D-Backs set for stretch run

Down the stretch they come.

The Diamondbacks have led or been tied for the NL West for 152 consecutive days, and opponents are running out of time to catch them.

Los Angeles’ last best chance begins today, when the teams meet for the last time this season in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

The D-Backs are not fazed. In fact, the territory is quite familiar.

While they led or were tied for the 2007 division lead every day from July 31, they did not clinch the West until the final Friday of the regular season.

“Every time we’ve been pushed, we’ve responded,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Even though this is a young group, it has been through a tough September. It has been through a postseason.”

The stretch, starting with the Los Angeles series, “is what baseball is all about,” Conor Jackson said, “to play in meaningful games, to have meaningful at-bats.”

“It will be fun,” Adam Dunn said of this weekend.

But with 20 games after the Dodgers series, “it is 100 percent not an all-or-nothing series,” Dunn added. “Not even close.”

Diamondbacks
Record:  71-68
Home games (10): Cincinnati (3), San Francisco (4), Colorado (3)
Road games (13): Los Angeles (3), San Francisco (3), Colorado (3), St. Louis (4)
Games against teams at least .500: Seven
Toughest stretch: The three games that matter the most are this weekend in Los Angeles, but St. Louis may be the best team remaining on any of the division contenders’ schedules. The Cardinals could be out of playoff contention the last week of the season, however, when Arizona visits. The D-Backs are 10-2 against Colorado.

Dodgers
Record: 70-70
Home games (9): Arizona (3), San Francisco (3),
San Diego (3)
Road games (13): San Diego (3), Colorado (3), Pittsburgh (4), San Francisco (3)
Games against teams at least .500: Three 
Toughest stretch: The Dodgers are 7-15 on the road since the All-Star break, and after hosting the D-Backs this weekend, they have a 10-game trip to San Diego, Colorado and Pittsburgh. The Giants are always up for their archrival, from Bobby Thomson’s homer in 1951 to Joe Morgan’s in 1982.

Rockies
Record: 66-75
Home games (12): Houston (3), Los Angeles (3), San Diego (3), Arizona (3)
Road games (9): Atlanta (3), San Francisco (3), Arizona (3)
Games against teams at least .500: 12
Toughest stretch: The Rockies have the most home games but play the most winning teams, this weekend hosting a hot Houston team that has won eight in a row and just swept the Cubs in Chicago. Colorado made up 6 1/2 games in 15 days last season, winning 14 of its final 15 regular-season games.