Updated: April 15, 2013, 12:44 PM ET

Braves take over No. 1 spot

Week:

ESPN.com

The Atlanta Braves have won nine games in a row and rise into the top spot in our Power Rankings after finishing off a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals this past weekend.

The Oakland Athletics, who own the best record in the American League at 9-4, jump seven spots to take over the No. 2 position, while the Nationals fall two spots to No. 3. The San Francisco Giants move up one spot to No. 4, and the St. Louis Cardinals rise nine spots to take over the No. 5 position to round out the top five.

This week's voters were Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine, David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/ESPN.com and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Most of the team comments come courtesy of the fan bloggers on the SweetSpot Blog Network. Meanwhile, you can rank the teams yourself.

Tell us what you think about the Power Rankings. Use the hashtag #ESPNMLBPOWER.

2013 Power Rankings: April 15
RANKTEAM / RECORD TRENDINGCOMMENTS
1
Braves
11-1
1
Last Week: 2		The Braves are the hottest team in baseball, led by the power of Justin Upton and Evan Gattis as well as superb pitching from Paul Maholm (0.00 ERA in 20 1/3 innings), Mike Minor (0.69 ERA), Kris Medlen (1.50 ERA) and Tim Hudson (2.50 ERA). Not only did they take care of the Nationals in three games this past weekend, but they did so while facing the Nationals' top two starters. -- Ben Duronio, Capitol Avenue Club
2
7
Last Week: 9		The A's winning streak ended at nine, as they were dominated by the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday. But three at home against Houston should help them perk up before a tough week at Tampa and Boston. Jed Lowrie and Coco Crisp are tied for fifth in the American League in slugging percentage. -- Jason Wojciechowski, Beaneball
3
2
Last Week: 1		The Braves roughed up Gio Gonzalez on Sunday, knocking around the lefty for seven runs in just five innings pitched. -- ESPN.com
4
1
Last Week: 5		Hunter Pence hit a key game-tying, ninth-inning home run for the Giants on Sunday against the Cubs to force extra innings, where the Giants eventually won. Pence carries a batting slash line (BA/OBP/SLG) of .288/.327/.538 into the upcoming Milwaukee series. -- Chris Quick, Bay City Ball
5
9
Last Week: 14		Fronted by Adam Wainwright (2.05 ERA, 0.85 fielding-independent pitching), Cardinals starting pitchers have the best ERA in baseball. -- Matt Philip, Fungoes
6
3
Last Week: 3		The Tigers started their nine-game West Coast swing off right by taking two of three from the excellent Oakland A's. It doesn't get any easier, however, as they travel north to Seattle, then back down south to face the Angels in Anaheim before going home to play the newfound problem child, the Kansas City Royals. -- Joshua Worn, Walkoff Woodward
7
1
Last Week: 6		Alexi Ogando has pitched well (2-0 with a 1.08 ERA and a .194 batting average against) in his first three starts to begin the season. -- ESPN.com
8
7
Last Week: 15		The D-backs begin a nine-game road trip on Tuesday against the Yankees, Rockies and Giants. Second-year lefties Wade Miley and Patrick Corbin are a combined 4-0 in four starts. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
9
Reds
5-7
5
Last Week: 4		A disastrous week for the Reds, as they finished up a 1-5 road trip. They were swept by the Pirates and lost ace Johnny Cueto to the disabled list. Hey, at least Joey Votto hit his first homer since June, right? -- Chad Dotson, Redleg Nation
10
2
Last Week: 8		Matt Wieters has had a very slow start to the season (a .200 batting average and just a .604 OPS) in the Orioles' first 12 games. -- ESPN.com
11
1
Last Week: 12		To be successful in 2013, the Red Sox need Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz to bounce back and have productive seasons. So far, they've done that and more, as the two have combined to post a dominant 1.03 ERA in 33 innings pitched. -- Hunter Golden, Fire Brand of the AL
12
1
Last Week: 11		Tough week for the Dodgers: Zack Greinke got injured in the brawl, and they lost a Clayton Kershaw start. Good results so far from Hyun-Jin Ryu and Josh Beckett, however, still means the rotation looks good behind Kershaw. (Chris Capuano will replace Greinke.) -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
13
4
Last Week: 17		A 4-2 week can't mask the continued sputtering of the offense. The Royals have drawn only 30 walks and have hit four homers in the first 12 games. The pitching, however, has been surprisingly good (3.32 ERA is third-best in the AL). A rare five-game work week is coming up with off days around the Braves and Red Sox series. -- Diane Firstman, Value Over Replacement Grit
14
9
Last Week: 23		Not much went right for the Yankees during the first week of the season, but Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte each had a big week, reminding everyone that they're not going down so easily. -- Rob Abruzzese, Bronx Baseball Daily
15
Mets
7-4
7
Last Week: 22		Matt Harvey is the first pitcher in baseball history to win three games, strike out 25 and allow only six hits in his first three starts of a season. -- Joe Janish, Mets Today
16
Rays
4-7
6
Last Week: 10		The Rays are built on pitching and defense; however, some kind of offense is required to win. The team's OPS of .569 is last in the American League. -- Tommy Rancel, The Process Report
17
4
Last Week: 13		An ankle injury will sideline Jose Reyes until the All-Star break. This has reconfigured the Jays' infield, with Jose Bautista shifting over to third base, a committee at shortstop and the possibility of Brett Lawrie seeing time at second base. -- Matthias Koster, Mop-Up Duty
18
--

