Around the Horn - 5/5

Time to look at the standings once again as we are on Cinco de Mayo.

















The Red Sox swept the Rays over the weekend to take a 3-game lead in the AL East. Four of the five teams in the division over .500 and the last place Blue Jays are just 2 games under the even mark.

The Twins are red hot, having won 5 in a row. They took a 3-game sweep of the Tigers, who were coming off a 3-game sweep of the Yankees. The Twins are the only team in the AL Central as both the Indians and Tigers continue to dwell at the bottom of the division, albeit just 2.5 and 3 games out respectively. The White Sox have hit the skids, having lost 5 in a row and 8 of 11.

The Angels have been without John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar all season, but are still 7 games over .500 and have a 1 game lead in the AL West over the surprising Oakland A's. The Mariners, despite one of the best starting staffs in baseball, continue to get a lack of run support and sit at 6 games under .500 along with the Texas Rangers.





















The NL East has 4 teams over .500 with last year's title winner, Philadelphia sitting atop the lead. The Phillies have won 7 of 10 and took 6 of 8 from the NL West, but cheese steak lovers beware. The Phils have lost 6 of 9 games in the division. The Mets are keeping their heads above water as they try to get healthy and more consistent. They took 2 of 3 from a hot Arizona team (no pun intended) to move 3 over .500 and get within a half-game of the Phillies.

No one is more surprised about the Cardinals than us. They have to collapse some time, don't they? The Redbirds have won 7 of 10 and have the second best record in baseball at 20-12. The Cubs have dropped 7 of 10 to move back to 5 games over .500 and trail the Cards by 1.5 games. The remainder of the division has done poorly of late, though the Astros swept 3 games from the Brewers to reach .500.

Despite losing 2 of 3 to the Mets, the Diamondbacks still hold a 4 game lead over the surging Dodgers. LA had their 8 game winning streak snapped by the Rockies on Sunday, who ended their own 4 game slump. After last year's playoff performance, the Rockies are one of the biggest disappointments, going 12-19 out of the gate. The Giants and Padres continue to range from mediocre to poor play.