but Gardenhire decided that was enough and pulled him. Right move? Absolutely. To all the fans feeling that Gardenhire should've let him go back and try for his no-hitter must know the situation that was at hand on Sunday.

NEW YORK-- Going for the rubber-match win against the Phillies, the Mets offense slumped yet again. The game began under wet conditions because of the Mets late flight to Houston.

Mike Pelfrey was on the mound, trying to duplicate his prior performance against the Rockies, and he pitched solid ball.

His problem was holding the Phillies running game. The Phillies stole three bases against Pelfrey and they all led to runs. He retired the first four batters he faced, before allowing a single in the second.

The Chicago Cubs ended their road trip on a positive note. 

They may have been out of contention for a while, but playing the spoiler rule is still fun, especially with six more weeks of baseball left in the regular season. 

With the Blue Jays signing pitcher Ricky Romero yesterday to a five-year, $30.1 million contract, they locked up a very important part of their rotation.

Romero, who is still only 25, has been very strong for the Jays this season, only his second in the major leagues.

His inexperience at the big league level does create a bit of risk in this deal. But considering his willingness to compete and his improving emotional and physical control, he could well be the Jays' future ace locked up in a reasonable contract.

The Marlins are having a rather poor season but don't count them out of the Playoff hunt yet, they are just one winning streak away from being in the reach of their first playoff appearance since 2003.

But after a sweep by the Reds, the Marlins need to make serious adjustments in order to stay alive and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Here are the 5 thing that the Marlins are going to have to do to get to the postseason.

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I don’t want to defend Omar Minaya. I don’t want to defend anything about the Mets front office. I think they are all terrible, and the Mets won’t win anything until the entire organization is overthrown, which starts with the Wilpons selling the team.

However, I am going to make one daring statement: Is it possible that Omar Minaya has actually been doing a good job this season?