Charlie Manuel's sour grapes

Philadelphia Phillies (65-39) manager Charlie Manuel insists the World Champion San Francisco Giants (61-44) aren't in his team's heads after the Giants took two out of three from the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia this week. To me, his comments sounded like he was insecure. Additionally, he said that Giants pitchers Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain were good, but not great pitchers. Perhaps he thought both men throwing six and seven innings without giving up an earned run to his vaunted lineup was an abberation. Or maybe he's forgotten Cain's seven shutout innings against the Phils in Game 3 of the NLCS last year or Lincecum's Game 1 victory in the same series.

Manuel's statement that greatness comes with consistency (and his assertion that Lincecum and Cain have not yet achieved this) is almost laughable. Lincecum won back-to-back Cy Young Awards and the following year was the MVP of the Postseason while pitching his team to a World Series victory. If that's not consistent, I don't know what is. Cain, on the other hand, didn't surrender even one earned run the entire postseason and has a 3.39 career ERA in five full seasons, including 2.89 in 2009 and 3.14 last year. Cain's ERA is 2.91 this year, Lincecum's is 2.78. Both seem pretty consistent to me. All I'm hearing from Manuel's comments is sour grapes.

The blogging and tweeting will be limited at best until August 7th, when I return from vacation with a flourish.

Beltran looks to be headed to SF

Very sorry about the lack of blogging this month, it has been a crazy month for me (in a good way). Anyway, I thought I would just note that I'm happy to hear that the World Champion San Francisco Giants appear to be close to acquiring right fielder Carlos Beltran from the Mets in exchange for minor league pitcher Zach Wheeler. Wheeler is considered one of the Giants' top prospects. However, I think it's a good deal because Beltran gives the Giants a very realistic chance to repeat as champions -- at that's what it's all about.

Pirates in first in July

Well, it's the first place Pittsburgh Pirates (48-43). On July 15th. This is the latest the Bucs have been in first place in over a dozen years. It's truly remarkable how the Pirates are doing this, as they don't have a lot of players of note. Joel Hanrahan is having a nice season as closer, but even he wouldn't be considered a name outside of Pittsburgh. I think a lot of this success has to be attributed to new manager Clint Hurdle. It has been neat to check out a few Pirates games here and there and see larger crowds at PNC Park; there were times I wondered when I would ever see that. It's a great story and I can only hope for the sake of Pirates fans that it continues -- it has been a long time coming for the Steel City.

National League wins second straight All-Star Game

The National League defeated the American League tonight 5-1 in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Phoenix. It was the second straight All-Star win for the NL after a long winless streak. Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers (49-43) had the decisive blow with a 3-run home run in the 4th inning. Fielder was a deserving recipient of the game's MVP Award.

I have long felt that baseball has the best of all the All-Star Games in professional sports. The players are competitive and look like they are actually trying to win. This year was no different, with the exception of a few players like Derek Jeter who claimed to be injured and didn't show up despite playing in his team's most recent game. Stuff like that just isn't acceptable; I know I wrote my last blog about Jeter's 3000th hit and what a moment was -- I stand by that, but it doesn't make it right for him to stiff the All-Star Game.

Anyway, the All-Star Game was an impressive display of pitching by the National League. It was cool to see Brian Wilson of the World Champion San Francisco Giants (52-40) get the save and look pretty impressive in doing it. I also enjoyed Pablo Sandoval's RBI double in his first All-Star appearance.

I'm glad the National League won to give it home field advantage for the World Series, particularly for the possibility of my World Champion Giants reaching the Fall Classic for the second straight year. It's dumb that the All-Star Game decides home field advantage, but it will be a plus that I'll be happy to see the Giants have should they advance to the World Series again.

Jeter picks up 3,000th hit

Derek Jeter picked up his 3,000th career hit today on a home run to left field in the bottom of the 3rd inning at Yankee Stadium. Jeter is only the second player to ever record his iconic 3,000th hit with a home run, and the first to record all 3,000 of his hits with the New York Yankees. Jeter is now surely headed to the Hall of Fame, if he wasn't already assured of that. The Yankees (52-35) defeated the Tampa Bay Rays (49-40) 5-4 thanks to a 5-for-5 effort from Jeter, including the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 8th. I'm not a Yankees fan at all, but it was kind of cool to see Jeter have a big moment like this and have a nice day because he's always seemed like a class act and a good guy to me.

