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MLB Power Rankings: Angels, Dodgers making noise for L.A.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA TODAY Sports

Things are alright in L.A.

The Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers are two of the hottest teams in baseball, combining to win 16 of 20 games and positioning themselves to make the playoffs if the season were to end today.

Although what the Dodgers are doing is nearly unheard of - 87 wins with 40 games left - no one could have expected the Angels to be challenging the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins for a spot in the postseason, especially with Albert Pujols in the midst of a career-worst year.

The two West Coast squads aren't the only movers and shakers in this week's power rankings, so here's how the rest of the league stacks up:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
87-35 8-2 1 (-)

The Dodgers haven't lost more than two consecutive games since June 4-6, so, naturally, they needed to add Curtis Granderson, who homered - of course - to break up a no-hitter bid Sunday for his first hit with Los Angeles.

2. Houston Astros

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
76-48 5-5 2 (-)

The impending returns of Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers are just what the doctor ordered for the Astros, who remain the best team in the American League despite an unimpressive (16-18) second half.

3. Washington Nationals

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
74-48 7-3 3 (-)

Stephen Strasburg helped the Nationals momentarily forget about the loss of Bryce Harper on Saturday, when he struck out eight while allowing just two runs over six innings in his first start since July 23.

4. Boston Red Sox

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
71-52 7-3 4 (-)

Rafael Devers is doing a pretty convincing Ted Williams impression right now, seeing as he's the first Red Sox player (min. 85 PA) to put up an OPS above 1.000 at age 20 since the Splendid Splinter in 1939.

5. Cleveland Indians

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
68-54 8-2 7 (+2)

Cleveland's staff has been Ebenezer Scrooge-level stingy of late, even with Andrew Miller nursing an injury on the disabled list, authoring a 2.29 ERA with a 32.4 percent strikeout rate over the last two weeks.

6. Colorado Rockies

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
68-56 3-7 6 (-)

Beset with a slumping offense that owns an 87 wRC+ over the past fortnight, the Rockies haven't managed to string two straight wins together since Aug. 3-5, throwing a bit of a wrench into their "host the wild-card game" plans.

7. Chicago Cubs

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
66-57 7-3 8 (+1)

Jake Arrieta continues to prove his shaky first half was an anomaly, as the former Cy Young winner has allowed no more than two earned runs in each of his seven starts since the All-Star break - great news for a rotation that recently lost Jon Lester to shoulder fatigue.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
67-57 3-7 5 (-3)

If, somehow, the Diamondbacks don't land a spot in the wild-card game, precisely none of the blame will belong to Paul Goldschmidt, who's hitting .339/.394/.797 with seven homers over his last 16 games and continues to pad his NL MVP case.

9. New York Yankees

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
66-57 6-4 9 (-)

Aroldis Chapman's slump would be a way bigger problem for the Yankees, who boast a 2.5-game cushion in the top wild-card spot, if they didn't also have Dellin Betances, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle. That Aaron Judge slump, on the other hand ...

10. Milwaukee Brewers

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
65-60 6-4 10 (-)

If the Brewers are going to seriously challenge the Cubs for the division title, they're going to need Jonathan Villar, who's hitting .364/.417/.591 over his last six games, to keep it up. For the season, Villar, a three-WAR player in 2016, owns a .628 OPS.

11. St. Louis Cardinals

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
63-61 5-5 14 (+3)

As a club, Cardinals hitters have posted the best WAR in the entire league over the past 14 days. After an eight-game winning streak, though, they still haven't made up much ground and are four games back of the second wild card.

12. Los Angeles Angels

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
64-60 8-2 15 (+3)

Mike Trout is third among hitters in WAR and he isn't even a qualified hitter because he missed eight weeks with a torn thumb ligament. Even if he doesn't win MVP, Trout may drag his cohorts to the postseason.

13. Seattle Mariners

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
63-62 4-6 13 (-)

Over the past two weeks, no hitter has been hotter than Nelson Cruz with nine homers in 13 games. If the team didn't have to use a whopping 16 starting pitchers throughout the season, perhaps they wouldn't be in such a dogfight for a wild-card spot.

14. Texas Rangers

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
61-62 7-3 16 (+2)

Amazingly, the Rangers have the best run differential of any AL team in the wild-card hunt other than the Yankees. A strong stretch has made them a dark horse contender to grab that last postseason spot.

