(Sporting News)

A disgraced hero's homecoming highlights the start of baseball's second half today. But enough about Manny Ramirez. Three other story lines worth following as the National League recovers from the embarrassment of another All-Star Game loss:

Parity and the pennants

The Red Sox are 20 games over .500 and own a three-game lead in baseball's toughest division, but they're like most teams. They have yet to play their best ball.
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"We're happy with where we are," Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay said. "But we haven't hit one of those stretches where we run off 10 straight wins. We know we're capable of that."

Bay realizes the same is true of the Yankees and Rays, the Red Sox's closest pursuers in the A.L. East. Both ran off seven-game win streaks in the weeks leading into the break, before stumbling a bit going into the break. The Yankees were swept by the Angels, while the Rays lost two of three to the A's at Tropicana Field, where they once again have posted one of the best home records in the majors.

Looming on the schedule for the A.L. East contenders: the Yankees will visit the Rays for three-game series (July 27-29); the Red Sox will visit the Rays for a two-game series (Aug. 4-5); and the Red Sox and Yankees will play a four-game series at Yankee Stadium (Aug. 6-9).

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MLB jason bay, red sox, mlb, second half, manny ramirez, roy halladay, toronto bluejays