The Brewers remain on fire and locked into the No. 1 spot in the second MLB power rankings of August.
1. Milwaukee Brewers (73-44) | Last week: 1
The 38 runs a couple of weekends ago helped, but who had the Brewers by far leading the majors in run differential with under two months left in the regular season? The Brew Crew remains red-hot with nine straight wins.
2. Philadelphia Phillies (68-49) | Last week: 5 (+2)
The Phillies are also hot, fresh off a weekend sweep of the Rangers while the Mets struggle in the NL East. It’s been different with Jhoan Duran as the closer, and Philadelphia is suddenly up to a 5.5-game lead in the division.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (68-50) | Last week: 2 (-1)
In a good battle with the Jays, the Dodgers took the first two games of their series before dropping yesterday’s finale in a wild contest. Manager Dave Roberts wasn’t afraid to call out superstar Shohei Ohtani trying to steal third base for the final out of the inning. Ohtani is set to pitch against his former Angels club this week.
4. Toronto Blue Jays (69-50) | Last week: 3 (-1)
While the Jays drop a spot after the Dodgers took two-of-three, Toronto did a great job of taking care of business by drubbing the Rockies—15-1, 10-4, 20-1—to begin last week.
5. Detroit Tigers (68-51) | Last week: 4 (-1)
A series loss to the Twins and a series win over the Angels made it a .500 week for the Tigers. Detroit must take advantage of three games against the White Sox starting tonight.
6. Chicago Cubs (67-50) | Last week: 6
The nine-run outburst on Saturday night was a positive, but the Cubs lost series to the rival Reds and Cardinals last week as their struggles over the past month-plus continue. Still, they have the second-best run differential in baseball (+117).
7. San Diego Padres (66-52) | Last week: 9 (+2)
The Padres have brought the Dodgers’ lead in the NL West down to 2.0 games—and they’re sitting in a nice spot in the NL wild card race. San Diego’s bullpen gave the Red Sox fits over the weekend.
8. Houston Astros (66-52) | Last week: 8
Framber Valdez gave up four runs in his start versus the Yankees over the weekend, an eventual 5-4 loss. But Houston took the other two matchups with New York to keep their narrow-thin lead in the AL West.
9. Seattle Mariners (66-53) | Last week: 12 (+3)
The Mariners have won seven games in a row, inching up to a 0.5 game behind the Astros. Cal Raleigh clubbed his 45th home run of the season in yesterday’s win to make it two consecutive sweeps.
10. Boston Red Sox (65-54) | Last week: 10
The Mets take a big tumble from No. 7 to outside of the top 10, and the Red Sox remain at the 10 spot. Alex Bregman now makes his return to Houston, playing at Daikin Park for the first time as a visitor.
11. New York Yankees (62-56) | Last week: 11
12. New York Mets (63-55) | Last week: 7 (-5)
13. Cleveland Guardians (61-56) | Last week: 16 (+3)
14. Cincinnati Reds (62-57) | Last week: 13 (-1)
15. Texas Rangers (60-59) | Last week: 14 (-1)
16. St. Louis Cardinals (60-59) | Last week: 19 (+3)
17. San Francisco Giants (59-59) | Last week: 15 (-2)
18. Kansas City Royals (58-60) | Last week: 18
19. Arizona Diamondbacks (57-61) | Last week: 22 (+3)
20. Miami Marlins (57-61) | Last week: 17 (-3)
21. Tampa Bay Rays (57-62) | Last week: 20 (-1)
22. Minnesota Twins (56-61) | Last week: 23 (+1)
23. Los Angeles Angels (56-62) | Last week: 21 (-2)
24. Baltimore Orioles (53-65) | Last week: 24
25. Oakland Athletics (53-67) | Last week: 25
26. Atlanta Braves (51-67) | Last week: 27 (+1)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (51-68) | Last week: 26 (-1)
28. Washington Nationals (47-70) | Last week: 28
29. Chicago White Sox (43-75) | Last week: 29
30. Colorado Rockies (30-87) | Last week: 30