On the way back to school, I think I took a wrong turn and ended
up in the Twilight Zone.

No really, I’m serious. It’s August, and the National League
Central is surprisingly interesting.

There are three teams in real playoff contention instead of the
usual two, and the difference between first and third place is only
a game and a half.

The Houston Astros still lead the division, but only have a
one-game lead over the Cardinals, who are just half a game ahead of
the Chicago Cubs.

By this time last year (and pretty much every year since the
mid-1990s), it was just the Cards and the Astros duking it out for
division honors. Heck, it didn’t even usually matter who won the
division, since the other team was strong enough to win the Wild
Card, landing both teams in the playoffs.

It’s August, which means the Cubs shouldn’t be in the running
anymore. They should have slid into dead last at least four weeks
ago, if not sooner before the All-Star break. But here they are
neck-in-neck with the usual leaders of the NL Central. As a native
Chicagoan and loyal fan of the Cubbies, I’m still (pleasantly) in
shock that things are this close this late in the season. Although
from what the numbers say, I shouldn’t be surprised at all.

Houston and Chicago have the same number of players batting over
.300: one apiece. St. Louis, on the other hand, has both Albert
Pujols and Edgar Renteria hitting well above the .300 mark. The
rest of the Red Birds can still swing a bat, too. Tuesday night,
the Cards pulled off a 10-run rally in the bottom of the eighth
inning that was simply fantastic to win it over Pittsburgh and pull
ahead of the Cubs in the standings. Scott Rolen sparked the
run-fest in the game’s finale and ignited one of the best comebacks
I’ve seen in awhile…all without Albert Pujols, who was serving
the first of his two-game suspension for fighting.

Despite St. Louis’ strong offense, they are pathetically
deficient when it comes to their pitching staff.

Woody Williams is the only consistent pitcher on staff this
year, and even his numbers have waned in the last few weeks.

Matt Morris, the ace of the Cardinals’ staff has been injured
most of the summer. Cards fans were about to breathe a sigh of
relief when they anticipated their hero returning from injury, but
oh wait, he re-injured himself. Not in a valiant display in
practice or over-exerting himself in rehab, but he tripped on the
stairs of a hotel lobby and sprained his ankle. So much for that
comeback.

And the drop off from Williams and Morris down to the rest of
the staff is even funnier. Brett Tomko and Garrett Stevenson, two
pitchers I wouldn’t even wish on the Astros, are scary at best and
the rest of the team is simply pathetic.

Houston baffles me just a bit. The Astros are a great team
offensively, but the statistics don’t paint that picture. The
majority of the team is comfortably in the .200s, but Houston’s
strength lies in their consistency on offense. Take Jeff Kent, for
example is on a 13-game hitting streak and has averaged .333 over
that period, and came up big against the Cubs Tuesday night.

Another aspect of the Houston club that makes for an interesting
playoffs race is the drive of team. Individual players in every
club talk about dedication and giving it their all, but Houston
delivers on that promise.

By the numbers, Chicago looks just as good as Houston and has
five players batting above .290, yet the Astros can out-hit the
Cubs any day of the week and proved that in the opener of the
showdown series.

But, the Cubs have something that the Astros only dream about:
pitching. To put it bluntly, there isn’t a better starting rotation
in the league. Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano are young hurlers who
deliver and are gaining the intangible skill of consistency. With a
2.65 ERA, Prior has the lowest average of all the starters, while
Zambrano and Kerry Wood are both power pitchers who throw a great
breaking ball. Even in a recent slump, Wood’s ERA (3.62) is still
better than most of his league counterparts, and he has something a
lot of young guns don’t: experience.

Wood helped the Cubs win the Wild Card several years back and
has a 20 K season under his belt, not to mention the bragging
rights of beating his childhood idol, Nolan Ryan.

I don’t know who will walk away with the NL Central title and
who could earn the Wild Card, since it doesn’t like any of the
three contending teams have what it takes to be a runaway favorite
to win it.

That’s what is keeping the race interesting this late in the
summer and that’s what will keep me glued to “SportsCenter” and
“Baseball Tonight.” Assuming the Twilight Zone has cable.