This week's power rankings presented a new NO1, and a new team in the top five but not so much drastic movement as teams continue to settle into the new circumstances that is the “Postseason push”, and prepare for one whirlwind of a September.
1 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS(84-47) (2)
The Giants went into Citi Field this week, and handed business well sweeping the New York Mets aside(8-0, 3-2, 3-2), with Brandon Belt going deep twice during game one in honor of his late grandmother, leading the home-run derby for San Fran who mashed four on the game, while the bullpen silenced the lifeless Metropolitans attack. This paved the way for a 4-2 week, that was capped off by a series loss to the NL-East leading Atlanta Braves(6-5, 0-5, 9-0), where the Giants came out on the wrong end of a short-term battle for just the first time in their last 10 battles, putting an end to what was a rather an impressive 6-3 road trip that began last weekend against the Oakland Athletics.
What’s also beneficial to the Giants is that they didn’t lose any ground on the Dodgers
In the divisional race, but that can change this week when they welcome not only the NL powerhouse Milwaukee Brewers to town for a four-game set on Monday but the Dodgers as well next weekend.
2 LOS ANGELES DODGERS(83-49) (1)
I’ve said all along that the Dodgers haven’t yet given me a reason to doubt them. Well despite going 4-2 on the week, there is reason to doubt the reigning World champions at least on this Monday afternoon, which is they’re “Burnt-out.” That’s understandable considering although they swept the rival Padres(5-2, 5-3, 4-0), game two took 16 innings and five hours to complete which likely caught up to them in their stunning weekend series loss to the woeful Colorado Rockies(4-2, 2-4, 5-0). This was as evident as can be on Sunday when instead of sending out a reliever to keep his team in the contest, manager Dave Robert’s turned to third baseman Justin Turner and told him to head to the mound. To his credit though, Justin did pitch a scoreless frame in relief.
But the most disappointing thing of all is the fact that LA had a chance to gain ground on the Giants in the NL West race, and failed to do so.
3. TAMPA BAY RAYS(82-48) (3)
The Yankees 13 game-winning streak coming to a close means the Tampa Bay Rays are now the team with the longest active winning streak in the Majors, having won seven straight including another sweep of the Baltimore Orioles(6-3, 4-3, 12-8), to finish 17-1 against them on the season. The Rays became the first AL team to 80 wins in the process and increased their lead over the Yankees in the AL East to six games. They’ve also won 11 of their last 12 games.
4. HOUSTON ASTROS(78-53) (4)
The week didn’t start great for the Astros, as they dropped another series- opener to the Kansas City Royals 7-1, before rallying to win the next two contests (4-0, 6-5), and the series on a Jack Myers RBI groundout to score Alex Bregman(Who the team welcomed back this week from injury) from third base. Over the weekend, Houston sniffed out a series win over the division-rival Texas Rangers(5-4, 5-2, 2-13), and will take a 5.5 game lead(Six in the loss column) in the AL West over Oakland into this week. Micheal Brantley is leading the AL in batting average at 317, with his teammate Yuli Gurriel in third at 311.
5. NEW YORK YANKEES (76-54) (6)
The Bombers started the week by sweeping the “Hotlanta” Braves in “Choptown”( 5-2, 5-4), and took the first two from the A’s (7-6, 8-2) on the road before two straight defeats(3-2, 3-1) followed win #13 In a row. But despite the sour ending, the Yankees 4-2 clip over the past week against teams in the hunt for the postseason is enough to place them in the top five for the first time all season long. The team has been receiving contributions from Giancarlo Stanton(Four homers, Six RBIs this week), and Aaron Judge(Who stretched his on-base streak to 20 games before Sunday), who are powering the offensive attack, with starter Gerrit Cole once again showing why he’s the current leader in the AL Cy Young race. The Yankees will see major pieces in starter Corey Kluber, and shortstop Gleyber Torres return to the field from the injured list this week, furthermore bolstering a team on a hot streak at the moment.
6. MILWAUKEE BREWERS(80-52) (5)
The Brew Crew did a nice job of taking care of the division-rival Cincinnati Reds by with a home series win(7-4, 4-1, 5-1), but then followed that up with a disappointing showing in Minneapolis, falling to the Twins (2-0, 6-4, 2-6), and finish the week 3-3. The Brewers will be in for a possible NLCS preview this week when they head to San Francisco to battle the league-best Giants in a four-game series that began on Monday.
7. ATLANTA BRAVES(70-60) (8)
Although their nine-game win-streak came to a halt at the hands of the scorching Yankees(5-2, 5-4), Atlanta did rebound exceptionally well, and “Brave” the task that was taking a series from the San Francisco Giants(6-5, 0-5, 9-0) which is what they did over the weekend. The series win keeps the Braves' distance between them and the Phillies at 4.5 games for the NL East crown(Five in the loss column), as they prepare to face Dodgers in tinsel town on Monday night. This will be a rematch of last season's NLCS, which the reigning champions in Los Angeles won in seven games after trailing 3-1 in the series.
