Webb, Jenks get streaky; Angels topple Red Sox

Two numbers to remember, now that we're past 300, 500 and (finally) 756:

The first one's 33. The second one is 41.

Since giving up a pinch-hit, two-run home run to Cleveland's Ryan Garko in a blown save on July 17, hefty-sized reliever Bobby Jenks of the Chicago White Sox has set down 41 straight batters over a little more than 13 games, tying a record. The Sox play next in Oakland on Tuesday night.

Since giving up a couple of sixth-inning runs to the Cubs on July 20, Arizona starter and sinkerballer Brandon Webb has tossed 33 straight scoreless innings. That's still a good ways from Orel Hershiser's record of 59 straight without a run, set in 1988. But it's still pretty impressive. Webb is scheduled to pitch on Friday in Atlanta.

As we know, and as we've been reminded in the past few weeks, baseball revolves around its numbers. Jenks, on a losing team going nowhere, and Webb, on the best team in the National League, are working on a couple of significant ones this week. They'll be worth the watching.

Here are some more numbers to watch in this week's Power Rankings:

MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 2 Los Angeles Angels Our preseason No. 1 is back on top for the first time in the second half of the season, boasting the best home record in the majors (40-17), coming off a weekend sweep of the Twins and knocking off former No. 1 Boston in an early week series. The Angels still have their problems -- where is that big bat? -- but they have just enough of everything needed to do some real damage come October. 2 1 Boston Red Sox Where are all those "experts" crowing about that brilliant Eric Gagne trade now? The goggled one has been miserable since coming to Boston, giving up 10 hits in four innings, a killer homer on Sunday and a 15.75 ERA. Series losses last week to the Angels and the -- ugh! -- Orioles made the pitching-rich Sox look inept. Almost as inept as Kevin Youkilis since the break (.234). 3 3 New York Yankees They've narrowed the gap in the AL East to four games and all but tied Seattle for the wild-card lead. Though it's easy to say they're due for a slump (.953 OPS since the break), a lot of hitters would have to stumble for that to happen. Face it: This will be one tough team to handle from here on out. Scarier still: The guys are even starting to like A-Rod. They're becoming (cue organ music) ... a team! 4 8 Arizona Diamondbacks I'm still not convinced. Their NL West lead is more a function of the rest of the division sinking than anything else. Still, they have Webb, the best record in the NL, they've won all but one series in the second half, Justin Upton (1.015 OPS in first 10 games) looks for real, their pitching is solid (3.96 ERA, third in the league) ... there are reasons to like the D'backs. 5 9 Seattle Mariners We're finished being surprised by the Mariners. They've been on the Angels' heels for months, and the Angels have been good forever. That makes Seattle legitimate. The latest heroes: Raul Ibanez hit .481 last week, with 11 RBIs in six games, and Jeff Weaver threw a complete-game, five-hit shutout against the White Sox on Sunday. OK, so maybe we're not finished being surprised. 6 5 Cleveland Indians Cleveland's main malfunction lately is its hitting, if you can call it that. Since the break: Josh Barfield, 193; Casey Blake, .235; Travis Hafner, .225; Victor Martinez, .245; Grady Sizemore, .260. Yet, for all of that, five of the Tribe's next eight games are against Detroit. The Indians, 6-4 against the Tigers this season, are a good 10 days from taking a nice lead on the Tigers. Or maybe not. 7 6 Detroit Tigers Since the All-Star break, when this team looked like one of the best in baseball, Detroit starters are 7-14 with a 6.54 ERA. From July 19 to Aug. 10 the Tigers had one win -- ONE! -- from a starter. They are 8-16 in their last 24 games. They managed only a split of their series with Tampa Bay last week. Remember last year's second half (36-38)? That's looking really good about now. 8 4 New York Mets Can anyone out there get worked up about the Mets? This team -- with the possible exception of Jose Reyes and the feel-good Tom Glavine story last week -- has been stuck in the mud for months. Since June 2 they're 30-33. Since July 1 they're 19-19. They can't shake the Phillies or Braves. I don't want to say they're boring. But if this were Broadway, this show would be canceled. 9 7 San Diego Padres Jake Peavy is 4-0 in his past four starts with a 1.01 ERA, striking out 28 in 26 2/3 innings. That's nice and all, but it's not nearly enough. Brian Giles got hot in Cincinnati, with five homers in three games (good ballpark for that). Heck of a weekend. Not enough, either. Look, for as good as the pitching is on this unbalanced team, without consistent hitting, that three-game hole looks like about six. 10 13 Philadelphia Phillies It hasn't been easy in Philly -- is anything, ever? -- especially for Adam Eaton (9-8, 6.36 ERA), the fans' current designated whipping boy. But a nice homestand, with series wins against the Marlins and the Braves, has the Phils back in second place in the NL East. Giving Philly fans a reason to cheer: Pat Gillick looks like a genius on that Tadahito Iguchi move (.339, .403 OBP).

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