Pennant fever

With less than four weeks remaining in major league baseball’s regular season, little is settled when it comes to the postseason. On Labor Day, 14 of MLB’s 30 teams were within five games of the playoffs.

Here is a look at the division races:

A.L. East

Favorite: Boston Red Sox. Echoes of Boston’s epic collapse of 1978 were starting to be heard throughout a nervous New England, especially with last week’s three-game sweep in New York. The Red Sox, though, have a much easier schedule down the stretch and should hold off the Evil Empire.

Dark horse: New York Yankees. Remember May 29? A beautiful day for Yankee-haters, when New York was 14 1/2 games behind Boston and tied for last with pitiful Tampa Bay. Much has changed since then for the pitching-thin but offensively loaded squad, which should sail to the wild card.

A.L. Central

Favorite: Cleveland Indians. Its youth has matured nicely. With a near-perfect blend of pitching (sixth in the A.L.) and hitting (seventh), Cleveland is as balanced as it gets. How will they react, though, when the pressure intensifies?

Dark horse: Detroit Tigers. Talk about your hangovers. Boasting essentially the same team that thumped the Yankees and swept the A’s en route to the World Series, the Tigers can’t get on track. Injuries to its pitching staff have slowed Detroit, which inexcusably just dropped four of six, two of three to Kansas City and the A’s.

A.L. West

Favorite: Los Angeles Angels. The Angels are starting to peak, as shown by their sweep of the Mariners in Seattle last week. This is a more complete team than the one that beat the Giants in the 2002 World Series, even if it is still missing a right-handed power threat to complement Vladimir Guerrero.

Dark horse: Seattle Mariners. Having thrived since the mid-season resignation of manager Mike Hargrove, Seattle is sinking with recent 6- and 9-game losing streaks. It’s wild card-or-bust for the plucky Mariners, who enjoy but two days off in their last 45.

N.L. East

Favorite: New York Mets. Carrying themselves with an air of arrogance since spring training, the Mets have been humbled a bit of late, courtesy of the four-game beat-down handed down by the Phillies last week.

Dark horse: Philadelphia Phillies. The confidence-building sweep of the Mets in their pocket, the Phillies recently regained the services of Chase Utley but now need ace Cole Hamels back on the mound and must stay focused for any chance at the postseason.

N.L. Central

Favorite: Chicago Cubs. Finally playing like a team that added more than $300 million in contracts during the winter, the Cubs are aching to shed the losers label. Assuming first place on Aug. 1 after being 8 1/2 games behind June 23, fiery manager Lou Piniella has them thinking positive.

Dark horse: St. Louis Cardinals. Having backed into the playoffs last season and then shocking the world with a title, the Cardinals just won’t go away. They’re playing loose, which goes against everything manager Tony La Russa preaches. Go figure.

N.L. West

Favorite: San Diego Padres. Having just taken three of four from the division-leading and young Arizona Diamondbacks, who are due for a fade, San Diego and its stingy pitching staff is ready to defend its division title. The Padres are in Arizona for three this week.

Dark horse: Los Angeles Dodgers. The desperate Dodgers have acquired aging David Wells, 44, and injury-plagued Esteban Loaiza, 35, in recent days to bolster their beaten-up pitching rotation. What, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser were too busy?