6. Milwaukee Brewers (61-51) (LW 4) – The Brewers’ outfield, which was already one of the better in the game, has gotten even better thanks to the addition of Gerardo Parra. He will be a reliable fourth outfielder, who brings with him two Gold Gloves and a decent bat.
7. Washington Nationals (60-49) (LW 8) – The Nats finished off their series with the Phillies by turning in 21 consecutive scoreless innings. Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann each had seven-inning performances and combined for 18 strikeouts.
8. San Francisco Giants (60-51) (LW 10) – Though they did acquire Jake Peavy in the days leading up to the trading deadline, the Giants didn’t get anything else done, and they really could have used a second baseman in particular. San Francisco second basemen are hitting a league-worst .175 this year.
9. St. Louis Cardinals (59-51) (LW 6) – The Cardinals were already eighth in baseball in starting pitcher’s ERA, but that didn’t stop them from trying to upgrade the rotation by trading for John Lackey and Justin Masterson. And, so far so good as each won his St. Louis debut.
10. Toronto Blue Jays (60-53) (LW 11) – The Blue Jays were hot, winning nine of ten, mainly against division rivals. But they then followed that up with a three-game losing skid against the lowly Astros, and were outscored 17-4 in those games.