You really couldn't script it any better for Jeter. He has come under a lot of scrutiny lately for his numbers being down. However, I didn't think his numbers were always exactly eye-popping, but they were consistent. And Jeter has always had the it factor. Whatever it is, Jeter has it. He's always been clutch and a leader. And perhaps most importantly, he's just a winner. He's the kind of guy you'd want on your team. I think a lot of the criticism he's taken has been unwarranted. He may not always have been a pure numbers guy, but he has what it takes to be a great baseball player. Now he has the big number that will ensure his place in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Notes on the World Champs, MLB

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (48-39) lost tonight for the second straight day to the San Diego Padres (40-47) at AT&T Park. Tonight's game was by a 5-3 score. The Giants have now lost three straight overall, but still hold a one game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks (47-40) in the National League West.

Miguel Tejada seems to be cranking it up for the Giants, having raised his average by roughly 40 points over where it was a couple of months ago. It may not be much to look at statistically right now, but he seems to be playing well. Hopefully Pat Burrell can get over this foot ailment that has been plaguing him the last few days; he's had successful pinch-hit at-bats off the bench in the last two games anyway.

Padres reliever Chad Qualls spiked the ball after tagging out Giants outfielder Andres Torres to end the 7th inning; Torres was attempting to score on a wild pitch. In my book, Qualls made a total bush league move and I hope the Giants can make him pay for it before too long.

It looks like the Diamondbacks may be sticking around for a while, after all. I'm still skeptical of their bullpen, but the longer they stay in the race, the more confidence they will have. They have won in Milwaukee the last two days, which is remarkably the first time the Brewers (45-42) have lost consecutive home games all season. It's an impressive achievement for the Diamondbacks, here's to hoping the Brewers end that losing streak tomorrow.

Speaking of the NL Central, how about the Pittsburgh Pirates (45-41)? They are only 1.5 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals (47-40). It looks like the Bucs may be over the .500 mark at the All-Star Break for the first time in almost as long as I can remember. Andrew McCutchen is having another strong year and if you ask me, belongs on the All-Star team. I still like the Brewers in that division, but they need to play better on the road, where they are 16-29 (they are a very impressive 29-13 at home).

Utah basketball may not play Utah State

Utah is all set to join the Pac-12 in just another day or two. There are plans for a Pac-12 Day celebration. However, I find it unfortunate that Athletic Director Chris Hill has apparently decided to put plans on hold to play Utah State regularly in basketball. The two teams have met annually for over a half-century and to me, it's a great rivalry. I know Utah has usually lost up in Logan, but it sure has been a fun atmosphere to play in. I hate to lose that. The home team has usually won and I think Utah could still use the Aggies as a great game on an annual basis. It means a lot to people here and I don't think it would really hurt the Runnin' Utes in the RPI department too much if they lost. I'll still always cheer for Utah. I just hate to see a rivalry like that diminish.

Dirk Nowitzki soaking it all in

Dirk Nowitzki sure seems to be taking well to the role of being an NBA Champion. He and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks made an appearance on David Letterman's Top Ten List which was rather funny, particularly Nowitzki at number one. Then at the championship parade, Nowitzki belted out "We Are the Champions!" by Queen very loudly. And tonight at the Texas Rangers (41-36) game against the New York Mets (37-39), Nowitzki threw out the first pitch, which had a bit too much arm behind it. Undeterred, Nowitzki flexed his muscles for the crowd in Arlington.

The man can do no wrong. He finally captured his first NBA Title and he looks like it. He looks like he is walking on air every time I see him and I really can't blame him. To me, with this playoff run and championship, Nowitzki cemented himself as one of the all-time greats. I like that he is so willing to share himself with public. It's good that he is soaking it all in. He deserves to.

The difficult issue of MLB realignment

Baseball has been considering the issue of realignment, chiefly because there are 6 teams in the National League Central and 4 teams in the American League West. All the other divisions have 5 teams. So if you go strictly by odds, a team in the AL West has a 1 in 4 shot to make the playoffs, while a team in the NL Central has a 1 in 6 shot to make the playoffs. I get that it doesn't seem fair. However, there is a lot more to it than just moving a team from the NL Central to the AL West.

