D'backs, Rockies build 2-0 series leads on Cubs, Phils

The combination of youth and experience continues to serve the Diamondbacks. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

World Series Coverage   Monday John Donovan: Rox, Sox built to last Albert Chen: Ellsbury an unlikely hero Joe Sheehan: Scenes, notes from clincher Red Sox celebrate World Series victory Sunday Sox clip Rockies 4-3 to win World Series John Donovan's Report Card for Game 4 Jon Heyman's 15 Greatest Mr. Octobers Lowell takes home Series MVP honors Dynasty in the making for Red Sox? Clock strikes midnight for Rockies' ride Time.com: Red Sox are the new Yankees Saturday Red Sox down Rockies 10-5, take 3-0 lead John Donovan's Report Card for Game 3 Tom Verducci: The Sox are superior John Donovan: The Coors Field factor Jon Heyman: Four keys to Game 3 Friday Melissa Segura: Corpas gets his wish John Donovan: Rockies' lumber slumber Jon Heyman: How the Sox got Beckett Joe Sheehan: Electric night at Fenway Thursday Schilling, bullpen shut down Rockies 2-1 John Donovan's Report Card for Game 2 Tom Verducci's five cuts for Thursday Albert Chen on the Red Sox's bullpen John Donovan: Rockies turn to a rookie Joe Sheehan: Postseason drama lacking Tale of the Tape: Rockies vs. Red Sox World Series Fungoes Joe Lemire on Rockies-Red Sox Schedule/Box Scores Game 1: Red Sox 13, Rockies 1 Game 2: Red Sox 2, Rockies 1 Game 3: Red Sox 10, Rockies 5 Game 4: Red Sox 4, Rockies 3

PHOENIX -- This might be like recognizing the least sleazy politician in Washington, D.C., or the warmest January day in Anchorage, or the most polite fan in the Yankee Stadium bleachers, but it's pretty clear right now that, in the weakly regarded National League, the West is the best.

And the Diamondbacks, a team that has confounded analysts for months, look like the best of the West.

A night after Brandon Webb stymied the Cubs with an array of sinking fastballs, curves and offspeed stuff, Arizona's Doug Davis, making the first postseason start of his career, fought through a less-than-stellar outing to lead the Diamondbacks to an 8-4 win, putting a stranglehold on this division series. The D'backs lead 2-0.

Meanwhile, back East in Philadelphia, the wild-card Rockies of the West put a 10-5 hurting on the NL East champion Phillies, upping Colorado's lead to 2-0 in that series.

If you're keeping score, that's West 4, everybody else in the NL 0.

"This Arizona pitching ...," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Thursday, "they've done it a lot this year with their pitching. They got a nice pitching staff over there."

The NL West is all about the pitchers. It has been all season. Every team in the division has had at least a couple of them, ace or near ace, at one point. Even the lowly Giants had good pitching if little else.

Injuries decimated some of the staffs over the course of the year. Randy Johnson went down for the Diamondbacks, Aaron Cook for the Rockies, Jason Schmidt for the Dodgers, Barry Zito for the Giants. (Oh, wait. That's right. Zito wasn't hurt.) But everybody in the West has had pitching. The Padres maybe had the best of it, and they didn't even make the playoffs.

So it shouldn't be surprising that, two days into the postseason, the West is about to wipe out the rest of the league. For whatever that's worth.

Thursday at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, Davis (13-12 with a 4.25 ERA this season) was simply the latest to show his stuff. His performance was completely different than Webb's the night before. Davis struggled out of jams. He gave up two early runs. He walked four batters. He lasted only 5 2/3 innings.

But Davis and the Arizona bullpen set out what they planned to do, which is keep the big Chicago hitters from hurting them too much. The top four hitters in the Cubs' order were just 4-for-19 in Game 2. Over the first two games, Aramis Ramirez is hitless in nine at-bats, with four strikeouts. Derrek Lee has two hits -- both singles. Leadoff man Alfonso Soriano has two singles in 10 at-bats and four strikeouts. Shortstop Ryan Theriot is 2-for-9 with two singles.

"They're an aggressive swinging team, and they swung at a lot of pitches that would be balls," Davis said. "I was able to survive that way and make pitches."

As a team, the Cubs are hitting just .179 with a slugging percentage of just .254.

"We're executing pitches against those guys," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "Guys are bearing down against them. We've executed a lot of pitches, especially in big situations, especially against the meat of that order."

Melvin coaxed Davis through his sometime painful start, even leaving him out in the bottom of the fifth to drop down a successful squeeze bunt. After that, the Arizona bullpen -- yes, there are a lot of good bullpens out West, too -- did its job. In the two games, through 5 1/3 innings of relief, the Arizona bullpen has yet to cough up a run.

From here, things get a little shakier for everyone in the West. In Game 3, scheduled for Saturday in Chicago, the Diamondbacks will go with the ancient Livan Hernandez. Sunday, in Game 4, while the Cubs bring back Game 1 starter Carlos Zambrano, the D'backs will go with rookie Micah Owings. (The Rockies will throw rookie Ubaldo Jiminez in Game 3. They're still kicking around a Game 4 starter.)

This isn't the end for the Phillies and Cubs. Teams have rebounded from being down two games in the division series before. The Cubs, especially, will make it difficult on the Diamondbacks this weekend, considering that series is going to Chicago, while the other one's going to Denver with the Rockies ahead.

Still, the West won't fold easily. They have the pitching. So far, that's made all the difference.