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MLB Power Rankings: Giants, A’s, Dodgers, Cardinals in top 10 – Metro US
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MLB Power Rankings: Giants, A’s, Dodgers, Cardinals in top 10

Buster Posey Giants MLB Power Rankings June 10 Buster Posey and the Giants once again find themselves at the top of this week’s power rankings. Credit: Getty Images

1. San Francisco Giants (42-22, previous: 1) – San Francisco has continued its tremendous run to start the season and has the most wins in all of baseball by a comfortable margin. The Giants’ pitching has led the way, with Madison Bumgarner tied for the National League lead in wins with eight, Tim Hudson owning the second-lowest ERA at 1.97, and closer Sergio Romo having the most saves in all of baseball, with 20. The Giants will continue their 10 game homestand this week with games against the Nationals and Rockies.

2. Oakland Athletics (39-25, previous: 2) – The Athletics keep dominating as they not only are winning a ton of games, but winning them by large margins as their plus-125 run differential is the best in baseball. Josh Donaldson has belted 17 homers, the fourth-most in the AL, and has knocked in 50 runs, the fifth-most in the AL. Also, Scott Kazmir’s 2.20 ERA is good for third in the AL, so they’ve been getting contributions all the way around. Oakland will wrap up a road trip with two games against the Angels before returning home for 10 straight.

3. Toronto Blue Jays (39-26, previous: 4) – Toronto has continued to roll, surprising many in the baseball world, winners of seven of their last 10. As a team they lead the league in home runs with Edwin Encarnacion pacing the group with 20, the second-most in all of baseball, and Jose Bautista with 15, good for eighth. The Blue Jays will play two more games at home against the Twins before departing for a 10-game road trip.

4. Milwaukee Brewers (38-26, previous: 3) – Milwaukee has continued its dominance this season, currently holding the second-best record in the National League. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy (.335 batting average) and outfielder Carlos Gomez (.307) have paced the offense as they are third and seventh in BA in the NL, respectively. The Brewers will play 10 of their next 13 games on the road, but that hasn’t been an issue for them this year as they are 19-13 away from home.

5. Los Angeles Angels (35-28, previous: 8) – Unfortunately for the Angels, if they weren’t in the AL West they would be leading most divisions, but they are stuck behind the surging Athletics. Los Angeles doesn’t have many individuals standing out offensively, but Albert Pujols seems to have regained his form with 15 homers this season, tied for eighth in all of baseball. Winners of four straight, including one against Oakland, they will look to ride the momentum and gain some ground on the A’s over the next few days.

6. Los Angeles Dodgers (34-31, previous: 7) – Things are not going so well for the Dodgers as the overall landscape and chemistry of the team has been put into question lately. The Dodgers certainly have the stars in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke from the mound, as well as Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig at the plate, but collectively they aren’t getting it done, sitting just three games over .500.

7. Seattle Mariners (34-29, previous: 12) – Seattle is one of the hottest teams in baseball at the moment, winners of eight of its last 10. Robinson Cano has settled in nicely after a bit of a rough start as he is now hitting .330 with 77 hits, which is good for sixth and eighth respectively in all of baseball. The Mariners will look to ride their momentum into their eight-game homestand taking on the Yankees, Rangers and Padres.

8. St. Louis Cardinals (33-31, previous: 9) – The defending National League champs are playing half-decent ball, but still remain five games behind the NL Central-leading Brewers. Other than first baseman Matt Adams (.325 batting average, fifth in the NL), the Cardinals don’t have any other standouts at the dish, which will certainly need to change if they have any chance of contending with Milwaukee for the division crown.

9. Detroit Tigers (33-27, previous: 5) – The wheels have begun to fall off for the Tigers as the rest of the AL Central has closed the gap to just a two game lead. The positive? Victor Martinez has continued his monster year as he is in the top seven in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging in all of baseball. Detroit’s pitching will need to improve, as Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer have shown plenty in the past of what they are capable of doing.

10. Atlanta Braves (33-29, previous: 6) – For the first time in a few seasons it is shaping up to be a competitive NL East race. There is no question the Braves will be heavily reliant on their starting pitching, particularly Julio Teheran, who sports a 1.89 ERA, the best in all of baseball. Atlanta will wrap up a four-game set in Colorado and then return home to take on the Angels in a weekend interleague series.

11. Miami Marlins (33-30, previous: 14) – Things are getting tight in the National League East and the Marlins are a major reason why, winners of five of their last seven games. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton is a big reason for their success as he’s belted 17 home runs and knocked in 53 runs, leading the National League in both categories. After two games in Texas, the Marlins will play 10 straight games at home, a place they are 22-11 on the year.

12. Cleveland Indians (33-31, previous: 18) – The Indians have played much better baseball of late, winning an impressive nine of their last 10 games to now only trail the Tigers by two games in the AL Central. Michael Brantley is having a solid season, thus far posting a line of .307/.373/.498 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs. Cleveland will play two games in Kansas City before they travel to Boston for a weekend series with Terry Francona’s former club, the struggling Red Sox.

