Unlike the wide open American league race for MVP, the national league is a little tighter. I think thus far the common answer would be Bryce Harper. Harper has his Nationals rolling of late after a bit of a shaky start which was not expected with the rotation they have. Harper leads the national league league in home runs with 18 and is second in runs batted in with just 1 fewer that Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins. If the awarded was given today, i think the consensus pick would be Harper however the award is not given a fourth of the way into a season therefore their are others candidates to argue for. I think the Dodgers first baseman has clearly made his mark this year leading his Dodgers too second best record in the national league, speaking of Adrian Gonzalez of course. Gonzalez has dominated pitching this year, hitting .332 driving in 38. Gonzalez teammate i believe as of yesterday has made a case of his own to be named a greater award than just rookie of the year. name being Joc Pederson. I think as of yesterday’s doubleheader, Pederson has entered the race. Joc hit 2 home runs yesterday, one in each game, and trust me these homers were just just your average home run. His second home run went 480 feet being the longest home run of the year thus far from anyone player in the major leagues. Joc now has 16 home runs on the year while driving in 31 and remember he has batted just 8th and 1st in the order so not great RBI spots and opportunities Pederson to drive many in, but certainly is making the most of his place in the order. And lastly, you need a Cardinal of course. Matt Carpenter, leading vote getter in the national league for the All star game has his Cardinals holding the best record in baseball and he his putting up fantastic numbers. Carpenter is hitting .311 driving in 27 thus far. He is getting on base and running the bases extremely well while he is 6th in the national league in runs scored. being just a fourth of the way through the year, more players will surely enter the race but look for these 4 guys to be in their in the end.

This race is a little more open thus far in the American League than the Nation League MVP race. I would say there are multiple candidates that will rely on how their team finishes the regular season to determine their place in the MVP voting. An MVP is determined based on a couple categories including how well their team finished usually heading into the playoffs, the numbers they put up, and how well known they are usually plays a big part of their success to land wanted award. This year, as of right now, I think 3 games have separated themselves from the rest. Obviously Mike Trout will be one of the names and will be for the next 10 years possibly longer. Trout as his Hot Angels rolling of late. Winning 5 straight including a 4 game sweep over the powerhouse Detroit Tigers before losing last night to the Tampa Bay Rays. Trout is hitting just under .300 while belting 13 homers and driving in 30 as he has his Angels in second place int he AL West. My next candidate is an interesting one, one that we will watch closely if he continues his first half success, but Eric Hosmer needs some recognition for what he’s going in Kansas City. Hosmer is hitting over .300 driving in 32 runs and has his Royals in second place in the AL central a year after they were just so close of bringing a championship back to Kansas City. My last nominee this far is the Prince in Texas. Prince Fielder has been as hot an anyone of late hitting an astonishing .355 while holding the honors to second in the american league to run driven in just 1 behind New York’s Mark Texeira with 39. Fielder has his Rangers winners of 4 straight and winners of 8 of their last 10. I’m sure as the season progresses we will be sure to see more candidates enter the wide open race including Tigers Miguel Cabrera who has put up amazing numbers thus far however his Tigers have struggled dramatically as of late who have lost 5 straight and have just 2 wins in their last 10 tries falling too 3.5 games back behind the Twins! Yes that is correct, i said the Twins.

Two words Alex Guerrero. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the top half of the ninth inning before seeing Justin Turner and Joc Pederson leave them all stranded. Dodgers Skipper Don Mattingly put a bat in Guerrero’s hands and quite frankly it was the right move. Guerrero launched a grand slam on the Dodgers final strike over the center field wall. The Dodgers went on too pull out a 9-8 win in the second game of the rare double header. On a night the Dodgers ace dramatically struggled, their bats gave them a chance. Putting 9 on the scoreboard will tend to win ballgames. Now lets talk about the other rookie, Joc Pederson. Joc who launched a 480 foot home run ball, which was measured as the longest home run by any major league player this year as now homered in his last 4 games, having 16 now on his amazing rookie season. The Dodgers end up stealing game 2 of the double header with a single swing of the bat by rookie sensation Alex Guerrero.

The Rockies and Dodgers were forced to make up a rained out game today at coors field as part of a double header. Well the Rockies got the best of the Dodgers in the first one, beating them 6-3. The Dodgers had plenty of opportunities to blow this game open but failed to do so including the clean up man Howie Kendrick leaving the bases full of Dodgers stranded in the fifth. The Dodgers gave the ball to Juan Nicasio who was throwing some heat early on hitting 99 mph but Don Mattingly didn’t let his starter remain in the game too long, pulling the veteran flame thrower in just the 2nd inning. Meanwhile the Rockies let Jorge Del La Rosa take the rubber. He pitched decently however nothing spectacular, giving up 3 earned runs over his 6 inning span. The Rockies bullpen was the real story as they pitched 3 scoreless and near hitless innings, allowing just 1 hit. The Dodgers road woes continue as they blow another winnable game.