First, the team that would make the most sense is the Houston Astros (28-48). If they moved to the AL West, no other teams would have to move around. Plus, it would still make some geographic sense, since they would then be in the same division as the Texas Rangers (40-36). Plus, it would clean up a lot of scheduling in interleague play, since divisions could simply be pitted against each other (although there are other issues realignment in general would bring up). Any other scenario, such as the Arizona Diamondbacks (42-34) moving to the American League, would likely require multiple teams switching divisions as a team from the NL Central would have to be shifted to the NL West to get all the divisions to 5 teams each.

However, the biggest issue with this sort of proposed realignment is that it would push both the American and National Leagues to 15 teams each. Since the start of interleague play in the late 1990s, it has been done only for a few weeks of the year. Since baseball is an everyday game, it follows that there would have to be interleague play throughout the season in this format.

There are multiple issues with this. First and foremost to me is the tradition of the game. I don't want my team, the World Champion San Francisco Giants (41-34), playing American League teams in the final week of the season while in the chase for a National League West Division title. It just doesn't seem right. Baseball has always been primarily about league play. When the games are magnified at the end of the regular season they should be at least be played within the same league, preferably within the same division (although this clearly isn't possible for every team in every game with most divisions having 5 teams).

And then there is the issue of the designated hitter. First off, I think the DH is a bad rule. It takes out a lot of strategy from baseball that I feel was meant to be in the game. Everyone in the field should have to hit (or be pinch-hit for) when his spot in the batting order comes up and everyone that hits should have to play the field (or be taken out of the game for a defensive replacement). Baseball should require an all around game, not just a one-dimensional game. Furthermore, it creates more strategic questions for managers, particularly late in close games, which benefits the integrity of the game.

Former Oakland Athletics (34-42) manager Bob Geren, who was recently fired, looked like he had never managed a National League style game before when the A's visited the Giants earlier this season, and yet this rarely would come up in a typical American League game. Like I said, this all should be part of the game, managers should be forced to make big decisions on a nightly basis. Former Chicago Cubs (30-44) and Diamondbacks first baseman and current D-Backs broadcaster Mark Grace put it well when he said the National League is where they play real baseball. I realize the DH may be hard to get rid of since there is a lot of money in that position and a lot of productive players, but it's something that should be done.

But I digress, although it was a fun digression. Not only is the tradition of playing within your league when the games take on more importance a huge deal, there is also the issue of having games being played under different rules down the stretch. What if an AL team had a division title on the line and had to clinch it in an NL park with no DH or vice versa? It just wouldn't seem right to not be playing under ordinary rules. There would likely have to be some uniformity with the rules if interleague play was to be spread out like this or it could cause some chaos. I'd just prefer it if the teams kept to their own leagues late in the season (as well as around the time of Opening Day) as I feel it would benefit the integrity of the game.

As you can see, it's not as simple as some would have you believe it would be to realign. I realize that mathematically, the current system isn't exactly fair to teams in the NL Central. But to fix it would require a major overhaul. I don't know how exactly that would be done or if it should even be attempted.

Alternate jerseys too prevalent in day games

One thing I'm tired of in baseball is teams that always wear their alternate uniforms during day games. I don't get it. I've only noticed two teams that almost always do this and they are the Cincinnati Reds (home only) and Kansas City Royals (home and away with different color jerseys). Both teams have alternate jerseys that look pretty cool if you ask me, but the whole idea of it wrong.

Day baseball is traditional, it what they played when baseball began. And when baseball began, there were no alternate jerseys. It was home whites and road grays. Now, I'm okay with wearing alternate jerseys from time-to-time, and even occasionally during day games, but I think during matinee contests teams should stick to the traditional jerseys most of the time. Alternate jerseys are more of a modern invention and so it follows that they should go more often with the also more modern invention of night games. I just don't get that classic feel from teams when they are always wearing alternate jerseys during day games.

Catching up

Apologies for the lack of blogging the last week and a half. I will be more consistent. As it has been some time since I was on here, I would like to catch up on the developments in sports during that time period.

