D'backs, Mets surge as M's, Tigers fade from view

Rookie Joba Chamberlain has calmed a turbulent Yankees bullpen while lighting a spark through the clubhouse. AP

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In the heat of the pennant race, some teams wilt while others catch fire. Then there's Seattle, which is currently floating belly up in the Puget Sound, 6½ games behind for a wild card invitation that practically has the Yankees' name stamped on it already. There was supposed to be a great race in the American League. Now it's all but over. (Well, at least we still have the NL races to look forward to.)

With thanks/apologies to my colleague Gennaro Filice, here's three very up and three extremely down in the pennant race of 2007:

First, three up ...

1. Diamondbacks. There has to be something magical going on here, when Jeff Salazar, who spent most of the season as a Triple-A Tucson Sidewinder, dials up a three-run home run into the right field pavilion in San Francisco's AT&T Park (no easy task) to power Arizona to a 5-3 win with two out in the ninth, as he did on Monday night. The bullpen that was supposed to be a question mark has been terrific, to the point that the D'backs have performed better than anyone else in one-run games (they're 32-18 in one-run games, 45-27 in one- and two-run games). They've also won 37 games coming from behind.

Everyone keeps waiting for this extremely young team (Eric Byrnes is the only regular over 30) with its relatively inexperienced manager (Bob Melvin) to implode -- or at least show signs of a late fade. But it just isn't happening. Byrnes, a former A's backup, has transformed into a star and center fielder Chris Young is the first rookie in NL history to do the 20-20 thing, but the D'backs have managed to do this without any other real breakout years. They're just a lot more solid than anyone suspected. Despite being last in the NL in batting average (.248) and on-base percentage (.316), and still carrying a negative-28 run differential (662-634), they're almost in.

2. Mets. Following an ignominious four-game sweep at rival Philadelphia, they showed their true form by bouncing back and winning nine of 11 to put a stranglehold on the NL East. They're actually playing better without Carlos Delgado, who's definitely slipped and has to "cheat'' against the hardest throwers, according to an NL coach. Without Delgado, they still have plenty of offense, with Moises Alou back and healthy, Carlos Beltran playing to his '06 performance and David Wright turning in an MVP-worthy year (he's the choice here, unless Jimmy Rollins can somehow get the Phillies into the postseason).

The rotation -- seen as a concern in spring training -- has turned into a strength. In fact, they actually have five viable starters, now that Pedro Martinez is back with his particular brand of magic. Mets people aren't saying which of the five will be left out come playoff time, but sources indicate that if everyone's healthy, the Mets will likely go with the vets -- Pedro, Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez -- and choose between Oliver Perez and John Maine for the bullpen. (The guess here is that Perez, being left-handed and a hard thrower, might have the edge for the fourth spot.) In any case, it's a nice problem to have.

3. Yankees. Given up for dead by a few fools way back in May (OK, sorry about that), they've ridden Alex Rodriguez's dream season (statistically, much like Mickey Mantle's in 1956), Jorge Posada's career year, a very fine top of the rotation in Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte and the infusion of youth into an almost certain playoff spot.

They signed Roger Clemens for $28 million prorated in much more desperate times. But it was the call-up of minimum-wage rookie Joba Chamberlain that really sparked the storied franchise. "The Joba Rules'' is now a phrase heard around the Bronx as often as "The House that Ruth Built." Chamberlain hasn't given up a run, while creating a frenzy. The biggest negative for what may become the third team ever to score 1,000 runs is that they may have to play the archnemesis Angels in the first round. But at this point they're just happy to avoid being left out altogether.

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