MLB season
Bradley Zimmer Jersey , teams on the fringe of contention and residing in the middle of the pack in our weekly power rankings continue to jockey for position.The St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays did the most to further their postseason cause. Meanwhile, the NL West continues to be a three-team toss-up, and the AL West, NL Central and NL East titles all still have multiple teams battling for their postseason lives. That should make for an exciting final month of action.For now, just remember these rankings are fluid. Teams rise and fall based on where they were ranked the previous week. If a team keeps winning, it will keep climbing as simple as that.Here's where all 30 teams stand:Updated Rankings1 Boston Red Sox (90-42)2 New York Yankees (83-47)3 Oakland Athletics (79-52)4 Houston Astros (80-50)5 Chicago Cubs (76-53)6 St. Louis Cardinals (73-58)37 Atlanta Braves (73-57)38 Cleveland Indians (74-56)29 Colorado Rockies (71-59)110 Tampa Bay Rays (70-61)511 Seattle Mariners (74-57)112 Arizona Diamondbacks (72-58)513 Milwaukee Brewers (73-59)14 Los Angeles Dodgers (70-61)315 Philadelphia Phillies (70-60)116 San Francisco Giants (65-67)517 Washington Nationals (65-66)318 Pittsburgh Pirates (64-67)219 Los Angeles Angels (63-68)220 Toronto Blue Jays (60-70)421 New York Mets (58-72)122 Minnesota Twins (61-69)423 Texas Rangers (58-74)424 Chicago White Sox (51-79)225 Cincinnati Reds (56-75)226 Miami Marlins (53-79)127 San Diego Padres (50-83)228 Detroit Tigers (53-78)29 Kansas City Royals (40-91)30 Baltimore Orioles (37-94) Teams That ImpressedBlake SnellSteve Nesius/Associated PressTheTampaBay Raysare making a strong push to climb back into the postseason picture. With a 7-0 week that included sweeps of the Kansas City Royals and division-leading Boston Red Sox, they're now nine games back in the wild-card standings.That surge back to relevance comes thanks to a 13-4 stretch that saw them improve their record from .500 to nine games over. They still have just a 0.2 percent chance of reaching the postseason, according to FanGraphs, but they're back from the depths of 0.0 percent where they resided not long ago.TheSt. Louis Cardinalsalso put together a strong week to strengthen their playoff hopes. A three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a weekend series win over the Colorado Rockies was enough for them to climb three slots into the No. 2 spot among NL teams.Once as many as 8.5 games back in the NL Central standings, the Cardinals have used a 19-5 month that includes a plus-53 run differential to pull within four games of the Chicago Cubs. They also hold the top spot in the wild-card standings by a half-game over the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers.TheHouston Astros(5-1) andOakland Athletics(5-2) kept pace in the battle for AL West supremacy, and they're on a collision course with three games this week. TheChicago Cubs(5-1) andMilwaukee Brewers(4-2) joined the Cardinals in winning both of their series, as the NL Central has three teams within five games of the division lead.Further down the rankings, theToronto Blue Jays(5-1) andChicago White Sox(5-2) were the only other teams to win both of their series. They may be out of the postseason hunt, but they can still play the role of spoiler.Teams That DisappointedManager Gabe KaplerJohn Minchillo/Associated PressAn 11-12 month that includes a 2-6 stretch heading into play Monday has sent thePhiladelphia Philliesfrom a half-game up in the NL East standings to three games behind the rival Braves.The bullpen has shown significant cracks in recent weeks, and the offense has gone cold to the tune of a .712 OPS in August that ranks 22ndin the majors. They still have seven games remaining against the Braves, including a three-game series in Philadelphia to close the season, but they need to turn things around quickly.Meanwhile, thePittsburgh Pirateshad a few more nails driven into their coffin with a 1-5 week against the Braves and Brewers. Since rocketing up the standings with a red-hot finish to July that led them to buy at the trade deadline, they've gone 8-15 to fall 8.5 games back in the wild-card standings.That said, Chris Archer and Keone Kela were more than just rental arms, so their proactive approach on the trade market will still benefit their hopes of contending in 2019.TheLos Angeles Angels(0-5),Minnesota Twins(2-5),Texas Rangers(2-4),Cincinnati Reds(1-6)
Brandon Guyer Jersey ,San DiegoPadres(1-5) andBaltimore Orioles(0-7) also lost both of their series last week, as it was a tough week for non-contenders looking to play spoiler.The Orioles are 37-94, putting them on pace to lose a staggering 116 games.MVPs of the WeekHitter:Kendrys Morales, Toronto Blue JaysStats:11-for-23, 7 HR, 12 RBI, 8 RDesignated hitter Kendrys Morales set a Toronto Blue Jays franchise record when he became just the seventh player in MLB history to homer in seven straight games.The MLB record of eight is shared by Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and Dale Long, according to ESPN StatsInfo, and the last player to homer in seven straight was Kevin Mench of the Texas Rangers in 2006.Morales was hitting below .200 on June 6 and was starting to look like a candidate to be released, despite having a year left on his contract.However, he's hitting .301/.389/.584 with 10 home runs and 23 RBI in 131 plate appearances since the All-Star break.The Blue Jays will face the last-place Baltimore Orioles on Monday, with right-hander David Hess slated to make the start for the O's. Morales is 4-for-6 with a home run against Hess this year, so he should have as good a chance as any to extend his streak and tie the MLB record. Pitcher:Kevin Gausman, Atlanta BravesStats:2 GS, 2-0, 13.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 KWhat a pickup Kevin Gausman has been for the Atlanta Braves."I can't say enough. He's exceeded expectations," manager Brian Snitker told reporters.
