MLB Power Rankings: Orioles power their way into top 10

Week 8 of the baseball season means we're passed the 40-game mark, which is a perfect time to start shaking up the power rankings as teams pass or fail various tests. Surging first-place teams like the Orioles and Mariners are finally staying in the top 10, while several underachieving teams are slowly starting to fall.

The composite rankings were compiled by theScore MLB editors Jonah Birenbaum, Bryan Mcwilliam, Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb, George Halim, and Dan Toman.

1. Chicago Cubs

The best team in baseball probably won't even notice Jason Heyward's absence for the next few days, as his replacement, Jorge Soler, is 5-for-18 with a homer and two doubles since May 14.

2. Washington Nationals

Though their rotation gets the glory, the Nationals' bullpen has been superb of late, managing an MLB-best 1.19 ERA while allowing just one home run over the last two weeks.

3. New York Mets

Embittered by so many years of losing, Mets fans are more inclined to boo Matt Harvey than just be happy that their other four starters have combined for a 2.92 ERA.

4. Boston Red Sox

Jackie Bradley Jr. is flirting with history, but don't forget about Mookie Betts, who's hitting .343/.389/.687 with five homers and nine multi-hit games since May 7.

5. San Francisco Giants

Jake Peavy is sticking out more and more these days, as improvements from Matt Cain have helped the Giants' rotation craft a 2.96 ERA this month.

6. Chicago White Sox

What's the name of that insane White Sox lefty, again? You know, the one with the sub-2.00 ERA and the 4.73 strikeout-to-walk ratio? Oh, right, it's Jose Quintana.

7. Baltimore Orioles

Talk about the bats all you want, but Chris Tillman's renaissance after a miserable 2015 is a major reason why Baltimore's hanging tough atop the AL East.

8. Pittsburgh Pirates

All hail Kang! Since coming off the disabled list May 6, the 29-year-old boasts a 1.070 OPS, and is already second on the Pirates with five homers.

9. Seattle Mariners

Ever so quietly, the Mariners have managed the second-best run differential in the AL (+48), and they're one of nine teams in the bigs with three players with an OPS above .850.

10. Los Angeles Dodgers

Desperate to blend in with his fellow relievers at Chavez Ravine, Kenley Jansen blew his first save in 25 tries Friday, helping the Dodgers' bullpen post a 6.26 ERA this past week.

11. St. Louis Cardinals

Adam Wainwright may, in fact, be "dangerous again," but he isn't as scary as Mike Leake and Jaime Garcia, who have combined for five quality starts in their last six outings.

12. Texas Rangers

After sweeping the Astros, the Rangers get the lowly Angels for three games. They could very well be in first place by the time Yu Darvish returns on Saturday.

13. Cleveland Indians

Francisco Lindor had five multi-hit games this week, and a trio of three-hit contests. Where would the Tribe be without their dynamic young shortstop right now?

14. Toronto Blue Jays

Odor's punch seemed to knock the wind out of the Blue Jays against Tampa Bay, but a reshuffled lineup and Minnesota Twins pitchers helped the bats bounce back for at least one weekend.

15. Kansas City Royals

They're still hovering around .500, but taking two of three from both the Red Sox and White Sox could go a long way toward giving some mojo back to the defending champs.

16. Detroit Tigers

A nice week was overshadowed by injuries to Jordan Zimmermann and Miguel Cabrera on Sunday. Severe or not, that was the last thing the Tigers needed.

17. Colorado Rockies

Tyler Chatwood has gone at least six innings in five straight starts, and is giving the Rockies - who still sit just four games out of first - a steady arm in the rotation.

18. Miami Marlins

Giancarlo Stanton ended his historically bad week with a hit Sunday, but still had another multi-strikeout game. It would help matters in Miami immensely if he could find his powerful self again fast.

19. New York Yankees

A-Rod's coming back Tuesday, and the Yankees won five in a row to close out their week - but four of those came in Oakland. Still a lot more questions than answers.

20. Houston Astros

What's eating these Astros? They're now 10 games back of the Mariners, and Dallas Keuchel's showing no signs of coming out of his slump. Something's got to give soon.

21. Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa's three-game sweep of Toronto left a message they can contend in the East, but they need consistency from all five starters to make a run at the top.

22. Philadelphia Phillies

Jeanmar Gomez and Vince Velasquez have been revelations for a Phillies squad that just won't go away in a tough NL East.

23. Arizona Diamondbacks

The D-Backs are keeping pace with the Dodgers and Rockies thanks to an unexpected big week from backup catcher Chris Herrmann.

24. Los Angeles Angels

The signing of Tim Lincecum created some buzz in the City of Angels, but he won't be ready for a month and the team's injuries continue to mount.

25. Oakland Athletics

Danny Valencia was a man possessed as the A's ran rampant through a tough Rangers squad before the Yankees stepped in to cool them off.

26. Milwaukee Brewers

Chris Carter continues to hit bombs for a Brewers club that surprisingly took a series from the dominant Cubs before being swept by the Mets.

27. San Diego Padres

San Diego ran into a scorching hot Giants club, but recovered to take out their frustrations on the struggling Dodgers.

28. Cincinnati Reds

No one is playing worse than Cincinnati, so it's a terrible time for Joey Votto to fall into a slump.

29. Minnesota Twins

The Twins officially have the worst record in baseball, falling below the helpless Braves in the standings, which can't make Paul Molitor and Terry Ryan happy.

30. Atlanta Braves

Nine home runs in the last seven days seems outrageous after the power slumps the Braves have gone through, but it happened.