The 2012 MLB regular season is well underway with a full month of baseball already in the books. It is still a long road to October baseball but paths are already starting to take shape and many surprises have already occurred along the way. The beginning of the year brings promise but at this point in the season anything can still happen.

The highlight of the day will be when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz.

Lance Lynn (5-0, 1.60 ERA) will take the mound for the Cardinals looking for his sixth win of the season facing off against Joe Saunders (2-1, 1.24 ERA) of the Diamondbacks. St. Louis is proving that a single superstar does not make for a successful team by leading the National League Central while Arizona is putting up a strong fight to contend in the National League West.

With a number of great games to be played on the day, this will be one of the better ones.

Check your local listings for game times and channel listings in your area. With MLB.TV all games are also available nationwide (local blackouts apply).

Note: All start times Eastern

Monday, May 7, 2012

Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians, 1:05 p.m. (Game 1)

Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 p.m. (Game 2)

New York Mets at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 p.m.

Texas Rangers at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m.

Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m.

Miami Marlins at Houston Astros, 8:05 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 p.m.

Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 p.m.

Cincinnati Reds at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:10 p.m.

St. Louis Cardinals at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 p.m.

Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, 10:05 p.m.

Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners, 10:10 p.m.

San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 p.m.

Sources:

All data provided by MLB.com

Paul Rados is a Cleveland based freelance sportswriter and Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook.

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired third baseman Josh Bell from the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, sending cash to Baltimore in exchange for the young player. Bell is in his third year in the league, having originally been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2005 amateur draft.

He was traded to the Orioles in 2009 and made his debut in the majors the following year, playing 53 games in total and batting only .214. The following year saw a decline in all of his numbers, as he played only 26 games and batted .164, as well as seeing his RBI production decline from 12 to six. He has struggled with adapting to the MLB strike zone, as demonstrated by his career OBP of .221. With Diamondbacks infielder Geoff Blum going on the DL with a left oblique strain, Arizona was likely looking for a little more depth at third base.

All your Diamondbacks news and info can be found at AZ Snakepit, and if that’s still not enough head over to SB Nation’s MLB hub. And don’t miss SB Nation on YouTube:

The Arizona Diamondbacks are 4-0 for the first time their 14-year history. With Joe Saunders on the mound against the San Diego Padres, they have a good chance of improving that mark.

Saunders looks to build off last season’s success against the Padres when the teams continue their three-game set Wednesday night at Petco Park.

Arizona is off to the best start in franchise history after beating San Diego in the series opener 4-2 in 11 innings Tuesday. Chris Young hit a tiebreaking two-run homer to give the Diamondbacks the win after blowing a 2-0 lead.

Young is 10 for 24 (.417) with four doubles, two homers and six RBIs while earning a hit in each of his last six starts against the Padres.

“It gives us good momentum and hopefully we can keep it going,” Young said.

Manger Kirk Gibson said he expects games in San Diego to be close.

”We’ve played so many games in this park, and this is a typical game here where it just kind of hangs close,” Gibson said. ”As the night goes on, you don’t really expect home runs. You get a lot of close baseball in this park, and we did again tonight, but fortunately we won.”

Saunders will look to keep the momentum going in his first start of the season after going 12-13 with a 3.69 ERA in 2011. He finished the year strong by going 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA in his last seven starts, with two of those victories coming against the Padres.

The left-hander went 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA in four total starts versus San Diego last season, not allowing an earned run in 15 2-3 combined innings over those final two outings.

Arizona hopes to have Justin Upton back in the starting lineup after he injured his left thumb sliding to break up a double play in the seventh inning of Sunday’s win over San Francisco.

He said the injury isn’t serious and he hopes to start Wednesday after entering as a defensive replacement in the 11th inning Tuesday.

“It’s a little sore and I went and swung and it didn’t feel quite right,” Upton told the team’s official website. “It’s not too bad. It’s one of those things where you’d rather be cautious early on than push it early on.”

Upton may not want to miss a chance to hit against Cory Luebke, as he’s 5 for 10 with three solo homers lifetime off the San Diego starter who will oppose Saunders.

Luebke will be looking to bounce back after allowing six runs – five earned – and nine hits in 4 2-3 innings of a 6-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first start Friday.

It may not get much better Wednesday for the left-hander, who lost all three of his starts with a 4.76 ERA against Arizona in 2011.

The Padres (1-4) went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position Tuesday.

“We couldn’t get the big hit,” manager Bud Black said.

Jason Bartlett and Jesus Guzman each drove in a run. Bartlett is hitting .158 (3 for 19) with no extra-base hits in his last five games against Arizona.

The San Francisco Giants will play 72 regular-season games against NL West opponents during the 2012 MLB season. Those opponents include the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. The home and away games will be evenly distributed at 36.

The Giants will start their season with a three-game road series against the Diamondbacks from April 6 through April 8. They’ll finish their season with a three-game road series against the Dodgers from October 1 through October 3. The Giants will finish the final month of the season (plus October) with 16 of their 28 divisional games at San Francisco.

