NL West Round-Up: I Can't Even

That might have been the longest week in baseball history. I feel like it's been 10 games over the past few days. Baseball can be exhausting.

San Francisco Giants

• Record: 35-32
• Previous series: ARI, PIT, ATL
• Upcoming series: SD, MIA
• Standing: 1.5 games behind ARI

A winning week for the Giants, despite losing Pablo Sandoval to the DL. Marco Scutaro was also injured but has yet to be placed on the DL. From June 8-15 the team went 4-3 with strong outputs from the offense and some shutdown pitching. The hitters scored an average of 5.4 runs per game. The average was pulled down by a two-run performance against Pittsburgh - the Giants scored six or more runs five times this week. That kind of offense leads to good things most of the time but the highlight for the team by the bay this week was the pitching.

The worst starting performance of the week belonged to Tim Lincecum, who gave up four runs in 4.2 innings against the Pirates - only two runs were earned. The Pirates would go on to score another four runs, three of those off reliever George Kontos. Over the course of 1.1 innings, Kontos threw behind Sterling Marte and later hit Andrew McCutchen. Kontos was suspended three games and manager Bruce Bochy for one. Kontos was sent back down to Triple A and will serve his suspension the next time he is recalled by the club. The Giants staff followed that performance by throwing shutouts the next two games. Matt Cain went 6.2 innings with two hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Madison Baumgarner no-hit the Braves into the sixth inning. Baumgarner finished the night with two hits, a walk, and 10 strikeouts over seven innings.

Colorado Rockies

• Record: 36-33
• Previous series: SD, WAS, PHI
• Upcoming series: TOR, WAS
• Standing: 1.5 games behind ARI

The Rockies went 3-4 last week and even worse, their good luck with injuries started to run out. Relief pitcher Edgmer Escalona was placed on the DL with right elbow inflammation but there was worse injury news than that. Much. Very bad news. Troy Tulowitzki broke a rib. He's hitting .347/.413/.635 with 16 home runs and you can bet the Rockies are going to miss him. Speaking of hitting, Rockies hitters continued their strong offense, knocking in an average of 5.7 runs per game, including five-run-performances four times (including five runs in five innings against Dan Haren).

The Rockies might have had a winning week except the pitching gave up five or more runs five times, averaging 5.28 runs allowed per game. That's not a lot of wiggle room, even for Coors, and with Tulotiziki down with his 83rd career injury, it will be interesting to see if the pitching that everyone expected to fail at the beginning of the year actually does crack. This is make-or-break time.

San Diego Padres

• Record: 34-34
• Previous series: COL, ATL, ARI
• Upcoming series: SF, LAD
• Standing: 3 games behind ARI

Well, guess who's back to respectability? Congratulations, Padres, and welcome to .500 baseball. The Padres were on fire this week with a sparkling 6-1 record. Their only loss came against the Rockies, they took the series against the Diamondbacks, and swept the Braves. Fantastic results considering they lost the offense of Jedd Gyorko to the DL with a groin strain (he was joined by Cameron Maybin, an outfield bench player with a strained knee). The offense averaged 4.85 runs per game. With Yonder Alonso still injured and Gyorko now out, Evereth Cabrera is a key to the offense and he's hitting .299/.377/.413.

On the pitching side, Eric Stults bounced back from a couple bad starts to pitch well against the Rockies and the Diamondbacks. The Padres allowed an average of 3.71 runs per game, which is respectable and more than enough to win with the offense clicking well. In cyborg!Marquis news, he went 7.2 innings against the Braves, allowing two runs on five hits with five walks and four strike outs. He gave up three runs in his second start of the week to the Diamondbacks. He leads the Padres staff in wins with a 3.63 ERA.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Record: 29-38
• Previous series: ATL, ARI, PIT
• Upcoming series: NYY, SD
• Standing: 7.5 games behind ARI

The Dodgers still have a losing record and still in last place but they have the most exciting player in baseball so I guess they don't mind. Honestly, there's not a lot I want to talk about this week with the Dodgers and there's little to be said that hasn't been already. Here's what you need to know: the Dodgers went 2-5 this week. They were shut out once and scored an average of 3.14 runs per game. On the pitching side, the team gave up average 4.57 runs per game. This is why they're losing. Scott Van Slyke joined the DL with shoulder busitis. It has been five days since the last Dodgers injury.

Did You Hear About That Guy Who Did That Thing?

I'm not talking about the fight. Because I can't even.