Tony DeMarco

Don't look now, but the Colorado Rockies have crept their way back into the National League West race — crept being the operative word here.

In cutting a nine-game deficit three weeks ago to as low as five games (before giving one game back on Wednesday), the Rockies have gone 12-6 overall, but only 3-4 in the last week.

That's OK, because of late, the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks have been on a 3-7 slide, with Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Randy Johnson falling on hard times at the same (wrong) time. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won five in a row to get back to an even .500 — after dropping eight straight on a horrendous road trip.

Does anybody want to win this thing? Somebody has to, of course, but it may be with a record very similar to the 82-80 mark the San Diego Padres captured the West with three seasons ago.

Arizona and Los Angeles head into a showdown series at Dodger Stadium this weekend still beset by these issues:

The Diamondbacks could have opened a huge gap during the Dodgers' slide, but were swept in San Diego, and then lost two of three to Los Angeles at Chase Field last weekend.

Until Doug Davis delivered a quality start in a 4-3 win on Wednesday, D-Backs starters had posted a 10.70 ERA in their last turn through the rotation. Webb has missed his first two chances to become a 20-game winner, Haren is having mechanical issues, and Johnson actually gave up four homers in a 3 2/3-innings outing on Monday.

Fortunately, the D-Backs have displayed a penchant for come-from-behind wins, the latest coming on Adam Dunn's walkoff hit on Wednesday. Dunn is getting a lot of playing time at first base, and could get more down the stretch, with Justin Upton back in right field.

The Dodgers may have righted the ship after their losing streak, but they still head down the stretch without Rafael Furcal, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito and Jeff Kent — and are playing rookie Blake DeWitt and Royals castoff Angel Berroa up the middle.

That can only make it tougher on Joe Torre. But at least the Dodgers won't play a team with a winning record after this weekend, as they will close with series at San Diego, at Colorado, at Pittsburgh, vs. San Francisco, vs. San Diego and at San Francisco.

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Even with their recent 'charge', it's hard to imagine it being the Rockies coming out on top. But history won't let us dismiss them just yet. Last year's record-setting run didn't even begin until Sept. 16th, when they were third in the division race, 6 ½ games behind, and fourth in the wildcard race, 4 ½ games off the pace.

But winning 13 of 14 final regular-season games can make up a lot of ground in a hurry. If the Rockies pulled that off again, they'd coast to the division title. Ah, but these are not your 2007 Rocktober Rockies. The faces are mostly the same, but there are several major differences:

• When their run began last year, they were a very respectable 77-72, had the best record in the major leagues from June 1 on, and the best ERA in the National League after the All-Star break. And now? They remain nine games below .500 at 66-75, although they do have the fourth-best record in the NL since the All-Star break.
• Jeff Francis was on his way to tying the franchise record with 17 regular-season wins (plus two more in the playoffs). These days, he's sitting at 4-8.

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  Todd Helton started the 21-1 run with a walkoff home run to beat the Dodgers, and served as a rallying point for his younger teammates, who wanted to see him reach the post-season for the first time in his career. Helton is nowhere to be seen now, on the disabled list with back troubles since late-June and replaced by promising rookie Ian Stewart at third base, with Garrett Atkins sliding across the diamond to first base.
• Troy Tulowitzki was on his way to a runner-up finish in the NL Rookie of the Year Award balloting, and serious Gold Glove Award consideration. Now he is struggling to overcome a serious case of the sophomore jinx, hitting in the .240s.
• Manuel Corpas emerged as a lights-out closer after replacing Brian Fuentes last July. Now he is just another arm in the setup stable.

Yet somehow, the Rockies remain within striking distance — and have three more shots against the Dodgers at Coors Field next weekend, and six games with the Diamondbacks over the final two weekends of the season.

“We're going to keep playing until they turn off the lights, and it's time to go home,'' Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.

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