Here is a brief rundown of the Giants’ schedule against divisional opponents for the 2012 MLB season.

Complete MLB schedule can be found HERE.

April 2012 (3 Home, 6 Road)

April 6-8: at Arizona Diamondbacks

April 9, 11-12: at Colorado Rockies

April 27-29: San Diego Padres

May 2012 (5 Home, 6 Road)

May 7-9: at Los Angeles Dodgers

May 11-13: at Arizona Diamondbacks

May 14-15: Colorado Rockies

May 28-30: Arizona Diamondbacks

June 2012 (3 Home, 3 Road)

June 5-7: at San Diego Padres

June 25-27: Los Angeles Dodgers

July 2012 (6 Home, 0 Road)

July 23-25: San Diego Padres

July 27-29: Los Angeles Dodgers

August 2012 (3 Home, 9 Road)

August 3-5: at Colorado Rockies

August 10-12: Colorado Rockies

August 17-19: at San Diego Padres

August 20-22: at Los Angeles Dodgers

September And October 2012 (16 Home, 12 Road)

September 3-5: Arizona Diamondbacks

September 7-9: Los Angeles Dodgers

September 10-12: at Colorado Rockies

September 14-16: at Arizona Diamondbacks

September 17-20: Colorado Rockies

September 21-23: San Diego Padres

September 25-27: Arizona Diamondbacks

September 28-30: at San Diego Padres

October 1-3: at Los Angeles Dodgers

MLB schedules subject to change due to rainouts or any other unanticipated postponement.

Joshua Huffman grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs enthusiast. He immediately gained an admiration for Cubs fans after watching numerous games on WGN during the mid-90s. His favorite Cubs moment was Kerry Wood’s(notes) 1-hitter, 20K extravaganza that was only denied of a no-hitter by Kevin Orie’s defensive blunder. As a Packers and Cubs fan, he suffered through Steve Bartman and “4th & 26″ in a span of three months. He can be found on Twitter HERE.

More from Yahoo! Contributor Network

NL West Schedule for the 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers

AL West Schedule for the 2012 Los Angeles Angels

AL West Schedule for the 2012 Oakland Athletics

The Los Angeles Dodgers will play 72 regular-season games against NL West opponents during the 2012 MLB season. Those opponents include the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. The home and away games will be evenly distributed at 36.

The Dodgers will play in their first series against a NL West opponent when they meet the Padres from April 5 through April 8. The Dodgers will end their season with a three-game home series against the Giants from October 1 through October 3. The Dodgers will go from May 16 through July 12 without hosting a series against a divisional opponent.

Here is a brief rundown of the Dodgers’ schedule against divisional opponents for the 2012 MLB season.

Complete MLB schedule can be found HERE.

April 2012 (3 Home, 5 Road)

April 5-8: at San Diego Padres

April 13-15: San Diego Padres

April 30: at Colorado Rockies

May 2012 (8 Home, 7 Road)

May 1-2: at Colorado Rockies (Continued)

May 7-9: San Francisco Giants

May 11-13: Colorado Rockies

May 14-15: Arizona Diamondbacks

May 16-17: at San Diego Padres

May 21-23: at Arizona Diamondbacks

June 2012 (0 Home, 6 Road)

June 1-3: at Colorado Rockies

June 25-27: at San Francisco Giants

July 2012 (5 Home, 7 Road)

July 5-8: at Arizona Diamondbacks

July 13-15: San Diego Padres

July 27-29: at San Francisco Giants

July 30-31: Arizona Diamondbacks

August 2012 (9 Home, 3 Road)

August 1: Arizona Diamondbacks (Continued)

August 6-8: Colorado Rockies

August 20-22: San Francisco Giants

August 27-29: at Colorado Rockies

August 30-31: Arizona Diamondbacks

September And October 2012 (11 Home, 8 Road)

September 1-2: Arizona Diamondbacks (Continued)

September 3-5: San Diego Padres

September 7-9: at San Francisco Giants

September 11-12: at Arizona Diamondbacks

September 25-27: at San Diego Padres

September 28-30: Colorado Rockies

October 1-3: San Francisco Giants

MLB schedules subject to change due to rainouts or any other unanticipated postponement.

Joshua Huffman grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs enthusiast. He immediately gained an admiration for Cubs fans after watching numerous games on WGN during the mid-90s. His favorite Cubs moment was Kerry Wood’s(notes) 1-hitter, 20K extravaganza that was only denied of a no-hitter by Kevin Orie’s defensive blunder. As a Packers and Cubs fan, he suffered through Steve Bartman and “4th & 26″ in a span of three months. He can be found on Twitter HERE.

More from Yahoo! Contributor Network

AL West Schedule for the 2012 Los Angeles Angels

AL West Schedule for the 2012 Oakland Athletics