First off, I was happy to see the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Finals. Their zone defense seemed to be a riddle that the Heat couldn't solve with enough consistency throughout the series. Dirk Nowitzki was clutch down the stretch of the last few games and put up solid numbers the entire Finals. Jason Terry and the rest of the supporting cast really stepped it up the last three games of the series. I thought that was the key when Miami was up 2-1 and I thought it really swayed the series in Dallas' favor.

Dwyane Wade played outstanding the first three games of the series and played well the rest of the series, but not as well as he did in the 2006 NBA Finals. LeBron James had a poor series, particularly in the fourth quarters of games. He simply was not assertive enough when he had the ball. Chris Bosh played pretty well, but needed more from Wade and James. I think the Heat will be back next year and be a Finals contender again.

The Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup Final 4 games to 3 over the Vancouver Canucks, taking Game 7 by a 4-0 score in Vancouver. Before the series, I kind of wanted the Canucks to win, but the biting incident plus the Aaron Rome hit on Nathan Horton kind of pushed me more to the Bruins. Canucks fans booing during the U.S. National Anthem prior to Game 7 didn't help either. I realize there were some cheap plays on the part of the Bruins as well, but it didn't seem nearly as flagrant to me.

Roberto Luongo didn't measure up consistently enough in the Final as goaltender for the Canucks. He was absolutely destroyed all three games in Boston, which put too much pressure on the Canucks going back to home ice in Game 7. It's typically not a recipe for success if you just fall back on the attitude that you play well at home. The Bruins were in every game and looked like they wanted it more. Luongo said he would have made the save on the lone goal scored in Game 5 which was allowed by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Maybe he should have been more focused on the three he allowed in the first nine minutes of Game 6 or the three he allowed at home in Game 7.

It was a fun series to watch, but I do wish that Alex Burrows had been punished for his bite. The NHL has sent conflicting messages about these types of matters and needs to make sure this type of unsportsmanlike behavior is outlawed. I did think it was funny that Bruins players were taunting the Burrows and other Canucks by sticking fingers in their faces and asking if they wanted to bite them again.

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (39-30) just took two of three in Phoenix from the Arizona Diamondbacks (38-32) this week and hold a 1.5 game lead over the Snakes in the National League West. I think the Giants have the better team and will win the division. Remember when everyone said the Colorado Rockies (33-35) were going to run away with the division? Looks like that one's not going to happen. The Giants pitching staff will keep them in the race all season long and I believe will be enough to take the division crown for the second consecutive year.

Burrows takes bite out of Bruins

At left: Vancouver's Alex Burrows bites Boston's Patrice Bergeron during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Burrows was not suspended for his actions.

The Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins resume the Stanley Cup Final tonight at 6 p.m. MT on Versus. The Canucks lead the series 2 games to none. The series has not been a good showing for the NHL so far. During a scrum in Game 1, Canucks forward Alex Burrows bit Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron. It was clearly a bite, I could see that on television. To back that up, it was plain to see that there was blood seeping through Bergeron's glove.

Worst of all, the NHL didn't suspend Burrows, saying there was not conclusive evidence to do so. That whole notion is ridiculous, the entire world could tell it was a bite. Worse yet for the NHL, Burrows scored 2 goals in Game 2, including the game-winner just seconds into overtime. This magnifies the problem. Burrows should not have been out there, he probably should have been suspended for at least the remainder of the series.

People have often considered the NHL less civilized than other sports. Normally, I don't quite buy those arguments because I believe some clean contact is part of the game and that guys typically aren't trying to seriously injure someone else. However, biting is frowned on in every sport. It has no place in hockey, or at least it shouldn't. The NHL failing to take action opens the door for other incidents such as this to occur. It's disgraceful to hockey and the league needs to work on cleaning up its image if it wants to grow in popularity. For an incident like this to be seen on national television and go unpunished is bad news for the NHL.

In fact, in Game 2, Canucks forward Maxim Lapierre taunted Bergeron by sticking his glove in his face, likely asking him if he wanted to take a bite out of it. Also in the game, Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid appeared to ask Burrows during a scrum "You gonna bite me?" The Canucks' image is tarnished, but it also appears that the Bruins may be letting that get into their heads. Even if the Canucks are making light of the situation, the Bruins need to focus on Game 3, which is a must-win game for them. I kind of hope that Boston can pull it out, I was sort of cheering for Vancouver, but the biting incident makes it harder to do so.

