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).
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.
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.
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 |