BoSox stay hot, Indians slip, D'backs crack top 10

Interleague play, that bane of baseball purists, that favorite of millions of fans, that Bud Selig baby and money-making machine, steps briefly into the light this week. More interleague fun -- much, much more of it -- is to come in June.

Lap it up or leave it alone, some of it, as always, is fairly intriguing. For example, this week in interleague play we'll see a squareoff of the top two teams in the Power Rankings.

It's as if Selig himself planned this thing all along ...

MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Boston Red Sox The reason that the Sox are sitting this pretty in the PRs in the first place is because of pitching. (That, and because we're afraid Curt Schilling might get ticked off and blog us to smithereens.) But now Josh Beckett has another one of those nasty blisters -- he's been on the DL six times for it -- and that makes his finger, and the Sox, ripe for the picking. As if anyone in the East can take advantage. 2 3 Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones is whining about the interleague schedule, and he's got a point. It's brutal for Atlanta, starting with this week at Boston. (Remember, college hoops fans, baseball gives no points for strength of schedule.) Still, if the Braves have proven anything this young season, it's that they can play with, and beat, anybody. Now, they'll just have to prove it. Again. 3 4 New York Mets Since his seven-walk debacle in 2 2/3 innings on April 11, Oliver Perez has gone 3-2 with a 2.78 ERA. We can't quite bring ourselves to call Perez steady yet, but he's certainly showing signs that he has it in him. In his past five starts, he's walked a total of seven batters and struck out 35 in 32 1/3 innings. Let's put it this way: Perez has certainly proven steadier than Mike Pelfrey. 4 5 Milwaukee Brewers The online Journal Sentinel is asking fans to come up with a nickname for the new Brewers. "Baseball," the site says, "has a long tradition of naming its great teams." I don't want to wet-blanket things here, but aren't we being a tad premature? They were great against St. Louis and Pittsburgh. Against the Mets, they lost two of three. The Bombastic Brats? Yost's Boasters? 5 6 Detroit Tigers It's hard to swing the bats much better than the Tigers are swinging them this month, with a .922 OPS, a .318 average (both best in the bigs) and 71 runs (second to the Red Sox). We may have to start looking at Magglio Ordonez (.344, seven homers, 1.085 OPS) as an MVP candidate -- and the Tigers as the new favorites in the Central. This Boston series could be a postseason preview, too. 6 8 Los Angeles Dodgers I'm not sure that the Dodgers are playing any differently right now than we figured they would all along. Very good starting pitching. Very good bullpen. Not much hitting. If they ever find a third baseman -- maybe they have in Andy LaRoche, who's started six of the past eight games and has a .536 OBP -- and keep their old guys from breaking down, the West is theirs to be won. 7 2 Cleveland Indians Whatever happened to Grady Sizemore? Anyone seen him lately? Center fielder? Used to hit a little? Some people -- even some around here -- had him pegged as an MVP candidate. In his past 15 games, since his last homer, two doubles are his only extra-base hits. He's batting .200. He's struck out 17 times. If you see the real Sizemore, the Indians need him back. Badly. 8 10 Los Angeles Angels If Bartolo Colon had gone to high school in Arlington, Texas, he'd have been one badass bully on the playground. He absolutely owns the Rangers. In his past 12 starts against Texas, Colon is 12-0 with a 2.50 ERA. In Arlington, he's 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA, allowing just four homers in 37 innings. If the Rangers don't watch it, next thing you know, he'll be swiping their lunch money. 9 7 San Diego Padres GM Kevin Towers worries about the depth beyond his regular lineup, which is a tad unnerving because the lineup, as it is, isn't exactly tearing things up. Really, where would the Padres be without Adrian Gonzalez, probably the only real offensive threat they have? The Padres have the pitching, both starting and in relief. But sometime this summer, they're going to have to find Gonzalez some help. 10 11 Arizona Diamondbacks According to the Arizona Republic, in the past 56 innings the D'backs have scored more than one run just once. The youngsters (Stephen Drew, Chris Young, Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin) are all struggling. Vet Orlando Hudson had been holding them up but, over the last seven games, even he's slumping (.125). In the business, these are called growing pains.