Nadal captures French Open

Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in four sets yesterday to capture the French Open championship. Federer played excellent tennis and was right there in the first two sets before winning the third. If he had won either of those, he may have been able to carry that momentum to win the match. As it is, Nadal continued his domination of Federer on clay court. It was fun watching such a great rivalry be renewed, but I was sad Federer couldn't pull this one out.

I stand by what I wrote a couple of days ago, though, in saying that Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time. He has captured the career Grand Slam and has won more major tournaments than anyone in history. I understand that he has an overall losing record to Nadal, but Nadal doesn't have the career numbers that Federer does, at least not yet. Nadal's game has come a long way in recent years, jumping from primarily a clay court specialist to a more complete player on multiple surfaces. I will be open to revisiting this debate if Nadal catches Federer in number of total majors, but for now Federer is still the all-time king in my book.

Wade leads Heat to win in Game 3

Dwyane Wade scored 29 points on 12-21 shooting from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Heat defeated the Mavericks 88-86 last night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Dallas. The Heat now lead the series 2 games to 1. LeBron James chipped in 17 points and 9 assists and Chris Bosh had 18 points, including the game-winning jumper with under a minute to go. Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks had 34 points to lead all scorers, but his jumper at the buzzer that would have tied it hit the back rim.

Through the first three games of the NBA Finals, Wade looks like the best player on the floor to me. Having not had the opportunity to watch the 2006 NBA Finals, this is the best basketball I have ever seen Wade play. He looks downright unstoppable most of the time out there and his jump shot is going in at an extraordinary rate. James has done a good job facilitating and I think his presence allows Wade to have a little more freedom.

Right now, Wade is playing too well for the Mavericks to give him space, they probably need to double team him and force someone else to shoot it. That's what happened on the last play when Bosh knocked down the game-winner. The defense was good in forcing the ball out of Wade's hands but needed to be a little better closing on Bosh. Even so, it's better if Bosh is open than Wade, so the only problem is there should have been a little better rotation defensively.

Nowitzki is playing stellar basketball and I honestly thought his shot was going to go in and force overtime, but I guess the percentages say they can't all go in. Nowitzki needs better play around him, particularly from Jason Terry who has faltered somewhat in the Finals after having an outstanding playoffs. It wouldn't hurt for J.J. Barea to be more productive either. The Mavericks have to accomplish these things if they want to have a realistic shot at winning the series. Game 4 is tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MT on ABC.

Time for NBC to move out of the Dark Ages

Roger Federer defeated Novak Djokovic yesterday in the semifinals of the French Open, marking the end of Djokovic's near-record 40 plus match winning streak. The problem was, much of the United States was unable to see the match live on television. NBC decided to start its coverage at 11 a.m. throughout the nation, which was great for people in the Eastern Time Zone because that's right about the time the match started. As for the rest of us? Well, enjoy it on tape delay.

Tape delay may have been okay in years past (although I still can't remember ever thinking highly of it), but in today's technology-savvy age it is a downright archaic idea. If tennis wants to generate interest, it needs to ensure that its top matches are available live throughout the entire USA. Likewise with NBC, if it wants to get the best ratings, it stands to reason that more people would want to watch live tennis. NBC has also done its tape delay business with the Olympics for many years. It makes a little more sense there, but I still think everyone would be better off if those events were shown live as well.

Federer-Djokovic was one of those big-time matches with lots of anticipation that just don't come along every day. It's a shame that the entire country wasn't able to see it live on television. I had the foresight to be able to watch the match live online on nbcsports.com, but I don't think that the casual fan would go to such lengths to plan to watch such a match, just as I think they wouldn't want to watch a match on television they already knew the result of.

Another thing I'm not too fond of is that it is often ridiculously hard to find out when on earth these matches are scheduled to start. After five or ten minutes of poking around varying websites, I found that the Federer-Djokovic and Rafael Nadal-Andy Murray matches were going to be played on the same court, accompanied by a start time. Nadal-Murray was first, but there was no timetable given for when the second match would start, nor a time between matches given. Furthermore, I'm still not sure if Nadal-Murray was on television or streaming online at all, which is ridiculous for a Grand Slam semifinal. Tennis and NBC need to fix this if they both want to be considered major players among their competitors.

