Crunch time, and this is what we're getting from the National League: The Mets bullpen is more harrowing than a crime scene, the Dodgers have all of the energy of Los Angeles in a midst of a blackout and Arizona, in lowly San Diego, of all places, turned more toxic than Clorox.

Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs have been the class of the National League. (Getty Images)

Crunch time, and the Mets choke a 7-0, fifth-inning lead in Philadelphia the other night. Florida, still harboring wild-card hopes, blows a 9-6, sixth-inning lead in Atlanta when Hanley Ramirez, a "shortstop" in name only, muffs what would have been a game-ending double-play grounder.

The Dodgers bang out 13 hits in Philadelphia on Monday -- and can't score a run. No team has acquired 13 or more hits and remained scoreless since 1928.

Forget the new instant replay rules that were set to begin Thursday night.

If baseball really wants change we can believe in -- to borrow one of the election-year themes -- what it ought to do is put the Cubs and Milwaukee in the playoffs and then ban the rest.

Hand the NL's other two playoff slots over to the AL.

"Or put the Cubs right into the World Series against the winner of the American League," one AL advance scout said.

He was joking, mostly, but maybe the idea really isn't all that outlandish.

The Padres "won" the NL West in 2005 at 82-80, the worst record of any team ever to play in the postseason, and immediately were swept by St. Louis.

That year, baseball narrowly avoided the embarrassment of a sub-.500 team playing in October and, based on the way the Diamondbacks and Dodgers have shifted hard into reverse this week, it might be white-knuckle time again in the winning percentage (or lack thereof) department.

"The Cubs keep winning because they're the best team," one NL scout said. "The Phillies aren't bad when they're hitting like they should. The Dodgers' averages aren't bad, but they don't knock in runs like they should because they're just not that good."

As bad as Seattle is, you can make a strong argument right now that the three worst teams in the game reside in the NL: Washington's winning percentage is lower than the Mariners', the Padres were beaten by Seattle in five of six games this summer, and Pittsburgh -- post-Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte -- is simply dreadful.

Cincinnati isn't exactly a complete step above Triple-A ball, either.

And yet, with a one-month sprint remaining, the Diamondbacks couldn't even steal one game in San Diego this week despite having Dan Haren, Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson start.

"Obviously, we didn't foresee this coming in this series with the pitchers we had going, but we've got to move on," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin, who added that he has seen signs lately that some of his players are beginning to press.

But Arizona's NL West lead is still three games because, while the Diamondbacks have lost four in a row, the Dodgers have lost six consecutive games.

You know what that means: When the Snakes and Dodgers meet for a three-game series this weekend in Arizona, somebody has to win.

So how, exactly, do you view events of this week from first place in the NL West?

As a lost opportunity to put some serious distance between yourself and the Dodgers? Or as simply being fortunate to be retaining first place?

"I have no choice but to look at it as we're fortunate to be where we are," said Melvin, looking as if he wished he had several more choices. "That's been the case all year. We got off to a hot start, then we played really poorly in May, June and July."

Crunch time, and with runners on first and second and one out in a scoreless game in the fourth inning Wednesday, Arizona's Conor Jackson was picked off second base about as badly as you can pick a guy off.

Los Angeles' Matt Kemp botched a fly ball in Philadelphia because he lost it in the sun. Of course, he was wearing the old-style baseball flip-down sunglasses at the time. But the lenses were up. He simply neglected to flip them down.

And Mets manager Jerry Manuel routinely empties his bullpen like a kid overturning his toy chest. Everything sort of tumbles out all at once into a big mess. Messiest, with closer Billy Wagner's elbow hurting, are Scott Schoeneweis, Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman.

Manuel mercifully is promising to give Heilman a few days' break because of "fatigue."

Hey, it's going around. Dodgers manager Joe Torre in Washington, D.C., the other day, called slumping second baseman Jeff Kent and third baseman Casey Blake into his office to ask each man whether he was fatigued. With Kent and Blake contributing (er, not contributing, actually), the Dodgers have gone 5-for-50 with runners in scoring position during their past four games.

Maybe everyone simply needs a good, long sleep before the playoffs begin.

Things usually look better in the morning, right?

• How rough are things in the NL right now? The Dodgers on Wednesday informed reliever Tanyon Sturtze that they were cutting him. Then, as he packed his bags, they told him no, they weren't. Not right then, at least.

