Pierzynski & Garciaparra Voted In to All-Star Game

The results of Major League Baseball's equivalent to the "play-in" game during March Madness are in, and White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski and Los Angeles first baseman Nomar Garciaparra "earned" the final spot on the AL and NL All-Star squads.

How Pierzynski managed to garner more votes than Twins phenom Francisco Liriano (the AL's leader in ERA) and Cleveland DH Travis Hafner (the AL's leader in OPS) is a mystery to me. But, the All-Star game is a popularity, and the fans in Chicago (the only place Pierzynski is even moderately liked) got out the vote this week.

I'm actually happy for Nomar Garciaparra. He's one of baseball's "good guys", and is a major reason why the Dodgers are doing so well this year. Hopefully he can remain healthy the rest of the way.

Pujols Bows Out of the Homerun Derby

Albert Pujols, who only recently returned from the disabled list with an oblique injury, has backed out of this year's homerun derby.

Not at all a surprising turn of events given the nature of Pujols injury, but I have to question why he was even originally named as a participant. Didn't someone forsee this?

Lance Berkman will be taking Pujols' place in the event, which also features Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, David Wright of the New York Mets and Miguel Cabrera of the Florida Marlins.

The AL counters with Baltimore's Miguel Tejada, Toronto's Troy Glaus, Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox, and my pre-event favorite to win the event, Boston's David Ortiz.

Pittsburgh seems to cater to left-handed power hitters, so I think the finals will feature Ryan Howard and David Ortiz, with Big Papi hoisting the trophy at the end of the night.

Final Weekend of the 1st Half

Before we even get the to All-Star break, there are some important series left to be played.

Boston travels into Chicago for the first time since they were swept in last year's ALDS, and the series features some intriguing pitching matchups. Tonight, Jon Lester goes against Mark Buerhle (rare Friday night ESPN broadcast), Saturday has Josh Beckett v. Freddy Garcia (which FOX will bogart), and in the Sunday finale, Curt Schilling against Jose Contreras.

The Dodgers host their bitter rivals, the San Francisco Giants, in a 3-game set in Chavez Ravine. Only a half game divides the two teams in the logjammed NL West.

Colorado hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks is another series to watch in the NL West. The Diamondbacks have fallen to 5 games out of 1st place, and since the Jason Grimsley nonsense first dropped in early June, the Diamondbacks are a dreadful 6-23. At the time, they were 34-22, and had just won 14 of their last 19 games. Now they're 5 games under .500 and the only team in the NL West not within 2 games of 1st place.

Though it started last night (with an Astros win), St. Louis will spend the weekend in Houston. FOX has Roger Clemens' start on Saturday at 4:05pm, and ESPN has the Sunday Night broadcast of Chris Carpenter going up against Andy Pettitte. Houston could conceivably pull even with the Cardinals in the NL Central with a sweep.