It's a shame that I feel compelled to spend so much time talking about this rather than the actual tennis, but I feel that all helps illustrate my point. If NBC can't show the entire matches live, they should have them start on another network and pick up the coverage throughout the nation at 11. This is still not ideal, but in this scenario, at least the entire country would be able to have the option of watching live on television.

Anyway, Federer looked like a blast from the past on Friday, knocking out Djokovic in four sets. Federer showed once again that he is the greatest tennis player of all time. He's still playing some good tennis, even if he is a bit past his prime. Early tomorrow morning, he faces his long-time rival Nadal for the French Open title. I can tell you with a surety that this match is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. MT and will be available live nationwide on NBC. At least they are doing something sensible for the final, if not for the semis. I, for one, can tell you that I will be getting up to watch.

Big Mavericks comeback ties NBA Finals

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 95-93 tonight in Game 2 of the NBA Finals from Miami. The Mavericks overcame a 15 point 4th quarter deficit to capture the win. Dirk Nowitzki was clutch again, scoring the final 9 points for Dallas. With some of the celebrating that was going on, I think the Heat thought they had the game won. Dwyane Wade was outstanding and LeBron James was very good. Wade look completely unstoppable at times to be honest. I think there definitely was a mental lapse on the part of the Heat.

However, credit has to be given to the Mavericks for refusing to quit. They looked terrible for much of the second half -- it just seemed like they were completely out of sync, turning the ball over and making poor decisions that led to a lot of easy baskets by the Heat. The Mavericks seemed to take better care of the basketball down the stretch and to calm down when they needed to. Without the turnovers, they were able to defend Miami in more half court sets, allowing their defense to be more effective.

The Mavericks will need to show better focus throughout entire games if they expect to win the series and the Heat will need to maintain the focus they showed throughout the 3rd quarter and first half of the 4th quarter if they expect to win the series. It could very well be a good, long series. It looks like Nowitzki's left hand is healthy enough and that should mean the Mavericks are able to stay competitive in the series. I think this game was a must-win for the Mavericks with the 2-3-2 format of the NBA Finals. It would have been a tall order to ask Dallas to win all three games at home, but now if they take two of the three they can go back to Miami needing just one win to capture the title. Game 3 is Sunday night in Dallas at 6 p.m. MT on ABC.

Buster Posey's injury

Buster Posey, catcher for the World Champion San Francisco Giants (27-22), was injured in an ugly collision in the 12th inning of last night's game with the Florida Marlins (29-19). Scott Cousins of the Marlins was attempting to score on a sacrifice fly ahead of the throw from Giants right fielder Nate Schierholtz. Posey couldn't handle the throw on a hop, and Cousins ran over him. Posey suffered a broken fibula as well as strained ligaments in his left ankle. It is estimated he will be out six to eight weeks, and possibly longer.

Posey, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, would be a huge loss for the Giants on a number of different levels. He is a great hitter who is smart and hits for average and has a little pop in his bat. He is also a great catcher, doing a great job of calling pitches and knowing the tendencies of hitters. And as if that wasn't enough, he is a great clubhouse presence and a leader on the team at a young age.

Posey should be able to spend time with the team as he rehabilitates and still contribute in leadership roles, but he will be immensely missed on the field, especially as he was just starting to find his groove offensively and was in the midst of a double digit game hitting streak. Eli Whiteside will take over behind the plate in the interim. Whiteside is a solid catcher defensively and can hit occasionally, but his offensive skills are not that of Posey.

Hopefully the Giants can ride out this injury and stay in the race; I think they are capable of doing this for at least a little while. Despite the Marlins finishing off the three game sweep this afternoon at AT&T Park, the Giants still lead the National League West by 2 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks (25-24) and 2.5 games over the Colorado Rockies (24-24), who are playing right now (the Diamondbacks lead 3-1 in the top of the 6th inning in Denver).

