If you couldn't get enough of the quadraphonic crack of home runs Sunday night, or the out-of-his-head week that Alex Rodriguez had, or that wild wind-blown series in Wrigley Field, you'll get a chance to see it all again next weekend, when the Yanks-Red Sox and Cubs-Cardinals go for Round 2. Either that, or you could watch a bunch of front-office stiffs sitting around drafting college football players in bad suits. Your choice, of course. Either way, here are this week's Power Rankings ...
| MLB Power Rankings |
| 1 |
3 |
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If pitching is what wins -- and that's almost always the case -- then Boston's starting trio of Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka will be hard to beat. Pair that with Hideki Okajima and Jon Papelbon in the bullpen, and we have a new No. 1 in the PRs. Plus, three come-from-behind wins and four straight homers against the Yanks? Wow. The Sox have earned it. |
| 2 |
1 |
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Kelly Johnson's two homers beat the Mets on Sunday -- we'll pause to give you a chance to look Mr. Johnson up -- and the Braves have now won four of six against the defending NL East champs. Leadoff man Johnson has hit .520 in his last six games, with an OBP of .600. And that's with a four-strikeout day. Maybe this guy can give Andruw Jones a tip or two. |
| 3 |
5 |
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I hear catcher Russell Martin, who beat the Pirates with a walkoff grand slam Friday night in L.A., ought to be mentioned with Brian McCann and Joe Mauer in the "best young catcher" conversation. Well, now he has been. Just don't expect me to unfurl his whole name every time he's mentioned. OK. Just this once. Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin. |
| 4 |
2 |
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Is Oliver Perez the guy that's beaten the Braves twice, including Saturday when he didn't issue a walk, struck out nine and threw 20 straight strikes at one point, or the flake who threw that seven-walk debacle against the Phils last week? Man, the kid is hard to figure. Luckily, the Mets can count on Carlos Beltran (1.415 OPS in his last six games, with nine RBIs). |
| 5 |
6 |
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Marcus Giles has hit .367 with 11 RBIs during an 11-game hitting streak, which is infinitely more useful to the Padres than standing around in the clubhouse naked, all soaped up with a SpongeBob grin on your face. So if you see the Giles brothers together in the locker room today, that's how you'll be able to tell them apart: Marcus, streaking, Brian, streaker. |
| 6 |
8 |
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The Twins opened the season with a streak of 19 straight stolen bases, which was finally halted when Torii Hunter was caught on Saturday. Joe Mauer was thrown out on the basepaths in that game, too, when he tried to take third on a popup. In the infield. "Now that I look at it," the catcher said, "it doesn't seem like such a good idea." Those kids catch on fast, eh? |
| 7 |
17 |
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I have a feeling that No. 7 in the PRs is a handful of notches too high for the Orioles. Maybe a couple of handfuls. But give the O's credit for a young pitching staff with promise, their first home sweep of the plummeting Blue Jays in 13 years and two four-game winning streaks this season. They had only one of those in '06, and that was in August. Bravo. |
| 8 |
15 |
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We can't be sure, of course, because these are the Brewers, and they've made it their business to disappoint. (Rejected ad campaign: "No Postseason Since '82!") But the Crew beat Houston's Roy Oswalt on Sunday, they're in first place at four games above .500 and they have the fifth-best mark in baseball. There's promise. Just no money-back guarantees. |
| 9 |
7 |
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The Angels awoke out of that offensive sleepwalk with a three-game sweep of the Mariners. (The M's have that effect on a lot of teams.) LA's Angels scored more runs last weekend than they had in their previous 10 games, racking up 37 hits against hapless Seattle. And Bartolo Colon is back, dominating the M's Saturday. They're going to be just fine. |
| 10 |
12 |
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The A's scored more in the second inning Friday -- and the eighth, too -- than they did the rest of the weekend, losing two of three to Texas. Oakland has struggled with run-scoring for awhile, which is why the A's got Frank Thomas last year and Mike Piazza this year. Only Thomas is now in Toronto, and Piazza is hitting just .167, with a .222 OBP, in his last 10 games. |
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