JUST THROW THIS DIVISION BACK.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

The Padres wore the blue-trimmed uniforms of San Diego's old Pacific Coast League franchise and the Mariners the red-white-and-blue of Seattle's old PCL club for a game over the weekend, honoring the era before baseball's western expansion when the PCL was big-time.

It must have been a similar nostalgic impulse that compelled the Padres and Dodgers to put on Padres and Dodgers uniforms for their game Monday night, recalling a time when the National League West was major-league.

Ah, for the good old days of Adrian Beltre, Barry Bonds and Randy Johnson. Days when the NL West teams were a match for anybody. Maybe we'll see them again in black-and-white photos.

After a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers, the Padres are in first place by three games over the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers by 5 1/2. They ought to be ashamed of themselves for failing to put the division away by now.

``It's mixed emotions,'' said Dave Roberts, the former Dodger now with the Padres. ``We're happy to be in first place, but we're not content with the way we're playing.''

Not content? They should be downright embarrassed to carry the standard for a division like this.

Yes, injuries have a lot to do with the sad state of affairs in California, Arizona and Colorado. First, the facts.

There have been worse divisions. But not many.

If the masochism continues at this pace, the Padres (42-35) will win the NL West with 88 victories, the Diamondbacks (39-38) will finish second with 82, and the Dodgers (36-40) will finish third with 76.

The ugly math: Among the 156 separate races (not including the strike-affected 1981 and 1994 seasons) since baseball embraced the division format, only seven have produced a first-place team with 89 or fewer wins and a second-place team with 83 or fewer, the most recent coming in 1998 when the Indians (89) led the White Sox (80) in the American League Central.

Not that all hope is lost for teams like that. One of them, the 1987 Twins, went on to win the World Series. The 1973 Mets and 1995 Indians won pennants.

Now, back to reality. Torn up by injuries and the American League, every team in the NL West is under .500 since May 18, the Padres going 17-19, Diamondbacks 15-21, Rockies 14-23, Dodgers 14-22 and Giants 11-24.

The bottom four rank 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th among the 30 major-league teams in this stretch. The killer was interleague play, in which our NL West heroes went a collective 32-55, a Devil Rays sort of percentage.

Last time anybody had 40 days and 40 nights like this, they needed Noah.

It's the disabled list that has swallowed the Pacific Coast. The Padres put first baseman Phil Nevin on the DL Sunday, joining second baseman Mark Loretta, catcher Ramon Hernandez and starting pitcher Adam Eaton; Roberts isn't on the DL but his left knee isn't 100 percent. The Padres are hoping to have him back by Wednesday.

The Dodgers are missing Eric Gagne, Milton Bradley, Jose Valentin and Odalis Perez (among others).

The Giants are still waiting for Barry Bonds (and does anybody else matter?).

It's the bench that has kept the Padres afloat since they shot from fourth to first place by going 24-6 in May. On Monday, their lineup included four players (second baseman Damian Jackson, catcher Robert Fick, center fielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Tim Stauffer) who spent time in the minors last season, and one (first baseman Mark Sweeney) who's a pinch-hitting specialist.

Jackson led off the game with a home run, his third in two days, and Nady hit a homer in the second, giving him one in four consecutive games.

On a $65 million payroll, Padres general manager Kevin Towers made depth and the bullpen his priorities last winter. He didn't expect manager Bruce Bochy to have to use all of the former at once.

``Now is not the time to panic,'' Bochy said Monday afternoon - not a quote you normally get from the first-place manager. ``I know a lot of (NL West teams) are going through what we're going through.''

A year ago, on the way to winning the NL West title with 93 victories, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy could brag about having the finest role players in the division. Now Bochy has that honor.

``They've done a very good job,'' Tracy conceded, ``of dealing with injury.''

The Padres and their rivals will limp to the All-Star break together, the Padres relieved to be in front, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers shocked to still be listed in the standings. Then they'll pray for respectability in the second half.

Otherwise they ought to put the old PCL uniforms back on and hope some of the big-time wears off.