Tony DeMarco

Four and one-half months into the National League West race, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers have settled exactly nothing.

They are deadlocked after 120 games, with records that would put them in fourth place in the other two NL divisions — establishing this as a race that makes up for a lack of dominance with drama.

And they head down the stretch with decidedly different personnel than what they started the season with, offering the mystery of the unknown. Simply put, there is no favorite here, just ways to handicap their strengths, weaknesses and differences. So here goes:

Arizona
There is no getting around the fact that since May 18th, when they had the best record in the National League at 28-16, the D-Backs have been a bad team — 33-43 bad. But they are 14-11 since the All-Star break, offering hope.

Back when they were riding high, they were getting plenty of production from soon-to-be star Justin Upton and the rest of a young lineup, while Micah Owings appeared to be on his way to a breakout season. But not so much any more, in either case.

While Upton sits on the disabled list (along with the huge disappointment that is Eric Byrnes' first year in a questionable three-year, $30-million deal) the outfield has been reworked.

Conor Jackson — the most consistent and best of the D-Backs' young hitters — has made a successful transition from first base to left field. And when Orlando Hudson went down (again) with a season-ending hand injury, removing a Gold Glove defender who delivers quality at-bats in the middle of the lineup, the D-Backs went in a different direction by getting Adam Dunn from Cincinnati.

Dunn is what he is — a big-power, big-strikeout, big-walk, low-average hitter. The D-Backs desperately need the power, patience and run production, but already had plenty of low-average/big-strikeout guys.

But after the non-waivers trade deadline, you do the best you can, and this was a move worth making, even it meant giving up on the inconsistent Owings (assuming he clears waivers) and two other players including minor-league pitcher Dallas Buck. The D-Backs will pay Dunn about $2 million for the rest of the season, and will get a couple of compensation draft picks if they can't sign him this off-season (and that doesn't appear to be a great possibility, considering his 2008 salary of $13 million.)

It will be interesting to see what Bob Melvin does when Upton returns soon from a rehab assignment. Dunn could shift from right field to left, setting up a merry-go-round that also could include Jackson going back to first base, Chad Tracy to third and Mark Reynolds to second – where subs Augie Ojeda and Chris Burke currently are splitting time.

The large, tattooed presence of Jon Rauch was added in July, but that only helped mask the problems of Tony Pena, Brandon Lyon and Chad Qualls in a decent-at-best bullpen. Strikeout artist Juan Cruz also could have an impact down the stretch after missing nearly a month.

The No. 5 spot in the rotation is Melvin's personal juggling act, but Randy Johnson and Doug Davis give the rotation left-handed presence and four-deep quality. But bottom line, the D-Backs are a team built on Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and hope for consistency from the rest of the roster.

Los Angeles
Numerically and emotionally, there is no denying Manny Ramirez's impact. You want numbers? How about these after his first dozen games in Dodger blue: .467 batting average, five homers, 16 RBI, 10 runs scored.

The Dodgers are averaging 0.75 more runs per game, and haven't been shut out after being blanked eight times prior to his arrival. Ramirez also has helped lighten the mood among a disparate cast of characters in Joe Torre's clubhouse.

But the bottom line is the Dodgers are only 7-5 with Ramirez, so it's not as if he has sparked a huge run that has gotten them a leg up in the race. And that's because the Dodgers are chock-full of other key issues that could limit their stretch-run effectiveness:

They will be without the key to their offense — shortstop and spark plug Rafael Furcal. With Juan Pierre's playing time cut due to Ramirez's arrival, the speed and havoc-creating presence is missing from the top of the lineup (although Matt Kemp is doing a reasonable imitation, with some power as well).

They continue to mix-and-match in the bullpen without closer Takashi Saito. And two shaky starts by Brad Penny since coming off the disabled list don't offer a lot of promise for a rotation that may not have as much as a 15-game winner.

The schedule leans slightly to the D-Backs — 22 home/20 away to 19 home/23 away for the Dodgers, with very similar intra-division games remaining. Out of the division, the Dodgers will play the Phillies five times, the Pirates four times, and the Nationals and Brewers three times. The D-Backs have seven games against the Cardinals, and three each against the Marlins, Astros and Reds.

Home-and-home series remaining Aug. 29-31 in Arizona and Sept. 5-7 in Los Angeles, likely leaving the final three weeks of the regular season for scoreboard watching at Chase Field and Dodger Stadium.