PHOENIX -- Sometimes a game or a season can turn on a single play. And with the National League West title and the league's Wild Card berth very much up for grabs, such an incident almost happened on Saturday night to the Dodgers.

A line drive off the bat of the Diamondbacks' Chad Tracy whacked Dodgers right-handed starter Derek Lowe on the base of his left hand below the thumb. Lowe, one of the important cogs of Boston's historic run to the 2004 World Series championship, immediately left the game.

An extended loss of Lowe could have a had a dramatic impact on NL races that probably won't be decided until the final weekend of the season, when the Padres play at Phoenix and the Dodgers finish up against the arch-rival Giants in San Francisco.

"I can't see [the race] ending at this point in any other way except at the wire," said Ned Colletti, the first-year Dodgers general manager who spent years as Brian Sabean's assistant in San Francisco and is well aware of the NL West score.

With five weeks to go in the regular season, there's still a lot of twists and turns and what-have-yous before it comes down to all that.

Lowe, who left Chase Field wearing a soft cast on Saturday night, was reduced to a smaller blue wrap before the Dodgers prevailed, 6-3, in Sunday's series finale. The news was good for the Dodgers, and manager Grady Little said that Lowe was still slated to make his next start against the Rockies on Friday night at Dodger Stadium even if he has to hit with one hand.

Disaster averted. At least for now.

The day ended with the Dodgers holding a two-game lead on the Padres and seven games separating all five teams in the West. The Padres are next in to play the Diamondbacks, who are five games out in the West and 3 1/2 games back in a wild, wild, Wild Card race that shows 5 1/2 games currently separating 10 NL teams. The Dodgers go home to open a three-game series against the Reds, who are still leading the Wild Card by half a game.

Each day brings a new challenge. Each game adds intensity. The stretch run, filled with so much head-to-head competition, should separate the pretenders from the contenders. Then again, it may not.

Little, who was part of the Yankees-Red Sox mythology when he managed in Boston for two seasons (2002 and 2003), said his current division is as hotly contested as the American League East, which is top heavy with the pair of heavyweight teams, but affords little else in the way of competition.

"Over here it's like playing the Yankees every day," said Little, finishing his first year as Dodgers manager. "You can't afford to lose to anybody. When I was in Boston, you can say there was a few teams in that division we enjoyed playing 19 times a year."

In the NL West these days there are no easy outs and the pendulum quickly swings. Two weeks ago, the dragging Giants went into San Diego and won four in a row from the Padres, which caused more angst among the fans and baseball cognoscenti there than should be allowable in mid-August. A week later, the streaking Dodgers arrived in PETCO and lost three in a row to the suddenly rejuvenated Padres.

All of sudden, life was good in San Diego, shaky in Los Angeles. Go figure.

"It seems like every week or 10 days it turns over and starts slipping the other way again," said Bob Melvin, the second-year manager of the Diamondbacks.

Not only does it seem that way, but it is that way. Melvin's team lost 20 of 23 games in June and still finds itself in the hunt. When the nosedive began, the Diamondbacks were in first place. They haven't been back since.

The Dodgers opened the second half with 13 losses in their first 14 games before dramatically turning it around by winning the next 17 out of 18. Since Aug. 10, they've had an unencumbered seat in first place with a lead that swelled to four games until that sweep by the Padres and a four-game losing skid that ended here on Saturday night.

The Giants went into first place on July 22 and then promptly lost nine in a row. That dubious streak hit rock bottom at 16 out of 19 before their sweep in San Diego. Since then, they've won 11 of 14 and six of their last seven, are 3 1/2 games out in the division race and two games back in the Wild Card race.

Dr. Jekyll meet Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde meet Dr. Jekyll.

"This thing has been tight, and it's been tight all year long," Little said. "It's seems like, throughout, everyone has had their days in first place and everyone has had their days in last place, too. And it can happen within a six- or seven-day period."

But those weekly periods are beginning to run out. And the schedule could well be the decider. The Giants begin a nine-game trip to Atlanta, Chicago and Cincinnati on Tuesday against the Braves that could well determine their season. Save winning two out of three at Shea Stadium this past June, they've played lousy on the road in the east this year. And considering the fact that the Giants finished 3-17 against the Phillies, Nationals and Pirates, it's amazing they're still in contention.

Likewise, the Diamondbacks hit the road on Friday for three games at Washington and three more in Miami against the surprising Marlins, a team with a $15 million payroll and a three-game Wild Card deficit. And the Dodgers, after a six-game homestand, must traverse three games at Milwaukee, four games against the Mets in New York and three more against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Only the Padres, who have played the most consistently .500 ball in the division all season, are spared one more long excursion back east, although there are separate trips to Cincinnati and St. Louis against teams hotly vying for the NL Central title and that Wild Card berth.

When it all clears, it'll be a race to the finish with no way of predicting which Western team (or teams) will survive.

"I'll stick to what I've been saying," said first-year Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes. "No more than 12 games will separate the five teams when it's over. I don't know who will be No. 1 and I don't know who will be No. 5."