This might be our least volatile edition of MLB power rankings all year. The No. 1 spot remains fluid, however.

First 4

1. (2/1/3/12/13/24/24/23/20/27/25) Dodgers: A 10-game win streak capped a 42-8 stretch over 50 games. They “caught” the Pirates, which is amazing in itself considering the Dodgers were in last place on July 1 and Pittsburgh had the best record in baseball just days ago.

2. (3/2/5/5/6/9/7/9/10/11/5) Tigers: A doubleheader sweep was a good moment for the Royals. But Detroit bounced back with a Miguel Cabrera walk-off on Saturday and then a homer in his first at-bat on Sunday. The Tigers have won every huge series in the AL Central. And that’s why they now have a huge lead.

3. (1/3/8/11/12/10/11/5/2/4/4) Braves: They can’t win ‘em all, even if they did for 2 weeks straight. And perfection is what it took to keep the top spot this week.

4. (4/7/12/7/3/2/4/8/4/2/3) Rangers: Maintaining their division lead. Maintaining their place in our power rankings. 11-run innings help.

Middle of the majors 

5. (7/6/2/1/1/3/9/2/3/5/15) A’s: Rose to the challenge against Cleveland.

6. (11/9/1/6/7/11/19/18/14/13/17) Rays: The sting of last week’s dismal NL West road trip was eased by series wins against Seattle and Toronto.

7. (9/11/4/2/2/4/3/1/1/1/1) Cardinals: Took 2 of 3 from the Pirates in a series they had to have, then finally handled the Cubs.

8. (6/4/6/¾/1/¼/6/6/9) Pirates: Losing a series to the Cardinals in St. Louis is forgivable. Losing a series at home to Arizona on their way out the door for a west coast trip might be cause for more concern.

9. (10/12/11/10/9/8/2/3/5/3/2) Reds: If the Cardinals and Pirates aren’t careful, Cincinnati could sneak by them.

10. (5/8/9/4/5/5/8/7/7/7/12) Red Sox: They’ve got better things to do than worry about plunking A-Rod.

11. (13/5/7/9/11/6/13/17/27/12/7) Indians: Well, our reports of the death of their contention were exaggerated…until they play the Tigers again (3-13). Who knows, maybe Detroit will be the death of them in the postseason, too. 

12. (12/13/10/8/10/7/6/6/11/8/13) Orioles: A 4-game skid against NL teams did some damage, but at least Baltimore fans lead the league in attendance gained.

13. (8/10/14/21/17/18/17/12/19/26/23) Royals: Getting only a doubleheader sweep out of 5 games with Detroit might effectively end any AL Central hopes, but the wild card race isn’t over yet.

14. (16/14/13/14/8/13/12/13/9/14/6) Yankees: Based on all of the attention, you might think their games are more important than they are. But they are pretty much playing spoiler like the rest of the 4th place teams.

15. (14/15/15/20/21/22/18/22/22/22/22) Mariners: Went .500 against the Rays and Rangers.

16. (19/17/16/13/16/14/10/11/8/9/10) Diamondbacks: Nearly reduced to playing spoiler, they did a good job against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Keep it up, and they’ll be back in contention.

17. (17/24/19/17/18/12/5/10/13/16/20) Blue Jays: The Rays gained a game on the Red Sox thanks to the 2 teams’ performances against Toronto.

18. (18/18/24/22/14/19/23/24/24/23/21) Angels: Albert Pujols is out for the season. Better to rest now and hope for the best next year. There’s a lot of time left on that contract.

19. (15/16/20/27/25/23/22/21/21/20/30) Twins: Rough week for the streaky Twins, losing 6 of 7.

20. (22/19/18/15/15/15/21/19/17/19/14) Nationals: It looked like Jason Heyward drove a stake through their hearts with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th Saturday, but then they won in the 15th. They’re still done.

21. (21/25/21/23/23/26/28/29/29/25/24) Mets: Not a particularly productive trip out west, but it’s not like there’s a ton of upside anyway.

22. (24/23/25/25/26/28/27/26/25/28/26) Brewers: Jonathan Lucroy was 0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts against Aroldis Chapman, then boom: Walkoff. A nice moment in a good week for Milwaukee.

23. (26/28/27/16/20/21/20/20/16/18/19) Phillies: As we predicted, the Ryne Sandberg era has begun. But it’s off to a slow start. Maybe ending the Dodgers’ 10-game winning streak is something to build off of.

24. (20/26/23/18/19/16/15/14/15/10/8) Rockies: Third in the National League in runs and average, and second in homers. But 14th in ERA.

25. (25/22/26/30/30/17/16/15/18/17/18) Padres: 3 of 4 teams with the worst records in baseball since June 15 reside in the NL West: Giants, Phillies, Padres and Rockies. That certainly helped the Dodgers’ rise.

26. (23/21/17/19/22/25/25/25/23/24/27) Cubs: Swept by the Reds, then lost 2 of 3 to the Cardinals to get sent to the NL Central basement again.

Final 4

27. (27/27/28/24/24/20/14/16/12/15/11) Giants: Who’d have thought they’d be facing the Marlins at this point in the season in a battle of last place teams?

28. (29/30/29/28/29/30/29/28/26/21/16) White Sox: Break up the Sox! They won 3 in a row. We call that a winning streak.

29. (28/20/22/26/27/27/30/30/30/30/29) Marlins: Avoided a sweep by the Giants. Which counts for nothing.

30. (30/29/30/29/28/29/26/27/28/29/28) Astros: They are the only team in baseball who could win the rest of their games and finish under .500. Think about that.