15. Kansas City Royals

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
62-61 5-5 12 (-3)

The Royals are slipping after the magic of their 2015 World Series seemed to be resurrected. Save for a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals, the Royals haven't looked terrible, and the AL wild-card race really is a mess.

16. Minnesota Twins

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
63-59 7-3 19 (+3)

The Twins traded for Jaime Garcia as buyers. Then were bad and traded him away as sellers. Now they're good again, with a legitimate chance of making the postseason. Cue Bartolo Colon taking the mound to Katy Perry's "Hot N Cold."

17. Baltimore Orioles

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
60-64 4-6 17 (-)

After converting Chris Tillman to the bullpen in early August, the 29-year-old put up 2 1/3 scoreless innings to lower his season ERA to 7.83. Good enough to earn a start Sunday against the Angels, where Tillman allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings.

18. Tampa Bay Rays

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
61-65 2-8 11 (-7)

After appearing to be in the thick of things, sweeping the Astros to begin August, the Rays haven't won a single series and have gone 4-12. Now, just one game separates the Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays at the bottom of the AL East.

19. Pittsburgh Pirates

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
60-64 4-6 18 (-1)

The Pirates and Cardinals got together Sunday to play the first ever Little League Classic - a major-league game at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Penn. None of this is consolation that the Marlins have a better record.

20. Miami Marlins

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
60-62 7-3 23 (+3)

Derek Jeter is set to become the new, hot item in Miami after his group won the bidding for the Marlins, while trade rumors surrounding Giancarlo Stanton, and his 45 home runs, continue to swirl.

21. Toronto Blue Jays

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
59-65 5-5 20 (-1)

While playing without the DH at Wrigley Field, John Gibbons deployed Josh Donaldson - who is back to being one of the league's best hitters - at shortstop against the Chicago Cubs, the team that drafted him as a catcher. So it goes for the 2017 Blue Jays.

22. Atlanta Braves

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
55-67 4-6 21 (-1)

Matt Kemp is back in the Braves' lineup after a 19-game absence which should help solidify a Braves offense that went 6-14 without him, but the postseason appears out of reach with Atlanta now 11 games back of the second wild card.

23. Detroit Tigers

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
54-69 2-8 22 (-1)

Ian Kinsler's debacle with umpires and the trade rumors surrounding Justin Verlander are keeping the news interesting in the Motor City while the Tigers continue to disappoint on the field.

24. New York Mets

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
54-68 3-7 24 (-)

In the span of three weeks, the Mets waved goodbye to Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, Addison Reed, Neil Walker, Lucas Duda, and Rene Rivera, but the structure of the team could continue to change if Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson are let go during the offseason.

25. Oakland Athletics

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
54-70 4-6 25 (-)

While Matt Joyce has been tearing the cover off the ball, Boog Powell is making a case to become the Athletics' leadoff man of the future. Too bad Khris Davis has looked completely lost at the plate or Oakland may have had a better week in the win column.

26. Cincinnati Reds

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
53-72 5-5 26 (-)

Joey Votto is the "best player ever" according to Kris Bryant, and he may be right. The Reds' first baseman nearly tied an impressive on-base record owned by Ted Williams and still managed to have fun doing it thanks to his passionate heaves of foul balls into the stands.

27. San Diego Padres

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
55-69 5-5 27 (-)

Hunter Renfroe may have hit 20 home runs this season, but that wasn't good enough to keep him from a demotion, but at least the Padres have been pitching well with Travis Wood, Jhoulys Chacin, and Clayton Richard combining to allow just three earned runs in their last four starts.

28. San Francisco Giants

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
50-76 4-6 28 (-)

The Giants awful season hasn't had many highlights, but watching Pablo Sandoval hit a home run in a San Francisco uniform was certainly something for fans to smile about.

29. Chicago White Sox

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
47-74 4-6 29 (-)

Who is Nicky Delmonico and why is he crushing opposing pitchers to the tune of a 1.535 OPS? The 25-year-old rookie has five home runs and 11 RBIs in 16 games and is certainly earning his playing time for the rebuilding White Sox.

30. Philadelphia Phillies

RECORD LAST 10 PREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
45-77 3-7 30 (-)

Rhys Hoskins may not hit for average, but boy can this kid swat. Since his call-up on Aug. 10, the 24-year-old has four home runs, including three against the San Diego Padres.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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