Another week down, and the St. Louis Cardinals stay on top of the MLB Power Rankings.

The St. Louis Cardinals won their 50th game of the season against the Chicago Cubs, an 8-1 blowout at Busch Stadium, last Saturday. It took just 74 games for the Cardinals to win their 50th game. St. Louis is the fastest to 50 wins since the 2005 Chicago White Sox did so on their way to a World Series championship.

The Washington Nationals (7) and San Francisco Giants (10) find themselves in the top 10 this week. The New York Yankees (11) and Chicago Cubs (12) both recorded losing records over the last seven days and found themselves tumbling out of the top 10.

Who's on top? The St. Louis Cardinals (1) have put together quite a first half this season. Not only have they become the fastest to 50 wins since 2005, they are just the 18th team in MLB history to win 50 games before their 25th loss.

What makes this first-half run by the Cardinals even more impressive is that they are doing it without their ace Adam Wainwright in the rotation, Matt Holliday and Matt Adams absent from the middle of their lineup, and Jordan Walden missing from the setup role in their bullpen. All are out with various injuries.

Who's riding high? The Washington Nationals rose eight spots in this week's rankings. The Nationals feasted on their division rivals last week to finish with a 5-1 record. The Nats began their week at home with a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves (19). Washington concluded the week on the road as they took two out of three in a rain shortened series against the lowly Philadelphia Phillies (30).


Max Scherzer #31 and Dan Uggla #26 of the Washington Nationals collide after Scherzer caught the ball in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 26, 2015 at the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Nationals defeated the Phillies 5-2.
(June 25, 2015 - Source: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images North America)

Who's sliding fast? The Chicago Cubs tangled with two of the top teams in the National League, and the result was an ugly 2-5 record. The Cubs' down week dropped the Northsiders five spots in the power rankings.


Chris Coghlan #8 of the Chicago Cubs hits the left field wall trying to catch a triple hit by Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the7th inning at Wrigley Field on June 25, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.
(June 24, 2015 - Source: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images North America)

Chicago managed a split of their four-game home series against the N.L. West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. However, a road trip to Busch Stadium resulted in a three-game sweep by the N.L. Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Who is bringing up the rear? Things keep getting worse for the Philadelphia Phillies (30), who once again bring up the rear in the power rankings. Friday saw Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg resign from his first Major League managerial job. The worst team in baseball ended the week with 50 losses, the first team to do so this year.

Philadelphia Phillies managaer Ryne Sandberg called it quits June 26, 2015. The Phillies are the majors worst team and first to reach the 50 loss mark. Source: Rob Carr/Getty Images North America)
MLB Power Rankings
Rank Prev. Rank Team Overall Record Last Week
1 1 St. Louis Cardinals 51-24 6-0
2 2 Kansas City Royals 44-28 5-1
3 4 Los Angeles Dodgers 43-34 4-3
4 3 Houston Astros 44-34 3-4
5 5 Pittsburgh Pirates 42-33 3-3
6 10 Baltimore Orioles 41-34 5-1
7 15 Washington Nationals 42-34 5-1
8 6 Tampa Bay Rays 42-35 2-4
9 9 Toronto Blue Jays 41-36 4-2
10 12 San Francisco Giants 42-35 4-2
11 8 New York Yankees 41-35 3-4
12 7 Chicago Cubs 39-35 2-5
13 14 Minnesota Twins 40-35 3-3
14 16 Detroit Tigers 39-36 4-2
15 15 Los Angeles Angels 39-37 3-2
16 18 New York Mets 40-37 4-2
17 11 Texas Rangers 38-38 1-5
18 17 Arizona Diamondbacks 36-39 2-4
19 19 Atlanta Braves 36-40 1-5
20 20 Cincinnati Reds 34-40 3-4
21 22 San Diego Padres 37-41 3-3
22 21 Cleveland Indians 33-41 1-5
23 25 Oakland Athletics 34-44 3-3
24 28 Boston Red Sox 34-43 4-3
25 27 Colorado Rockies 33-42 3-3
26 23 Seattle Mariners 34-42 2-4
27 24 Chicago White Sox 32-42 2-4
28 26 Miami Marlins 31-46 1-5
29 29 Milwaukee Brewers 29-48 4-2
30 30 Philadelphia Phillies 27-50 3-3