Baseball isn't quite into the dog days just yet, but these Sports Blitz power rankings certainly might be. The best teams have settled into comfortable spots near the top of the rankings, though the risers — and fallers — this week might be surprising. As always, these rankings are completely subjective, yet objectively correct.
1. St. Louis Cardinals (38-20; Last Week: 1)
Over their past eleven games, the Cardinals played the Dodgers seven times and won five of them. These will be different teams when they meet again in the postseason, but that's a big swing that could help determine who has homefield advantage in that potential series.
2. Kansas City Royals (32-23; LW: 3)
In this week's edition of "Guys who were cheap free agents who are not in Baltimore," designated hitter Kendrys Morales hit his seventh home run of the year on Monday. He's batting .292 with a team-leading 41 RBIs and would be a power threat in an Orioles lineup that doesn't have many, even if he'd be clogging up the DH spot.
3. Minnesota Twins (33-24; LW: 2)
Second baseman Brian Dozier had a brutal April but might be in line for his first career All-Star Game appearance. He's batting .261 with an .871 OPS with 11 home runs and a league-leading 47 runs scored, with nearly all of that production coming since May 1.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (33-25; LW: 5)
For whatever other issues the Dodgers might have, starter Clayton Kershaw is no longer one of them. He's won three straight starts, pitching 22 innings of 10-hit, two-run ball with 28 strikeouts — much more like his Cy Young ways than his early outings.
5. Houston Astros (34-25; LW: 6)
Houston has shown the fans in Baltimore just how dangerous it is over the past two weeks, and it would have only been worse if shortstop Carlos Correa had been up then. The Astros just added a player who is essentially a touch more developed than Manny Machado at his debut.
6. New York Yankees (32-25; LW: not ranked)
The Yankees are the first American League East team in these rankings in two weeks. They've catapulted back into the rankings with three-games sweeps over the Mariners and Angels. Their leading hitter, Alex Rodriguez, is nine away from 3,000 career hits. Might he reach that milestone in Baltimore this weekend?
7. San Francisco Giants (32-26; LW: 7)
Since the Giants entered these rankings three weeks ago, they've been No. 7. It just seems right. They'll be good, not great, all year, and maybe make a run in the playoffs. The fact that it's not an even year doesn't make a World Series run promising. Luckily, they have the Warriors out there.
8. Chicago Cubs (30-25; LW: 8)
An Orioles fan looking at the Cubs will likely only focus on the success of Jake Arrieta, but don't forget about Jason Hammel. Hammel has seven quality starts in his past eight trips out, with a 2.76 ERA to lead all Cubs starters.
9. Washington Nationals (30-27, LW: 4)
The Nationals have been abysmal lately, mirroring the early-season stretch that had them way behind the first-place Mets before Bryce Harper caught fire and all was well again. Despite dropping eight of ten, the Nationals stay ranked so it's less embarrassing to bump them up when that happens a second time around.
10. New York Mets (31-27; LW: NR)
The world (and this space) seems to always focus on Bartolo Colon and, when we're serious, Matt Harvey when talking about the Mets' success. But starter Jacob deGrom is in the top 10 in every major pitching category in the National League and has been unhittable for all but a few of his starts this season.