There was a time when the NL West was a regular season laughing stock that kept appearing in the post season and making noise, even winning a World Series or two. This season features a three-way tie for first with each team (San Francisco, Arizona and Colorado) all sitting at 5 games above .500. The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Magic Johnsons (Dodgers) round out the division. The big surprise is the Dodgers, who have spent enough money to rent out the moon on their roster this season, only to do the opposite of win games. Manager Don Mattingly has been given the front office kiss of death, which is ironically a public show of support, and may not see the All Star break. From top to bottom the roster looks like world beaters with Matt Kemp (Outfield) and Adrian Gonzalez (1st Base) as headliners, but the recent benching of the underachieving Andre Ethier (Outfield) looks like a desperation move on Mattinglys part. At this point hes a losing streak away from sacrificing a live chicken before a game. There must be something in the water in Northern California because like the As, the Giants dont seem to care who shows up to play, they just put some guys out there and win games. Starting pitcher Barry Zito has come back into his dominant form, and fellow starter Tim Lincecum has an ERA that is winking at 5.00 but has a low WHIP and is still tied for second on his team in strike outs with Matt Cain. Cain is the number one starter but Madison Bumgarner leads the team in ERA and wins (4) and strikeouts, which is a good sign for a pitching staff that could go either way at the top of the division. If that rotation starts putting it together, they could run away and hide in an improved division. Arizona has also improved over the last few years despite losing Justin Upton. Its nice to see Eric Chavez (3rd Base) back playing every day (after an on and off relationship with the Yankees and their farm system) and sophomore pitcher Patrick Corbin making a case that maybe ESPN needs a CorbinCam to follow his every move, with a 7-0 start and a 1.44 ERA. With three teams tied at the moment, its a tossup as to which of the three teams will falter. Recent history would suggest that either Arizona or Colorado will blink first, but wont do so until sometime after the All Star break. So well see you then and have a look at how things stand at that point.