13. Washington Nationals (33-29, previous: 20) – The Nationals have risen to the occasion and have climbed into a tie for first place in the NL East, like many expected them to do at the start of the season. Starter Tanner Roark has been a pleasant surprise, as despite his 4-4 record he has posted a 2.91 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Washington will end its nine-game road trip with games coming up against the Giants and Cardinals.

14. Baltimore Orioles (32-30, previous: 13) – Baltimore has overcome injuries so far this season to still be in second place in the below-average American League East. They may be forced to win without Manny Machado for at least a few games as he is likely to be suspended by Major League Baseball for appearing to throw his bat at an Oakland Athletics player while he was at the plate over the weekend. The Orioles are in a stretch where they are playing 13 straight games against AL East opponents.

15. Chicago White Sox (32-33, previous: 17) – Nothing has changed with the White Sox as they continue to put up runs in bunches, but they cannot get the pitching to win games. Jose Abreu is having a breakout season as his 49 RBIs are the seventh-most in the league.

16. New York Yankees (31-31, previous: 10) – New York has certainly had its ups and downs so far this season, but it has all evened out as they currently sit right at .500. One of the bright spots for the Yankees has been rookie pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who over 12 starts is 9-1 with a 2.02 ERA, the best mark in the American League. The Yankees are in the middle of a 10-game West Coast trip as they have games with the Mariners and Athletics remaining.

17. Texas Rangers (31-33, previous: 11) – The Rangers have struggled for the vast majority of the season, but no more than they are currently as they have lost three straight and seven of their last 10. The big issue has come from the mound as besides Yu Darvish’s 2.36 ERA, no starter has one below 4.38.

18. Kansas City Royals (31-32, previous: 22) – Despite being one-game below .500, the Royals are just 3.5 games out of first place in the AL Central. If the K.C. offense can perform better than it has over the first two months, the Royals could be right there with the Tigers down the stretch.

19. Pittsburgh Pirates (30-33, previous: 21) – The Pirates cannot get any momentum going as they look to get back in the postseason race, as their pitching has been a major letdown over the course of the season.

20. Colorado Rockies (29-34, previous: 15) – After a strong start to the year, things have gone downhill for the Rockies with just one win in their last 10 games. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki continues to be on a tear though, as his .354 batting average, .444 on-base percentage and 4.9 WAR are all the best in all of baseball.

21. Cincinnati Reds (29-33, previous: 23) – Things have not gone as planned this year in Cincinnati as besides backup catcher Devin Mesoraco, no hitter has an average higher than .273.

22. Minnesota Twins (29-33, previous: 24) – Pitching has been the major problem for the Twins this season as besides Phil Hughes, Minnesota’s starting rotation is among the worst in the league.

23. Houston Astros (29-36, previous: 27) – Houston has played much better of late, reeling off a few multi-game win streaks, but its horrible start will likely be too big of a hole to dig out of.

24. Boston Red Sox (28-35, previous: 19) – It is a frustrating time for Boston as the Red Sox find themselves 10 games out of first place in the AL East. A major issue for them has been the lack of production from their outfielders as they rank last in MLB in batting average (.223) and slugging percentage (.331). If the Red Sox continue to play like this, a big question of whether or not they will be sellers at next month’s trading deadline looms.

25. New York Mets (28-35, previous: 16) – Currently losers of six straight games, the longest losing streak in the majors at the moment, things are going downhill for the Mets as they and the Phillies have fallen well back of the other three teams in the NL East. Starter Jon Niese has a 2.68 ERA, but other than him it’s been an ugly starting rotation this season.

26. San Diego Padres (28-35, previous: 25) – With the Padres certainly in the sellers category, teams could be after a number of different San Diego pitchers, as they currently have a 3.42 team ERA, fifth in the National League.

27. Arizona Diamondbacks (28-38, previous: 29) – Having a 11-24 record at home is never a recipe for success.

28. Philadelphia Phillies (25-36, previous: 26) – It is starting to get ugly in the City of Brotherly Love as the Phillies are now in last place in the NL East and have allowed the 13th most runs in the NL with 286, 4.69 runs a game. Aside from watching Cliff Lee (currently on the DL) and Cole Hamels pitch, there aren’t many reasons to turn on a Phillies game at the moment.

29. Chicago Cubs (25-36, previous: 30) – Well, at least the Cubs don’t have the fewest wins in the majors anymore.

30. Tampa Bay Rays (24-41, previous: 28) – The Rays are certainly more talented than their record indicates, but injuries have been a major issue for Joe Maddon’s club.

*All stats and records are as of Tuesday, June 10.

Follow Metro sports writer Ryan Hannable on Twitter: @RyanHannable