HERE THEY COME TO SAVE THE DAY: NL WEST COULD BE A CLOSE CALL.

Byline: MATT MCHALE BASEBALL

The thought of seeing Dodgers closer Eric Gagne coming out of surgery as baseball heads to the All-Star break makes one wonder how the rest of the National League West is faring at the game's most crucial postseason position.

Of course, pitching isn't everything, it's the only thing. The Washington Nationals' bullpen worked 17 1/3innings during back-to-back games last week after horrendous starts from Mike O'Connor and Livan Hernandez. That can set a team back twoweeks.

Entering Saturday, only 5 1/2 games separated the five teams in the West. The division, which has rebuilt some credibility after last year's top to bottom disaster, is expected to go down to the wire this season. One blown save in early August could determine the race.

Here is a closer look:

San Diego Padres

The division-champion Padres are back on top again and it is difficult to mention their success without saluting Trevor Hoffman, whose 459 career saves is 19 short of Lee Smith's major-league record.

More impressive is his performance this season at age 37. He has a 1.06 ERA and has not been scored on in his past 13games. He has converted 23 of 24 save attempts.

Hoffman's fastball is down around 86 mph, but still enough when teamed with the league's best changeup.

Dodgers

Since he has appeared in just 16 games the past two years, Gagne really has been the club's symbolic closer. His 84 consecutive saves are long gone, his menacing entrance song ``Welcome to the Jungle'' sadly has been replaced by ``Thanks for the Memories.''

But the game goes on.

Danys Baez took over and did not allow a run in his first 12 games. After that he began a steady decline, including a 8.10 ERA in June and no saves after May 17.

Enter Takashi Saito, who has converted all seven of his save opportunities.

But keep in mind the 14 seasons he pitched in Japan. Hideo Nomo, who had a heavy workload in his native country before joining the Dodgers, usually struggled in September.

Saito never had those pitch counts, but turned 37 last month.

Colorado Rockies 

They've been first and last, Todd Helton has been hot and bitterly cold. The only constant has been Brian Fuentes, who took over as closer last season and saved 31games.

He is the only left-handed closer in the division and has held lefty hitters (Barry Bonds, J.D. Drew, Luis Gonzalez in the West) to a .193 average in his career. This season, lefties are 2 for 29.

This season he has converted 16 of 19 saves, and his 2.35 ERA is impressive for Coors Field. He will be making his second consecutive All-Star appearance. Fuentes has added a devastating change to his 91-mph fastball and is the biggest reason the Rockies can't be counted out of this race. The Rockies are the only team in the division with two All-Star selections. UCLA's Matt Holliday is the other.

San Francisco Giants 

Armando Benitez has been banged up this season, but he has converted all four save opportunities in July, including Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

Benitez health means the Giants are always looking for help. Last year, Tyler Walker stepped in and saved 23. Early this season, Tim Worrell saved six of seven, but his ERA in June was 9.00.

One pitcher to keep an eye on is Jeremy Accardo, even though he gave up a winning home run to Nomar Garciaparra on Friday night.

The Giants could make some moves at the deadline especially if they fall out of the race. Pedro Feliz leads the team with 15 homers and 61 RBIs but can be a free agent.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Although the D-Backs are in last place and dropped 17 of 20 after middle-man Jason Grimsley left the team in light of his involvement with steroids and human growth hormone, closer Jorge Julio hasn't been part of the problem.

Since Julio was acquired from the New York Mets in exchange for ElDuque, he has converted eight of nine saves and has a 1.89 ERA.

Before Julio arrived, Jose Valverde had disintegrated. He blew back-to-back saves at the end of May before Julio took over.

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CAPTION(S):

photo, 7 boxes

Photo:

The NL West race could come down to which team has the best closer, and it might be in San Diego's favor, with Trevor Hoffman (pictured).

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Box:

(1) DAILY NEWS/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS

- Matt McHale

(2) THEY SAID IT

(3) WHO'S HOT

(4) WHO'S COLD

(5) ROOKIE WATCH

(6) NOTES

(7) SERIES OF THE WEEK