• Postseason rosters must be set by Monday, meaning no players acquired through waiver trades after Sunday are eligible for playoff duty. Which pretty much discounts Colorado closer Brian Fuentes from moving, being that the Rockies placed him on the bereavement list. The earliest Fuentes can return now is Friday, but the Rockies must pass him through waivers again before attempting to trade him, and that process now cannot be finished before Monday's postseason roster deadline.

• Besides, the Rockies now might want to keep Fuentes. As the Diamondbacks and Dodgers falter, Colorado has climbed to within six games of the first-place D-Backs and moved to within three games of second-place Los Angeles -- suddenly evoking memories of last September, when Colorado won 14 of 15 to storm into the playoffs.

• The Los Angeles Angels' quest to add another shortstop to back up Erick Aybar (Maicer Izturis is finished for the season) has brought general manager Tony Reagins' attention to Toronto (John McDonald, David Eckstein and Marco Scutaro), among other places.

• One major league scout's take on McDonald: "He can't hit, but he can play shortstop as good as anybody." And on Eckstein: "He's done, to me. He can't play anymore. His hits are soft and he can't run anymore."

• Word is that former Cleveland GM John Hart has phoned Seattle and informed the Mariners that he'd like to come out of retirement and run a team again. Hart currently is working as a consultant for the Rangers.

• Seattle president Chuck Armstrong, not speaking specifically on any candidate, said the plans are for the Mariners to reduce their list of GM candidates to a short list by month's end, zero in on a couple of guys in September (and ask permission from opposing clubs to speak with those guys if they're under contract) and interview in October.

• One reason maybe Hart is looking for a different gig: The industry is buzzing with speculation that Rangers president Nolan Ryan is planning to make sweeping changes in the organization this winter. Already, the Rangers have moved pitching coach Andy Hawkins from Triple-A to the major league team. One name to watch: Jay Miller, chief operating officer and president of the Double-A Round Rock Express, one of the minor league clubs owned by Ryan. Miller was named by Baseball America as the 2005 Minor League Executive of the Year and is well-regarded by Ryan and others in Texas.

• One scout's early prediction for the NL West winner next year: San Francisco. The reasons: The division is weak and the Giants already have good, young starters led by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. "If they move out some of the old guys and sign just a couple of the right free agents, they could be right there again," the scout said.

• Cliff's Notes: Don't look now, but Cleveland had won 10 in a row through midweek, blown past Detroit and into third place in the AL Central and Cliff Lee is looking like the runaway leader in the AL Cy Young race. He's 19-2 with a league-leading 2.43 ERA, and Lee is on an historic pace: He's one of only eight pitchers since 1920 to win at least 19 of his first 21 decisions in a season, according to Stats LLC. The others: Roger Clemens, Yankees (20-1 in 2001); Greg Maddux, Braves (19-2, 1995); Ron Guidry, Yankees (19-2, 1978); Gaylord Perry, Giants (19-2, 1966); Whitey Ford, Yankees (19-2, 1961), Preacher Roe, Dodgers (19-2, 1951) and Lefty Grove, Phillies (19-2, 1931).

• These teams would be in first place in the NL West as of Thursday: Tampa Bay, Boston, New York Yankees, Toronto, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee, St. Louis and, of course, Arizona. And the Florida Marlins would be tied with the Diamondbacks for first.

• Latest piece of evidence that Mike Scioscia is as fine a manager as there is in today's game: Despite the Angels' monstrous divisional lead (15 games and counting), his patience finally wore thin and he called a team meeting following last Thursday's ugly 2-1 loss to Minnesota. The point: Get out of cruise control, now. The Angels have won three of six since -- not stellar, but those initial signs of Cadillac-ing it have disappeared altogether.

• Sidney Ponson and Carl Pavano together in the Yankees' rotation? Why don't the Yanks set fire to their flag and desecrate Monument Park while they're at it?

• Yanks co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner to reporters the other night at Yankee Stadium, his first appearance there since opening day: "There is going to be a lot going on this offseason. I promise you that."

• They might be having difficulty out-running the Chicago Cubs, but the Milwaukee Brewers this week moved 20 games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 1992 season, when they finished 92-70.