Last Week: 18		Roy Halladay allowed one run in eight innings on Sunday, throwing only 87 pitches, but considering that it was against the Marlins and he struck out only two hitters, it's hard to say for sure that he's any closer to righting himself. -- Michael Baumann, Crashburn Alley
19
2
Last Week: 21		The Rockies are 0-3 against teams over .500 and are 8-1 against teams with a combined five wins. -- Travis Lay, Blake Street Bulletin
20
1
Last Week: 19		With Michael Saunders on the DL after crashing into the wall, Mike Morse out with a fractured little finger and Franklin Gutierrez needing to rest various muscles, the Mariners played an outfield of Raul Ibanez, Endy Chavez and Jason Bay over the weekend. And they beat the Rangers in two out of those three. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
21
1
Last Week: 20		The Indians had their first two home games of the season spoiled by the Yankees and the next two spoiled by rainouts. They got back on track with a stellar shutout from Justin Masterson to start off a series against the White Sox and ended up taking two of three in the series. Masterson has pitched 19 shutout innings in a row. -- Susan Petrone, It's Pronounced "Lajaway"
22
6
Last Week: 16		Chris Sale has allowed four home runs in his past two starts and got roughed up on Saturday (eight runs allowed), but more worrisome is that Adam Dunn is hitting .136 and has stopped walking (just two) while Dayan Viciedo refuses to walk (none). -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
23
16
Last Week: 7		Home runs in back-to-back games for Josh Hamilton this past weekend should quiet Southland boo-birds, but pitching remains a major concern in Anaheim. No starter has completed seven innings this season, and with perennial ace Jered Weaver sidelined for at least a month, it'll take more than a Hamilton surge to keep the Halos close in the AL West. -- Jesse Crall, Halos Daily
24
1
Last Week: 25		Sweeping the Reds at home capped a 5-1 week. The Pirates' pitchers have limited opponents to a .224 average (third-best in the NL), but they're still hitting .204 as a team. Cardinals and Braves come to PNC this week ... should be a good test. -- Diane Firstman, Value Over Replacement Grit
25
1
Last Week: 24		With Aramis Ramirez and Corey Hart on the disabled list, the Brewers needed Rickie Weeks to step up at the plate. Unfortunately, he has tallied only one hit in his past 29 plate appearances. -- J.P. Breen, Disciples of Uecker
26
Cubs
4-8
1
Last Week: 27		The Cubs have been a comedy of errors on defense, committing 10 miscues in 11 games, and will greatly benefit from the defense of Gold Glove second baseman Darwin Barney when he returns from the DL on Tuesday against the Rangers. -- Joe Aiello, View from the Bleachers
27
1
Last Week: 26		Twins pitchers have the fewest combined strikeouts (51) of any team in baseball. -- ESPN.com
28
2
Last Week: 30		The Astros had a respectable week with three wins, including a 16-9 blowout over Seattle, and they've actually outscored the Angels (and six other teams in the AL) and allowed fewer runs than the Angels. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
29
Padres
2-10
1
Last Week: 28		Opening Day starter Edinson Volquez has lost all three of his starts and has allowed 17 runs in 12 1/3 innings, which is one primary reason the Padres have sunk quickly to last in the NL West. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
30
1
Last Week: 29		The Marlins have scored 20 runs in their first 12 games and have hit two homers all season. The pitching has compiled a respectable 3.71 ERA despite a 1.37 WHIP. Four games in Cincy before the schedule eases a bit (Twins, Cubs, Mets, Phillies, Padres). -- Diane Firstman, Value Over Replacement Grit
  • Biggest Jump:
  • 9
  • Biggest Drop:
  • 16

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