BK, the unemployment office nearest to Chase Field is at 4635 South Central Ave., only 3.5 miles according to Mapquest. You might want to save the gas money and walk it.

This week may not have the historical ramifications that have been prevalent recently, but certainly, it has long reaching impact for the remainder of the year. Over on the junior circuit, the story has been the tightening of the races, but not so in the senior circuit. Here, the story has been a race becoming less so, as the Diamondbacks are starting to pull away and showing no signs of slowing down.

National League West

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks have won three in a row, and seven of the last ten. They have put themselves into first place despite veteran starters Randy Johnson (4-3), Doug Davis (10-10), and Livan Hernandez (9-7). Excepting Brandon Webb, the remainder of the rotation is an unimpressive 10-12 in 37 starts. The offense has had quite a few hitters who have been overall mediocre as well (Chris Young .240 BA; Chad Tracy .261 BA, 7 HR; Conor Jackson .274 BA, 9 HR).

Hot: Well, this one is pretty much a no-brainer if you could ever find one. Brandon Webb is putting forth a serious challenge to Orel Hershiser’s consecutive scoreless inning streak. He has thrown three straight shutouts and two games of seven innings. Over that stretch, he has only allowed seven walks and seventeen hits. He also struck out 35.

Cold: Not only was Byung-Hyun Kim’s first game for the Diamondbacks in four years horrible, it was almost as if the fans were expecting it. He allowed four hits, a walk, and four runs in one-third of an inning. Kim has turned into a professional journeyman and has turned around bad initial situations on teams. However, the Diamondbacks designating Kim for assignment on August 15 is not a good place to start.

Colorado Rockies

During the preseason, I figured the Rockies would have a decent run for a while and end up at the bottom of the division. They currently are in third place, a half-game ahead of the Dodgers… and over .500. An improved pitching staff definitely has been important step in their developing towards being contenders.

Hot: Rookie Troy Tulowitzki has been important defensively to the Rockies in the middle. He has been solid offensively as well, as he is likely to finish with 20 homers with 80 RBI and runs with a .290 batting average. Over the last week, he is 10-for-28 with a homer, a stolen base, four runs scored and nine RBI.

Cold: Jeff Francis has been the face of the Rockies starting rotation. He leads the team in wins, starts, and strikeouts. He is also the only starter more than a game over .500. He was in the process of setting a team consecutive win decisions record until this week. In 3.1 innings, he allowed six hits, six walks, two homers, and an ERA wrecking eight earned runs.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Until August, the West had been a three-way race with it too close to call between the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres. The Dodgers are 6-11 in August so far, including three losses to the Diamondbacks. Starting pitching is usually a strength for the team, but this year it has been relatively weak (at least by their records) after Brad Penny. Brett Tomko, Mark Hendrickson, Jason Schmidt, and Hong-Chih Kuo are a combined 7-23 in 41 starts.

Hot: In the last seven games, Juan Pierre has hit .481. He has scored six runs, had three RBI and six stolen bases. On the pitching side, Takashi Saito had four appearances over this period. He saved all three wins the team had, striking out five, walking none, and allowing no hits or runs in 3.1 innings.

Cold: It is pretty cold to call someone who has hit two homers in the last week cold. However, face it, Russell Martin has been one of the most important hitters on the team. In the last week, he only had three hits and a walk in 24 unofficial at-bats. He was also thrown out stealing, for only the fifth time in 23 attempts.

San Diego Padres

Despite lacking an offensive superstar the team has been contending all year, and frequently been in first place. The team has undergone quite a few changes, picking up Michael Barrett, Rob Mackowiak, Milton Bradley, Morgan Ensberg, Scott Hairston, and several others.

Hot: Brian Giles hit one home run in April, none in May, was injured for June, hit one in July, and five between August 10th to 12th. In the last week, he has four home runs, seven RBI, six runs scored, and hit .375. His batting average since returning from the DL on June 29 has been well above .300, even if he does not have the power he once did.

Cold: Josh Bard lost his starting job to Michael Barrett, but has still caught most of the games for the team and even extrapolating Barrett’s stats out for the year, has out-hit him. Over the last week, with no competition from Barrett, he is one for sixteen with two runs scored.

San Francisco Giants

Only the Pirates and the American League’s Devil Rays have worse records than the Giants. Barry Bonds pretty much has done everything he could to ensure the team’s success. However, they still lack an appropriate hitter to protect Bonds, who already has 121 walks. I have no idea how they can be a contender next year even, based on their current roster.

Hot: Rajai Davis had gotten a hit in every game he has started for the Giants since being traded for Matt Morris. In the last week, he hit .310 with a homer, three stolen bases, four runs, and four RBI.

Cold: Omar Vizquel is rapidly approaching the end of his career. His great hands and footwork make him still viable at shortstop despite being nearly my age. July was his best month for hitting this year, but the last week has been about as bad as you can get. He was 1-for-24 with a single walk.

This week’s non-baseball names to know are the new comedy Superbad and the Sci-Fi Channel’s Mind Control with Derren Brown — I I do not know what he does, but its pretty amazing.

Questions and comments may be sent to Don at donwebster@sportsgrumblings.com