The clarity of the West Division race one month ago has been muddied. On Aug. 1, the Cleveland Barons were running away with the division—and the President's Trophy—with a dominant 71-39 record (.645), while Denver and Minneapolis were grappling for the 2 and 3 spots. The rest of the pack stood five or more games behind the top three.

Heading into the final month, the Foxes have trimmed Cleveland's lead from eight to five games, and St. Louis, Chicago, and Atlanta have re-entered the playoff picture, due more to the lackluster play at the top of the division than their own brilliance. With so much to unpack, let’s start at the top of the division, where Charlie Qualls’ seemingly inexorable march to the pennant has suddenly run into some question marks after a 10-17 August, the Barons’ worst month in four years.

Cleveland started the month 4-14, shrinking their lead over Minneapolis from eight to four games. Cleveland scored two runs or less 12 times in August, including five one-run games during a seven-game skid in the middle of the month. Star slugger Jim Edmonds missed 14 starts with a rib cage strain, but the larger issue was an across-the-board offensive meltdown. Try these numbers on for size:

• #2 hitter Dwight Smith hit .222 with a .290 OBP.
• #6 hitter Alex Rodriguez hit .243 with a .286 OBP.
• #7 and 8 hitters Craig Grebeck and Shawn Abner hit .152 and .133, respectively.

The offensive blackout spoiled what was by all accounts (except wins) a stellar month for ace Ismael Valdez, who posted a 0.92 ERA and 0.61 WHIP but was just 3-1 in five starts. The bottom of the Barons' rotation has been a key to their #3 overall pitching rank. Jose DeLeon and Alex Fernandez have identical 2.95 ERA. And #2 starter Greg Swindell has been marvelous since coming over from L.A. in May (7-3, 3.03, 0.97 WHIP).

Cleveland’s rough month allowed Minneapolis to close the gap despite barely playing over .500 (14-13). The Foxes are the UL's surprise team of the year, due mostly to the precocious campaigns of sophomore 3B Scott Rolen and rookies SP Jose Rosado, and closer Ricardo Rincon. The young trio has combined for 10.2 WAR. Rolen is batting .306-25-89, .900 and is 2nd in WAR and 6th in RBIs. The 22-year-old Rosado was slotted into the #2 starting role and has responded by going 11-9 with a 3.03 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. And closer Rincon leads the league with 35 saves to go with an 8-4 record and 2.92 ERA. The question for the Foxes down the stretch will be can their pitching hold up through the vigors of a pennant race and playoff run? Scoring runs is clearly not going to be a problem.

The Denver 14ers have managed to stay in the playoff zone later into the season than anytime since 1980, their one and only playoff year. Denver joins Cleveland and Chicago as the only three clubs to rank in the top eight in both runs and runs against. Denver’s offensive star has been Mark Grace (.314-18-78), who leads the club in batting, home runs, and RBIs. The defensive star is center fielder Darin Erstad, who has a 18.8 ZR, third best among outfielders. And the pitching star has been ace Greg Mathews (14-9, 3.37, 1.16 WHIP), who ranks 8th in strikeouts and 9th in WAR. The bullpen has also helped key the Teeners' success, with Todd Frohwirth (1.80, 20 SV), Keith Foulke (1.88), and Hideo Nomo (12-5, 10 SV) leading the way.

Denver hit a worrying patch in mid-month, when they lost four straight, including three at home, while scoring a grand total of one run across the four games. The team average of .161 (19-118) over those games was all the more puzzling as it came directly after a 10-0, 17-hit drubbing of Chicago. Denver had a similar slump in mid-July—a five-game skid when they averaged around two runs per game. And lest you think Denver just ran into great pitching, the starters Denver faced in its mid-August slump were  Justin Thompson, Denny Neagle, Rusty Meacham, and Dave Beard—four names that are nowhere to be found on the pitching leaderboards. Given that history, the 14ers seem susceptible to scoring slumps that could threaten their hold on a top-3 spot down the stretch. And given the club's history, a September collapse is more likely than not.

The St. Louis Maroons were 15-12 in August, which was the best record among the West contenders and allowed the Dark Reds to enter the final month just two games out of the playoff zone. St. Louis ranks 2nd in pitching, up from 4th in 1995 and 3rd last year. The league’s second-best rotation is led by veteran right-hander Bret Saberhagen, who is having a career year (16-9, 2.47, 0.99 WHIP, 225 K) and is a Cy Young candidate exactly 10 years after his first award in 1987. Jim Gott, age 37, has also picked up where he left off last year, when he became one of the most surprising 20-game winners in recent times. Gott is 12-6, 2.91 with a 1.22 WHIP and a 3.8 WAR. Offensively, the Maroons have stunk, ranking 14th in runs, despite ranking 5th in home runs. Chipper Jones has hit 29 dingers, but 21 were solo shots, yielding a relatively modest 78 RBIs. So who is failing to set the table for Chipper? #1 hitter David Justice (.318 OBP) and #2 hitter Tony Batista (.273 OBP). But its not a batting order issue. Those two are the best options for the 1-2 spots, which speaks to the overall weakness of the offense. Four-time MVP Barry Bonds' summer slump hasn’t helped. After OPSing 1.005 in June, Barry OPSed .938 in July and .666 in August, with just two home runs, his lowest monthly homer output since Hector was a pup. St. Louis will need to improve its run production to make a run at the top 3 and a playoff return.

Two other once-elite clubs still hanging around in the West Divison race are the Chicago Colts and the Atlanta Hilltoppers. Chicago was 14-13 in August and is four games out of the top-3, but is the only team in the UL in the top five in both runs and runs against, which arguably makes them more slump-proof. The Ponies are getting a career year from batting champion contender 1B John Olerud, which is saying something for a guy with a career average of .305 and career OBP of .384. They are also getting solid production from all five starters in the rotation, including 39-year-old Charlie Lea, who got his 200th career win on Aug. 30.

Atlanta (69-67) is probably the season’s biggest disappointment. As usual, the Toppers’ fortunes rise or fall on the run support for their stellar pitching staff. All-time greats Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs (who, by the way, have combined for 6425 career hits) are batting .309 and the rest of the team is batting .232. Leadoff man Kenny Lofton? .309 OBP. #3 hitter Manny Ramirez? .226 average and .722 OPS. #7-8 hitters Andy Fox and Charles Johnson? Below the Mendoza line. Nothing speaks to Atlanta’s lack of offense than Pedro Martinez’ no-decision record. Pedro has a 2.10 ERA, opponent average of .186, and 24/27 quality starts, yet has only 16 wins, meaning eight of his quality outings have failed to yield a victory. Kenny Lofton started to show some life in August, batting .300 with a .385 OBP, but Manny has OPSed under .750 for four straight months and shows no sign of snapping out of his season-long slump.