Eye Toward October: Sept. 4

With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

- Wild, Wild West: The contenders in the NL West might not have gaudy records -- only the Diamondbacks sit above .500 entering play Thursday -- but that doesn't mean the race won't be plenty entertaining. Think about the last couple of days.

Tuesday Dodgers phenom Clayton Kershaw and prized acquisition Manny Ramirez powered Los Angeles to within 1 1/2 games of first-place Diamondbacks. Wednesday Arizona's own trade catch Adam Dunn gave the D'backs a walk-off win and some breathing room ahead of their final series with the rival Dodgers.

All the while, the Rockies, the darlings of last year's postseason, are lurking. Colorado is 17-14 since the beginning of August, and lest you think it isn't a real factor well back of Los Angeles and Arizona, the Rockies will play both clubs a combined nine times in the coming weeks.

The beauty of a protracted pennant race, especially one with three teams battling for a lone playoff spot, is that it's bound to be exciting even if the teams aren't great, or even very good.

- Wind That Tape Back Again: Major League Baseball finally got its first taste of instant replay a few days after instituting the system in all of its ballparks. Alex Rodriguez's questionable home run against the Rays was upheld after crew chief Charlie Reliford reviewed the play.

The whole process took two minutes according to the YES crew broadcasting the game, and it made me wonder just what took so long. Considering the likely argument from Rays manager Joe Maddon would have taken as long, if not longer, it's probably saving time, even if it's odd to see an umpire walk off the field and into the clubhouse tunnel

- Central Concern: That gulping sound you heard Wednesday night was coming from Wrigleyville. In the wake of Carlos Zambrano's injury, the Cubs revealed that Rich Harden will be skipped over in his next turn in the rotation with arm discomfort. Were it any other pitcher, it might seem like a convenient excuse to give an important arm some rest heading into October, but this is one of the most fragile pitchers in the game we're talking about..

Of course, it's not like Milwaukee is doing much about it. The Brewers were swept at home by the Mets, losing a key opportunity to make the NL Central race interesting. The division crown might be a formality, but I'm sure Milwaukee would like to win the title and the homefield advantage that comes with it.

- Tampa Trials: Remember all those folks claiming that September would be a struggle for the upstart Rays? They're looking pretty smart right now. Tampa Bay has dropped two in a row to New York, allowing the surging Red Sox to climb back in the race. The Rays still have three more games with the Yankees and six more against Boston. They're going to have to earn the AL East crown.

- MVPedroia: The Dustin Pedroia for MVP talk was cute a week ago. Now it's worth taking seriously. The energetic second baseman is now fifth in the American League in VORP -- ahead of presumptive favorite Carlos Quentin -- and after sparking Boston's rally against Baltimore is slugging over .500 and in line for the batting title. If the Red Sox catch the Rays, he could follow up his Rookie of the Year Award with an MVP. Seriously.