In a National League rich with nail-bitingly close pennant races, none is tighter this September than the race out West between the Arizona Diamondbacks and defending champion San Diego Padres.
The Padres, hungry for a return to the postseason after back-to-back first-round exits, have been heavyweights in the divisional race all year.
The Diamondbacks have endured a roller-coaster ride into late summer, climbing back to the top of the standings with a solid six-week stretch after the All-Star break.
Arizona was 4.5 games out of first on July 20 - tied with the Colorado Rockies for third place in the West - and appeared to be out of the hunt. But they came charging back thanks to ace Brandon Webb's 42.1 straight scoreless innings from July 20 to Aug. 22, and rookie outfielder Chris Young's 17 homers in July and August.
At the conclusion of this weekend, as the D-Backs lost two of three to Colorado and the Pads took two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the division's top two teams became locked in a dead heat for first place - and next on their schedules is a three-game showdown for the division's top spot.
While the pitching matchups leave a little to be desired - the Padres will avoid Webb, while Arizona steers clear of San Diego ace Jake Peavy - the series is still crucial for both teams. Not only will the series, which began last night and concludes tomorrow in Arizona, yield a division leader, but the West's second-place squad can fall back on a nice consolation prize: the top spot in the NL wild card race.
The other contender for the NL's final playoff spot is back East, where the Philadelphia Phillies have surged back into the wild card hunt by closing out August with six straight wins. The Phils' comeback was aided by the return of star second baseman Chase Utley, who recovered from a broken wrist and went 5-for-18 in the final four games of the Phillies' winning streak.
The Phillies, who twice dipped below .500 in July, went a respectable 16-13 in Utley's month-long absence. MVP Ryan Howard picked up the slack, recovering from a slow start to '07 with 15 second-half home runs, and the Phils, despite losing ace Cole Hamels to a strained elbow, have slugged their way into the NL playoff picture. Their resurgence is impressive considering that without Hamels, they lack a single starting pitcher with an ERA under 5.00.
The Dodgers are also alive in the playoff picture - if they can survive their current 10-game road trip that began in San Diego, and moves now to Wrigley Field, for yet another series with a division leader. While the Dodgers won't have to face the Chicago Cubs' Rich Hill, they run into a quartet of Carlos Zambrano, the newly reacquired Steve Trachsel, Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis.
While the Dodgers need to come out swinging in order to keep their wild card hopes alive, the Cubs will be playing with a sense of urgency as well. While they have won back-to-back series over division rivals, taking two of three from both the Milwaukee Brewers and the Houston Astros, the Cubs are still just 1.5 games ahead of the Brewers, who have the good fortune of starting September with the NL Central's three worst teams. They've already swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, while the Astros and Cincinnati Reds are next on the chopping block.
Unlike in the American League, where the three division leaders can already taste the champagne, everything's up for grabs in the senior circuit. Five years removed from their last playoff appearance, the Diamondbacks may be the most compelling story in the league, as they try to sneak into October with a roster full of unknowns.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. With 10 teams within seven games of a playoff spot, it's going to be anything but smooth sailing to the NL playoffs.
