Dykstra: Clean Up With Procter & Gamble

The Game of Life

The Mets continue to lose, but the Braves and Phillies are losing also, so the Mets continue to maintain a slim lead in the NL East. The Brewers are widening their lead in the NL Central, while the Padres, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks continue to exchange first place in the NL West.

The Red Sox enjoy a double-digit lead over the Yankees in the AL East, with the Tigers and Indians deadlocked for first in the AL Central. In the AL West, the Angels still maintain a comfortable margin over the A's.

In a twist of fate, Sammy Sosa, now a member of the Texas Rangers, hit his 600th career home run against the Cubs, his former team for whom he was a superstar for several years. Meanwhile, four quality pitchers may go or have already landed on the disabled list with various injuries. Randy Johnson has a herniated disc in his back, Dontrelle Willis has a tight left forearm, Jason Schmidt had shoulder surgery yesterday, and Curt Schilling had an unrevealing MRI on his ailing right shoulder.

On a positive note for pitchers, Josh Beckett of the Red Sox and C.C. Sabathia of the Indians joined the Angels' John Lackey as the only 10-game winners in the majors thus far.

David Beckham, who signed a $32.5 million contract in January to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy starting this summer, enjoyed a triumphant conclusion to his Spanish League career, as Real Madrid won the title. Beckham, who was benched after he signed his Galaxy contract, re-emerged to help Real Madrid win its final eight games of the season.