Surprising Jays claim No. 1 spot; Mets enter top 10 with hot streak

O Canada. Rejoice -- your many, many voices have been heard, and your Blue Jays are now atop the Power Rankings for the first time this season. The Dodgers lost Manny Ramirez and their top spot but are still comfortably in the top five, while the Mets make a big jump into the top 10.

MLB Power Rankings

1 Last Week: 2	Toronto Blue Jays The Blue Jays have held their own in their first test against the cream of the AL East crop, splitting their first two games with the Yankees in Toronto. Next week, which includes a road trip to Fenway Park, offers a sterner test. B.J. Ryan should be back from a rehab stint, but it won't be as the team's closer. Instead, Scott Downs will remain in the role, where he has gone 3-for-3 in save opportunities without allowing a run. "I don't consider myself a closer," he told MLB.com. "I don't think I ever will." He'd better get used to it.
2 Last Week: 4	Boston Red Sox The Red Sox are so money right now and they don't even know it. Well, they probably know that they've been playing well enough to stay within striking distance of the Blue Jays, but they've been a little dense in other areas. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia admitted to not knowing how many guys reached base in a row when the Sox scored 12 runs before an out was recorded last Thursday (for the record, it was 15), and rookie Daniel Bard didn't realize how many runners were on base when he came in to make his big-league debut against the Angels on Wednesday. "To be honest, I thought there was just a guy on second until the third pitch I threw. Then I looked over and saw [Torii] Hunter on third," Bard told reporters afterward.
3 Last Week: 1	Los Angeles Dodgers Manny who? Juan Pierre has been stellar in replacing the tainted Ramirez in left field for the Dodgers, batting .480/.552/.680 with four stolen bases since taking over last Thursday. Don't expect any power displays, however. Since debuting in 2000, Pierre has just 13 home runs in 5,209 career at-bats, easily the fewest in baseball for any player with so many ABs (next fewest is Jason Kendall with 42 in 5,124 at-bats). As for Manny, he's been left for the late-night comedians to handle.
4 Last Week: 3	St. Louis Cardinals Another week, another outfielder headed for the disabled list. One week after Rick Ankiel was sidelined, the Cards lost All-Star Ryan Ludwick to the 15-day DL due to a hamstring injury. With Troy Glaus having missed every game this year, the Cards are playing without virtually the entire heart of their projected lineup. (Fortunately, they do still have Mr. Pujols.)
5 Last Week: 7	Milwaukee Brewers Another big week for the Brewers, who have won eight of 10, and an even bigger week for Bob Uecker. The legendary Brewers broadcaster was inducted into the Milwaukee Braves Wall of Honor, and then was the talk of the David Letterman show for the second time in recent months.
6 Last Week: 15	New York Mets Their recent homestand was notable for two reasons: 1) They went 6-2 to move into first place in the NL East for the first time this season; 2) It witnessed the first streaker at Citi Field. "I wanted to make history," said Craig Coakley. He did. But he also got arrested and banned from the ballpark for the stunt, which he says was motivated by a bet with his boss.
7 Last Week: 12	Detroit Tigers The Tigers were hot in Cleveland, sweeping the Indians, and hot tempered in Minnesota, where manager Jim Leyland went ballistic on Wednesday night after home plate umpire Paul Schrieber attempted to "escort" Magglio Ordonez off the field after Ordonez tried to argue a called third strike. Ordonez remained perfectly calm, especially impressive considering he hasn't had much to get excited about all year (.239 average, .308 slugging percentage and only two home runs).
8 Last Week: 5	Kansas City Royals Five straight losses to start their West Coast trip have dropped the Royals from atop the AL Central, but they haven't dampened the spirits of the Kansas City faithful, or its marketing department. According to the team's website, the Royals are expecting "crowds of over 20,000 for all four games against the Baltimore Orioles" this weekend. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be too much of an accomplishment, considering that they average 20,036 fans per game (27th in baseball).
9 Last Week: 8	Chicago Cubs Ryan Theriot entered this month with seven career home runs in 1,513 at bats. This month alone he has hit five homers in 49 at-bats, tying him for second on the team with fellow Louisiana native Mike Fontenot. Some recent hitting tips from manager Lou Piniella may have sparked his outburst, but even Piniella was at a loss for words over his shortstop's power surge. "How do you explain it?" he asked after watching Theriot blast two homers on Wednesday. You don't.