A lot of people were proclaiming that the Rockies were going to run away with the division after they got off to such a hot start, but they have cooled off considerably since then and recently lost starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa for the season to an injury. The Diamondbacks have been playing very well lately, but I still think they lack the pitching depth to stay in the race all year. The Posey injury hurts the Giants' chances, no question about it, but I still think it could be a close race in the West. Hopefully he isn't out for too long. The Giants travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers (27-23), who are riding a six game winning streak, for three games this weekend.

Mavericks make big comeback, take 3-1 series lead

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-105 in overtime tonight in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in Oklahoma City. The Thunder led by 15 points with under five minutes to go in regulation, but the Mavericks, who never led in regulation, came back to force overtime. The Mavericks now lead the series 3 games to 1.

Dirk Nowitzki led the charge down the stretch, proving again that he is a big-time, clutch player. He hit some seemingly impossible shots and did so a couple of times despite the Thunder committing to me what looked like blatant fouls (which were not called). Nowitzki was big-time and is starting to cement his legendary status. Nowitzki ended up with 40 points and again had a strong shooting percentage, going 12 for 20 (60 percent).

You just don't see comebacks like the one tonight. When a team is up by 15 points with under five minutes to go, especially at home, it's game over. That's what made all this so impressive. On top of that, this was a game the Thunder absolutely had to have; they should have been the more desperate team. In fact, they looked like their spirit was crushed even before the game ended. After Jason Kidd knocked down a 3 to put Dallas up by 3 late in overtime, Kevin Durant looked like the Thunder had already lost; he looked completely despondent in the time-out huddle. This game is a back-breaker; I don't see the series going back to Oklahoma City. Game 5 is Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Dallas and can be seen on ESPN and espn3.com.

Lincecum pitches a gem

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (26-19) defeated the Oakland Athletics (22-24) by a score of 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Tim Lincecum pitched his fifth career complete-game shutout. Lincecum showed again why he is among the best in the game and why he has won two Cy Young awards. The Giants lead the Colorado Rockies (23-21) by 2.5 games in the National League West.

The Giants are looking good and are playing like the first-place team I expected them to be before the season started. The Rockies have a good team and particularly a couple of really good hitters, but I think the Giants are the better team overall based on their pitching staff from top to bottom. I expect it to be a relatively close race all summer, but I think the Giants will take the division. The Giants wrap up the bay-bridge series at 2:05 p.m. MT on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

The amazing Dirk Nowitzki

At left: Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks (left) goes up for a shot against the Thunder's Kendrick Perkins in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Nowitzki had 48 points.

If you missed Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals last night, well, you missed quite a show. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-112. Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks dropped an incredible 48 points on the Thunder. The most amazing part of the whole thing is that he did it on 12-15 shooting from the field, an incredible 80 percent. And these were not only dunks and layups, but also a number of jumpshots, including those of the turnaround, fade-away variety. From the free-throw line, Nowitzki was 24-24, setting an NBA Playoffs record for number of free-throw attempts in a game without a miss.

Usually when a guy approaches 50 points, he takes a lot more than 15 shots from the field, which makes Nowitzki's performance truly one for the ages. I hope people recognize how dialed in he really was last night. Jason Terry continued his torrid postseason with 24 points on 50 percent shooting, including four 3-pointers, the last of which in the final minute put the game out of reach for good. Terry is a clutch player who has a knack for knocking down the big shot and has been referred to by Nowitzki as the team's "closer." Credit Terry for being big, but also Nowitzki for facilitating his teammates. J.J. Barea continued his strong play as well, chipping in 21 points of his own. Jason Kidd had 11 assists.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 40 points and had it not been for Nowitzki, he would have been the story of the game. Durant had an outstanding game, shooting 10-18 from the field and 18-19 from the foul line. Russell Westbrook, on the other hand, had a tough night, scoring 20 points, but doing so on just 3-15 shooting from the field. He had only 3 assists as the point guard. The Thunder are going to need improved play from Westbrook if they are going to win this series. The Mavericks guardline was significantly better than the Thunder's in Game 1.

Game 2 of this series is in Dallas tomorrow night at 7 p.m. MT and can be seen on ESPN and espn3.com. Meanwhile, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals is tonight in Chicago at 6:30 p.m. MT and can be seen on TNT. The Bulls lead the Heat in that series, 1-0.