It's the last Friday of the regular season, and exactly zero National League playoff spots have been claimed. Seven teams will bottleneck into four slots, and each game Thursday night teemed with importance.

What did we learn?

The Mets' collapse is complete.
The Phillies' resurrection is too.

The Rockies might never lose again.

The Diamondbacks better hope they do .

The Cubs are bad.

The Brewers are worse.

The Padres are lucky to be in Milwaukee.

Excitement and fear both course through clubhouses, while pure energy – good and bad – emanates from stadiums. No one in Philadelphia cares that Ryan Howard set a major-league record with his 196th strikeout this season. They're just glad Pat Burrell is hitting like a $13 million player. And no one in New York knew that the last time Joel Piñeiro threw at least eight shutout innings was May 30, 2003. They just knew the most recent time was Sept. 27, 2007.

So as fans panic and great pitching matchups present themselves and winning streaks keep going – only nine teams this decade have exceeded Colorado's 11 straight – it's no longer a disconcerting mess to envision all the possibilities.

It's a fun, wild, messy final weekend – exactly what baseball could use.

FIVE …

• Rather than go over the potential tie scenarios here, we'll allow David Pinto to explain – and to state his case that those looking for the best four-way tie possible should root for the Rockies and against the Diamondbacks.

• Then again, the Rockies' pitchers for the last two games don't exactly inspire confidence. After today's games, here are the starters on whom seven teams' seasons rest:

Mets: John Maine and Tom Glavine
Rockies: Mark Redman and Ubaldo Jimenez
Padres: Chris Young and Brett Tomko
Diamondbacks: Edgar Gonzalez and Doug Davis
Phillies: Adam Eaton and Jamie Moyer
Cubs: Rich Hill and Ted Lilly
Brewers: Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan

• While we're on Milwaukee, no word better describes the Brewers than pathetic. The Cubs tanked an entire series against Florida, and all the Brewers could manage was a one-game gain in the standings. How can a team that so desires a postseason slot commit five errors in a game and be taken seriously? With one more Brewers loss and Cubs win, Chicago clinches the division.

Oh, and for those who believe Ryan Braun is a runaway choice as NL Rookie of the Year – three of those errors were his, adding to his major-league-leading total for a third baseman and dropping his fielding percentage below .900.

• Not that Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin would consider such a maneuver, but doesn't it seem absolutely reasonable to use Micah Owings as a pinch-hitter for an everyday player? The perfect candidates: Arizona's right fielders, who are hitting .242 and slugging .361 in 582 at-bats this season. Owings, on the other hand, is batting .339 with a .695 slugging percentage after his 4-for-4 day Thursday.

• OK, OK, enough of the NL. Cleveland starter C.C. Sabathia pitches tonight at Kansas City for the Cy Young Award. Yes, it's practically a meaningless game – the Indians will face the Yankees in the first round in almost every conceivable scenario – and yet voters will look for a standout performance to separate him from Josh Beckett. In his chance to impress Thursday, Beckett yielded five runs in six innings. He now owns a higher ERA than Sabathia in 34 fewer innings, the same number of losses, fewer strikeouts and more walks. And if Sabathia beats Cleveland, his 19 wins are second in the AL to Beckett's 20.

… AND FLY

Seeing as this is the final Five and Fly of the season …

Last.