1) Red Sox
It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen the Red Sox completely obliterate an opponent over a four game series to this extent (46-7 combined score). Granted, Crazy Ozzie’s crew is a shell of the World Championship squad from 2 years ago, but it was very entertaining to watch him muttering to himself in the dugout, probably thinking about how many machete hacks it will take to kill his entire bullpen.

2) Yankees
The Yankees have their three best starting pitchers (Pettitte, Clemens, Wang) waiting for the Red Sox to arrive in the Toilet on Tuesday (more on this in a preview tomorrow). Joba Chamberlain has been off the hook in his first few MLB outings, with 15 K in 9 innings pitched and his slider drawing rave reviews. He gives the Yanks a formidable 8th inning bridge to Mariano, something they haven’t had this year.

3) Mets
The only NL team that has a solid playoff reservation at this point, the Mets now have a 7 game lead over Atlanta and Philly. Since the All-Star break, the ageless El Duque is 5-0 with a 9 K/9 and a 2.87 ERA.

4) Angels
What’s up with John Lackey? In August, hitters are batting .358 against the big right-hander, effectively ending his Cy Young hopes. Catcher Mike Napoli should return to the lineup soon, providing some much-needed pop.

5) Mariners
The Cinderella story of 2007 continues, as Seattle is currently leading the wildcard race and within a stone’s throw of the AL West lead. When talking about great pitching in the AL, a guy who is often overlooked is J.J. Putz. He’s been arguably the best reliever in baseball (0.683 WHIP in 60 innings), and probably deserves some Cy Young consideration.

6) Indians
C.C. Sabathia is, by far, the best Cleveland Indians pitcher in my lifetime. At the tender age of 27, he’s already 7th on the all-time Indians strikeout list. 4 of the 6 guys ahead of him (Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Bob Lemon, Early Wynn) have plaques in Cooperstown.

7) Cubs
The Cubbies wisely locked up their ace, Carlos “Big Z” Zambrano, with a long term contract, and have since pulled ahead of Milwaukee to take the division lead. The NL Playoffs are always more interesting with the Cubs involved.

8) Detroit
Had been swooning recently, but they deserve their props for hanging tough against the red-hot Yankees this weekend. Kudos to the Tigers offense for putting Phil Hughes over their knee and spanking him today (3 HRs).

9) Padres
Marcus Giles gradually regressing from a .526 slugging percentage in 2003 (age 25) to a .322 slugging percentage this season (age 29) is somewhat odd.

10) Diamondbacks
Brandon Webb has been the best 2nd-half pitcher in baseball. In his last 7 starts, he is 6-1 with an ERA of 0.65, which has vaulted him into the thick of the NL Cy Young discussion.