Derek Lee is in the Zone!

Very few hitters have the opportunity to visit the "zone" as hitters like to refer to a period when the baseball looks like a big beach ball and your bat has the ultimate sweet spot going for it.Case in point is the Cubs Derrek Lee who as of this moment is hitting an eye-popping, .372 with 12 homeruns and 37 RBI's, as well as 8 stolen bases for the Wrigley Field tenants.With an on base percentage of .457 and a unheard of slugging percentage of .730 the 29-year old first basemen from Sacramental, California is keeping the Cubs chances alive single handily. With the Pirates Jose Mesa on the mound the Pirates looked like a lock as Mesa was 13-13 in save opportunities this year and had a streak dating back to last season and the Pirates had won 40 games in a row, when leading going into the 9th inning.Pirates manager Lloyd McLendon has the opportunity to walk Lee and face Jeremy Burnitz, but declined to put the winning run on base. Not a wise move by the Pittsburgh skipper as Lee was already 3-3 on the day and had driven in all the Pirates runs.Had this been Barry Bonds, McLendon would not have hesitated to call for a free pass from Mesa, yet why ignore the groove that Lee is in.While the Cubs struggle to remain in contention, their crosstown rivals the White Sox and specifically John Garland is sizzling. You would have to back 70 year to locate a White Sox pitcher as hot as Garland, as he became the first eight-game winner in the major leagues Tuesday night, leading the White Sox past Texas 5-2. He is the first White Sox pitcher to win his first eight starts since John Whitehead in 1935.Don't look now but the new named Los Angeles Angels formally Anaheim, are 21-16 which is amazing considering that they rank third in the AL in team ERA but their .243 average is near the bottom of the league. You just know that with Darin Erstad, Vladamir Guererro and Garrett Anderson they are bound to score some runs. The Oakland A's are imploding as they have lost eight straight games and haven't recovered from their back-to-back, walk-off losses in Boston. They've suffered from injuries (Bobby Crosby, Nick Swisher and now Rich Harden) and a lack of production from Jason Kendall, Eric Chavez and Erubiel Durazo. The A's are taking their lumps in a rebuilding year, and it could be hard for them to come out of this funk.