10 Last Week: 6	Philadelphia Phillies The big switch in Pennsylvania these days is no longer Arlen Specter's move from Republican to Democrat. It's Jimmy Rollins' demotion from leadoff hitter to the No. 5 spot in the order. "I bat wherever. One-two are probably the funnest positions to be in," Rollins told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I've hit [lower] in the past. But ultimately, leadoff is the most fun position to hit. You're the first one through it, no one's in front of you, you can steal. I don't see where else I'd hit in the lineup." After batting .186 with 0 home runs as a leadoff hitter, Rollins hit .273 with a home run in three games batting fifth, before moving back to the top spot for Thursday's matinee with the Dodgers.
11 Last Week: 11	Texas Rangers Andruw Jones went 11 straight seasons from 1998-2008 without playing a single game in the field other than in center, where he won 10 consecutive NL Gold Glove awards. So far this season, he has yet to play a single game at that position, seeing time in left field (seven games), right field (once) and even first base (twice). Now that Josh Hamilton has returned from the DL, Jones is even less likely to reclaim the position he once starred at so brilliantly for so long. The break from his usual defensive routine hasn't hurt his offense, though. Jones is batting .300 and has matched his 2008 total with three home runs in a key reserve role for the Rangers.
12 Last Week: 14	Cincinnati Reds A road sweep of the Diamondbacks has left the Reds tied for first place in the NL Central in mid-May -- the latest they've been in first in almost three years. "Our swag is real nice right now," second baseman Brandon Phillips told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Our team chemistry is gorgeous. Our pitching is gorgeous." Phillips has been pretty gorgeous himself lately, batting .450 over the past week.
13 Last Week: 21	Los Angeles Angels An 8-2 stretch was just enough to keep pace with the equally hot Rangers, leaving the resurgent Angels 1 1/2 games out in the NL West. That is an especially manageable deficit, considering that John Lackey (right forearm strain) and Ervin Santana (right elbow sprain) are back in action. Santana started against the Red Sox on Thursday and Lackey will start on Saturday against the Rangers, giving the Angels two potential aces who combined to go 28-12 a year ago with a sub-4.00 ERA.
14 Last Week: 19	Tampa Bay Rays A 4-3 road trip to three AL East foes wasn't enough to move the Rays out of fourth place in the division. Aside from Carlos Pena (13) and Evan Longoria (11), who are 1-2 in the AL in home runs, only two Rays have hit more than one home run all season.
15 Last Week: 13	Florida Marlins Hitting his first major league home run wasn't nearly as challenging for Chris Coghlan as getting the ball back from the fan who caught it. Coghlan went deep for the first time Wednesday in Milwaukee, but had to barter with the fan to get his souvenir back. The fan, who wanted several pieces of memorabilia, eventually relented, but Coghlan wasn't too pleased, saying, "He wasn't the most polite or respectful guy about the process." The fan has yet to tell his side of the story. He writes a blog on MLB.com entitled "The Happy Youngster" and has teased his next blog entry with this gem: "You won't want to miss this one!" Unless he can explain why he was holding a ball ransom with outrageous demands better meant for hostage negotiation, I think I'd be just fine with missing it.
16 Last Week: 10	New York Yankees Hmm, anything big happen to the Yankees this week? No? Guess we can just move on then ... oh right, that guy is back. Alex Rodriguez made his season debut last week, but aside from homering on the first pitch he saw, he's had a bit of a slow start, hitting just .188 in his first six games. Slow starts are nothing new for the Yankees, who went 14-16 in their first 30 games for the third consecutive season.
17 Last Week: 20	San Francisco Giants The Dodgers-Giants rivalry has fallen off the national radar a bit in recent years, possibly because a certain home run hitter is no longer playing (no, not the one with dreadlocks), but also because of their lack of success (the two have combined for just one World Series appearance in the past 20 years). Then suddenly, there's life: Casey Blake hit a game-tying, two-run homer off Giants closer Brian Wilson and then mocked Wilson's end-of-game gesture (which is meant as a tribute to his faith and his late father). The two teams don't face off again until August 10, but Wilson vowed he wouldn't forget Blake's behavior. "There's always something to fuel the fire," he told the Los Angeles Times. "You're always looking for some excuse to get riled up."
18 Last Week: 17	Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer has wasted little time re-establishing himself as the best catcher in the American League. Mauer, who returned from injury a couple weeks ago, entered Thursday's game with the Tigers batting .463/.551/.829 in his first 11 games. The two-time AL batting champion has also found a power stroke, belting four home runs after averaging fewer than nine per season for his career.
