What an amazing week for streaks, especially in the AL Central. Streaks do damage on power rankings as we try to balance the weekly hot and cold with the overall best teams, and these are no exception. Three of our top 4 are new this week.

We bring them to you a day early in case you prefer to read about baseball instead of Biogenesis.

First 4

1. (3/12/13/24/24/23/20/27/25) Dodgers: They have now won 14 straight road games, are 14-2 since the All-Star break and 31-7 over their last 38 games. They’ve gone from last to 1st in the NL West, and now take over 1st place here. Right now, the Dodgers are the best team in baseball.

2. (5/5/6/9/7/9/10/11/5) Tigers: Answered winning streaks by Cleveland and Kansas City with one of their own. Seven and counting. And 12 of their last 13.

3. (8/11/12/10/11/5/2/4/4) Braves: Their 10-game winning streak is their 2nd of the year. Welcome back to the First 4.

4. (6/¾/1/¼/6/6/9) Pirates: Don’t overlook the Pirates, who have won 7 of 10 and own the best record in baseball. 

Middle of the majors 

5. (7/9/11/6/13/17/27/12/7) Indians: The top 3 teams in the AL Central have won 9 of their last 10, so Cleveland stays 3 back of Detroit and 4 ½ up on Kansas City. The benefit shows in the wild card, though.

6. (2/1/1/3/9/2/3/5/15) A’s: Had the Rangers right where they wanted them, but the AL West race isn’t over yet.

7. (12/7/3/2/4/8/4/2/3) Rangers: They fell 6 games behind the A’s, but turned it around, winning 6 of 7, including 2 of 3 in Oakland.

8. (9/4/5/5/8/7/7/7/12) Red Sox: They’re not letting the Rays keep 1st place for any long stretches.

9. (1/6/7/11/19/18/14/13/17) Rays: You’ve gotta stay hot to stay on top, especially this week. Or at least in 1st place.

10. (14/21/17/18/17/12/19/26/23) Royals: Their 9-game win streak had virtually no effect on the standings because the Indians had an eight-gamer and Detroit won 7 straight. The hard-luck Royals can’t make a move in the AL Central, but we can give them a bump into the top 10 here for their efforts.

11. (4/2/2/4/3/1/1/1/1) Cardinals: They lose seven in a row, including the first 4 of a 5-game series with the Pirates. Then they end it by winning the Pittsburgh finale 13-0, the opener in Cincinnati 13-3 and the finale 15-2. We’ll do the math: That’s 3 wins in 4 games by a total score of 41-5.

12. (11/10/9/8/2/3/5/3/2) Reds: Welcomed a stumbling Cardinals team into Great American Ballpark, and let them off the hook.

13. (10/8/10/7/6/6/11/8/13) Orioles: If you’ve got a move to make, now’s the time if you want to return to the postseason.

14. (13/14/8/13/12/13/9/14/6) Yankees: Baseball talk > suspension talk. Except maybe for the Yankees.

15. (15/20/21/22/18/22/22/22/22) Mariners: Heard a rumor Seattle is thinking about switching back to blue and gold next year. Don’t do it! Keep teal alive in MLB! That’s all I’ve got…

16. (20/27/25/23/22/21/21/20/30) Twins: The Astros arrived just in time.

17. (16/13/16/14/10/11/8/9/10) Diamondbacks: Let the Dodgers pick up 9 games in the past month. That puts Arizona 5 ½ games back now..

18. (24/22/14/19/23/24/24/23/21) Angels: Apparently weren’t interested in playing spoiler to the A’s or Rangers. But they had the Blue Jays’ number.

19. (18/15/15/15/21/19/17/19/14) Nationals: The World Series or bust equation has been answered.

20. (22/26/27/27/30/30/30/30/29) Marlins: Defying gravity.

21. (17/19/22/25/25/25/23/24/27) Cubs: Just when we start to give the dismantled Cubs a little credit, they lose their 1st 3 to Brewers. Can’t really blame them for getting swept by the Dodgers, though.

22. (26/30/30/17/16/15/18/17/18) Padres: The slow climb continues. The Rockies have been scaled, but they’ve reached their high point in the NL West standings.

23. (25/25/26/28/27/26/25/28/26) Brewers: They own the 2nd best record in the NL Central over the past 10 games … at 5-5. Their dream of 4th place is very much alive. 

24. (19/17/18/12/5/10/13/16/20) Blue Jays: Keeping this group together for another run next season.

25. (21/23/23/26/28/29/29/25/24) Mets: They’ve caught the Phillies! A few years ago, that would have meant something.

26. (23/18/19/16/15/14/15/10/8) Rockies: Lost 6 of 7 to Atlanta and Pittsburgh. 

Final 4

27. (28/24/24/20/14/16/12/15/11) Giants: Moving up thanks to the Phillies losing 9 of 10. Their season is still headed in the other direction.

28. (27/16/20/21/20/20/16/18/19) Phillies: A 5-game skid is not what Philadelphia or Charlie Manuel needed right now.

29. (30/29/28/29/26/27/28/29/28) Astros: Last week we said they weren’t budging. They’re the worst team in baseball, but not nearly the coldest. That honor belongs to…

30. (29/28/29/30/29/28/26/21/16) White Sox: Losers of 10 in a row on their way to a historically bad South Side season. And to think they were 24-24 at one point.