The Dodgers tend to put a lot of runs on the scoreboard when their ace is on the mound. Don’t get me wrong i love the runs but the best pitcher on the planet only needs 1 or 2 runs to work with, not 11. Save those high scoring games when you throw anyone not named Clayton Kershaw to the mound. The Dodgers put up 11 when Kershaw needed just 3 runs to be acknowledged as the winning pitcher. Kershaw has now throw back to back starts that remind us of the Clayton Kershaw we have been so accustomed to seeing. Kershaw allowed just 5 hits over 7 innings. Allowing just a two run bomb by Rockies third baseman Nolan Arrenado, the damage was minuscule. The Dodgers launched 2 solo shots in the 2nd inning and then added to the hit parade with a bevy of hits in the 6th inning scoring 6 times including a 3 run bomb from the rookie of the year so far Joc Pederson. Howie Kendrick launched a 3 run shot of his own in the 8th inning to ice the cake. Overall, the Dodgers bats come alive to back a strong performance from the best pitcher in the game Clayton Kershaw.

Cardinals starting pitcher honored his lost teammate and friend Oscar Taveras before todays ball game between what some say the two best teams in baseball. It was a pretty special performance to say the least. Martinez threw 7 near perfect innings, giving up just 1 hit and striking out 8 Dodgers. The young right handed flame thrower was total command from the beginning. He really was never in any situation he couldn’t handle. He escaped a two on 1 out with the heart of the Dodgers coming up in the top half of the 6th inning by striking out Gonzalez and Kendrick with ease. Pederson got the Dodgers on the board in the 8th inning but it was a little too late for any late game heroics against one of the best bullpens in the national league. The Cardinals take the rubber match of what could possibly be a special preview of a playoff series in October. The Dodgers look to get things back on track as they square off with the hot Colorado Rockies while the Cardinals will be on center stage tomorrow night against the Brew crew on ESPN.

If you asked me who would win this game going in, i would un doubtably said the Cardinals. With the little offensive production of late from the Dodgers to the starting pitcher the Cardinals put on the mound tonight, it would be a tough task to beat the best team in baseball on their home field. Well the Dodgers accomplished the tough task thanks too a 3 run bomb from Yasmani Grandal on his return from a concussion 8 days prior. Michael Wacha was cruising up until the 6th inning where he let Turner nearly take him deep but cruised into second for a double which was just the start to a 4 run 6th inning for the Dodgers. The Dodgers tacked on another later on in the game but the lights were on Yasmani’s three run blast on his return to action and  starting pitcher Carlos Frias. Frias was shaken up a bit in his previous start but turned things around quickly as he found his groove at just the right time leading his Dodgers to a must needed win in St. Louis. Frias threw 7 innings up 5 hit ball while allowing just 1 run which was un earned. Yimi Garcia pitched a perfect 8th inning striking out 2 while Libeartore came in to close things out in the 9th striking out the side. The Dodgers picked up a solid win on a night where they were really up against the odds. The rubber match of the series will be tomorrow night while the Dodgers hand the ball too Brett Anderson as they face the young flame thrower Carlos Martinez.

The Dodgers road woes continued as the team failed to score a run against the red birds. The Dodgers knew this would be a tough series knowing they would be without Kershaw and Greinke during the 3 game span however Mike Bolsinger gave them an a solid opportunity to steal a game giving up just 2 runs over 6 innings of work. The Dodgers were just not in stride from the first pitch to last. Lackey did a great job commanding the strike zone while he struck out 9 Dodgers leading his Cardinals to their fifth straight win.  The Dodgers look to re group while they throw Carlos Frias to the mound, however the task will be challenging as they face one of the best pitchers in the league Michael Wacha.

The Braves finally put together a decent fight just in time to avoid being swept out of LA. The task seemed tough, knowing Zack Greinke would be on the hill for the Dodgers however they were able to battle and fight off pitches from Grienke, eventually forcing the Dodgers to remove him from the game due to a high pitch count in the 6th inning despite allowing just 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 9. Cameron Maybin was responsible for Greinke’s one lone run given up on a towering moon shot to left center. The Dodgers were able to answer during the following inning with an RBI single from Turner plating Jimmy Rollins. However the Braves pulled away late, scoring on a passed ball from Adam Liberatore and adding another insurance run thanks to a ground rule double by Nick Markakis. The Dodgers added one in the bottom half of the ninth however 2 was needed to tie therefore coming up 1 short. The Dodgers fall to 28-18 on the year while the Braves avoid the sweep and improve to 23-23.

Whatever Dodgers skipper Don mattingly told the team heading into the bottom of the eighth must have been touching and should consider doing it more often. The Dodgers headed into the 8th inning tied at 2 but finished the inning up 4 due too a little home run derby. The Dodgers launched three long balls, first from Ethier, then a towering two run shot from the young stud Alex Guerrero, while Jimmy Rollins finished the derby with a solo shot. Besides the long ball, the Dodgers got solid outing from Brett Anderson who has been a bit shaky this season. Anderson went a season high 7 innings giving up just 2 runs. The Dodgers will take performances like that from Anderson any day of the week. The Dodgers cool off the Braves improving too 27 and 17 on the year while the Braves slip too 500 on the year at 22 and 22.