19 Last Week: 18	Atlanta Braves The Braves completed a road swing through Florida, Philadelphia and New York by going 6-2 against their fellow NL East contenders. They may not want to go back to Atlanta. Their .357 home winning percentage (5-9) is the worst in baseball. Braves pitchers have a 3.87 ERA on the road while allowing just a .240 average and .318 on-base percentage, compared to 4.25, .274 and .350 at home. The offense has managed just five home runs at Turner Field all year.
20 Last Week: 9	Seattle Mariners They've lost eight of nine entering Thursday, have fallen below .500, are closer to last place than first, and the only two players protecting the Mariners from becoming the Nationals were nearly eaten alive by an alligator on their off day. OK, that's no entirely true, but lefties Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn, who have been nearly as good as Felix Hernandez thus far in combining for a 5-3 mark with a 2.89 ERA, went fishing with manager Don Wakamatsu in Florida and tried to reel in a six-foot alligator. The duo managed to hook the gator before it got itself loose.
21 Last Week: 16	Chicago White Sox With his yellow goatee, offensive lineman's build and 100 mph fastball, Bobby Jenks is different from most major league hurlers. He found another way to stand out last week when he not only threw a purpose pitch at the Rangers' Ian Kinsler but admitted it afterward. MLB did not find his honesty quite so enticing, fining him a reported $750. Jenks managed to avoid a suspension, keeping one of the AL's best closers (8-for-8 in save chances, 1.50 ERA) in uniform. Not that it mattered much. Jenks only pitched once after that, as the Sox lost three of four.
22 Last Week: 24	Houston Astros The Astros 24-hit explosion on Wednesday night marked the first time in 20 years that a team got at least two hits from every player in the lineup. The huge hit total just one off the franchise record for a game. Lance Berkman had four hits in the game, but even his perfect night at the plate was only enough to boost his average to .216.
23 Last Week: 28	Baltimore Orioles Another middling week for the Orioles was overshadowed by news that O's legend Brooks Robinson had surgery and was treated for prostate cancer. Robinson said he is in fine health now, news that was even better than reports that Cal Ripken Jr. and his wife successfully bet on 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird to win the Kentucky Derby.
24 Last Week: 23	Arizona Diamondbacks Bob Melvin became the first manager this season to be let go, but A.J. Hinch didn't fare any better in his first week since moving from the front office to the manager's office, going 1-5. As might be expected from someone who had never coached or managed at any level, Hinch has had a bit of a learning curve, including a couple of stern reminders from umpires to make sure he has a hitter in the on-deck circle in a timely manner. "We laughed about it," Hinch told the Arizona Republic. Yeah, because forgetting to send a guy to the on-deck circle is hilarious.
25 Last Week: 25	San Diego Padres The Padres dropped five straight games this week. They've scored fewer runs than any team in baseball while allowing the second most in the National League. The starters haven't won a game in a month. That nice start now seems like a very distant memory.
26 Last Week: 27	Colorado Rockies Thank goodness the Nuggets are still playing or Denver sports fans might have actually started to realize how inconsistent this team is. Case in point: they score 12 runs one day and 11 the next, winning the former game by 11 and losing the latter by four.
27 Last Week: 29	Oakland Athletics Oakland's offense remains anemic, but it perked up this week by scoring 19 runs against the Royals to sweep a two-game series. The catalyst for the outburst was a pregame, hitters-only meeting called by shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera batted .400 (4-for-10) with four RBIs in the two games, which represented Oakland's most productive offensive showing in back-to-back games all year long.
28 Last Week: 26	Cleveland Indians There are whispers that Grady Sizemore could be moved out of the leadoff spot after struggling to a .228 average and .311 on-base percentage this season. Sizemore has taken every one of his at-bats the last two years in the leadoff position, but that's a streak that could end soon.
29 Last Week: 22	Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates snapped an eight-game losing streak on Wednesday, but the night wasn't a total success. Judging by the spontaneous cheering that came at seemingly odd moments, more folks were interested in the Penguins' Game 7 matchup with the Capitals than the game in front of them, and the first instant replay review at PNC Park took away a home run from Adam LaRoche.
30 Last Week: 30	Washington Nationals Ryan Zimmerman's hitting streak finally ended, but his long-sought emergence as a consistent star may have only just begun. Zimmerman, who burst onto the scene with a 110-RBI season as a 21-year-old in 2006 before regressing the next two years, ranks in the top 10 in the NL in batting average, slugging percentage, at-bats, hits, runs and home runs.

Disagree with Ted?

SUBMIT YOUR OWN POWER RANKINGS