8. CHICAGO WHITE SOX(76-56) (7)
Chicago continued to struggle against teams from the AL East this week, splitting with the Toronto Blue Jays(1-2, 5-2, 1-3, 10-7). But on the bright side, they did take down their city rivals from the north side of Chicago in the Cubbies (17-13, 0-7, 13-1) to finish the week over .500 at 4-3. However, the concern surrounding this team is the pitching, most notably the starting pitchers as Dallas Keuchel, and Lance Lynn combined to serve up 13 runs in 6 innings of work in the first two games of their rivalry weekend tilt for the South Siders.
9. CINCINNATI REDS (71-62) (9)
The Reds held their own this week because although they fell in their series with the first-place Brewers( 7-4, 4-1, 1-5), and split in Miami(5-1, 6-0, 1-6, 1-2), they still do lead the Padres by one game in the NL Wildcard race.
10. BOSTON RED SOX(75-58) (12)
Boston took care of the Twins(6-9, 11-9, 12-2), and Indians(4-3,5-3, 5-7) to establish a two-game lead over the A’s for the second AL Wildcard spot, and move back into the top 10 in our power rankings.
11. OAKLAND ATHLETICS (72-59) (10)
It seemed like Oakland was faltering with a tough sweep at the hands of the Mariners(7-5, 5-1), and two straight losses to the Yankees. But the pitching regrouped late to salvage a series split with the Bombers(6-7, 2-8, 3-2, 3-1), and hold their own in the chase for the AL Wildcard game.
12. SEATTLE MARINERS(70-62) (11)
It seemed like It was only a matter of time before Seattle took over third in the Wildcard race after pulling within one game of Oakland with the two-game sweep(7-5, 5-1) of the A’s. But losing three of four to the Royals 6-4, 8-7, 4-2, 2-3) at home over the weekend has placed a fork in the road for the M’s playoff hopes once again.
13. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES(67-64) (13)
Despite getting swept by the Rays(3-1, 7-4), the Phillies can take solace in the fact they avenged a sweep of the Diamondbacks last week, by taking three of four this week at home(7-8, 7-6, 7-9, 7-4) to keep themselves within four games of the first-place Braves in the NL East.
14. SAN DIEGO PADRES(70-62) (14)
Getting swept by the Dodgers(5-2, 5-3, 4-0), and losing a 16 inning game two contest didn’t make things any better for a team fighting for its playoff lives right now. A split with the Angels(5-0, 2-10) in Anaheim also didn’t move the needle as the Pads remain one game out of the Reds in the Wildcard race.
15. TORONTO BLUE JAYS(69-61) (15)
The Blue Jays continue to fall farther away from the Wild Card contention, as they now drop to four games out of Boston for the second AL berth. The problem has been winning consistently which was a problem for the Jays this week as they went 4-3, splitting with the White Sox(2-5, 2-1, 3-1, 7-10), and just barely taking two of three from the Tigers(1-2, 3-2, 2-1). On the bright side, Robbie Ray is in the running for the CY Young award, coming off a 14 strikeout performance in seven innings of one-run ball against the Chisox, while Vlad Guerro JR now has 38 home runs on the season, only trailing Shohei Ohtani(42) for the most in baseball.
16. ST LOUIS CARDINALS( 67-63) (16)
The Cardinals lost two of three from the Tigers(3-4, 3-2, 7-11) split with the Pirates(7-11, 4-3, 13-0, 3-4), to fall 3.5 games back of the Reds(Four in the loss column) in the Wildcard standings.
17. NEW YORK METS(63-67) (17)
I’ll spare Mets fans (And players) by glossing over the Javier Baez thumbs down towards the fans' drama on Sunday, by sticking strictly to the baseball. After getting swept by the Giants(8-0, 3-2, 3-2) to finish the 13 game gauntlet 2-11, the team rebounded with a series win over the Nationals(1-2, 5-3, 9-4) at Citi Field, and welcome the lowly Marlins into town now just seven games back of the first-place Braves in the NL East. The Mets can get themselves back into it but the question is do they have the collective clubhouse motivation to do so? That remains to be seen and it starts with some more emotion from manager Luis Rojas.
18. CLEVELAND INDIANS(64-64) (18)
19. LOS ANGELES ANGELS (65-67) (19)
20. DETROIT TIGERS(62-70 (20)
21. COLORADO ROCKIES(60-71)(21)
22. KANSAS CITY ROYALS(59-71) (22)
23. MINNESOTA TWINS(58-73) (23)
24. CHICAGO CUBS (57-75) (26)
25. WASHINGTON NATIONALS (55-75) (23)
26. MIAMI MARLINS 55-76(25)
27. PITTSBURGH PIRATES(48-83) (27)
28. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS(44-89) (28
29. TEXAS RANGERS(46-85) (29)
30. BALTIMORE ORIOLES (40-90) (30)
The losing streak did indeed come to an end at 19 games, with a 10-6 home win over the Angels this past Wednesday. On Thursday afternoon, the O’s crushed the visitors 13-1 for the series-clinching victory.
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