MLB Power Rankings - Major League Baseball

Power Rankings: Angels gaining on Dodgers

Week:

ESPN.com

The Los Angeles area is home to the best team in baseball at the moment. The question is, which one is it?

While the Los Angeles Dodgers have earned the No. 1 ranking for a 12th straight week, the Los Angeles Angels are baseball's hottest team since the All-Star break and have passed the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox and now own the No. 2 spot. The Angels, winners of five straight, are a scorching 14-3 since the break and are the U.S. Army Team of the Week. Rounding out the top five are the Yankees (No. 3), the Red Sox (No. 4) and the Phillies (No. 5).

Based on the rankings, there are a few big series to watch this week involving top-10 teams: The Phillies meet the No. 9 Rockies, starting Tuesday in Philadelphia; the Yankees host the Red Sox in a four-game series beginning Thursday; and the Angels host a three-gamer against the No. 6 Rangers beginning Friday.

Disagree with the rankings? Here's your chance to rank the teams yourself.

Tune in to "Baseball Tonight" every Monday on ESPN to see the week's U.S. Army Power Rankings.

2009 Power Rankings: August 3
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Dodgers	65-40	Chad Billingsley (11-6) has won only two of his past nine outings since June 15.
	2 (4)	Angels	63-40	Kendry Morales leads the majors in homers (8), RBIs (20) and OPS (1.257) since the All-Star break.
	3 (2)	Yankees	63-42	Mariano Rivera leads the majors with 30 saves in 31 opportunities.
	4 (3)	Red Sox	62-42	Josh Beckett has a 2.28 ERA (29 runs in 114.1 IP) since April 30.
	5 (5)	Phillies	59-44	The Phillies have lost four of their past five, after starting the second half with a 10-2 mark.
$Texas Rangers$	6 (7)	Rangers	59-44	The Rangers are hot, winning 11 of 14, but Josh Hamilton isn't; he's 4-for-36 in the past 10 games.
	7 (6)	Rays	57-48	Jeff Niemann (10-5) has only one loss in his past 11 outings.
	8 (10)	Cardinals	58-50	Check out Matt Holliday's numbers since joining the Cardinals: 20-for-37 (.541), three homers, 10 RBIs, 1.546 OPS.
	9 (11)	Rockies	58-47	Troy Tulowitzki is hitting .351 with a 1.167 OPS in the second half, as the Rockies have won 11 of 17.
	10 (12)	Giants	58-47	Switch-hitting Pablo Sandoval is batting .359 against lefties, .313 against righties.
	11 (9)	Cubs	55-48	Aramis Ramirez hit .500 (19-for-38) during a nine-game hitting streak.
	12 (8)	Tigers	54-49	The Tigers are 23-33 on the road, the worst record for a division leader.
	13 (15)	Marlins	55-50	The Marlins have won nine of their past 12 games.
	14 (14)	White Sox	54-52	Jim Thome (558) is only five home runs away from Reggie Jackson for 12th place in MLB history.
	15 (13)	Braves	53-52	Derek Lowe (11-7) has won four straight outings, allowing nine runs in 24.0 IP.
	16 (16)	Mariners	54-51	Ichiro Suzuki is hitting .409 (18-for-44) in his past 10 games, but the Mariners have gone 3-7.
	17 (19)	Twins	52-53	Justin Morneau has never won an AL home run or RBI title, but he leads the league in both: 28 HR, 86 RBIs.
	18 (18)	Brewers	52-53	The Brewers have lost nine of their past 14 games.
	19 (17)	Astros	52-53	Over his past six starts, Wandy Rodriguez is 4-0 with an 0.90 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 40.0 IP.
	20 (20)	Blue Jays	51-54	Aaron Hill, with 26 home runs, had only 28 career homers before 2009.
	21 (21)	Mets	50-54	Jeff Francoeur has 19 RBIs in 19 games with the Mets.
	22 (23)	Orioles	44-60	Nolan Reimold is hitting .370 with a 1.035 OPS in the second half, but the Orioles have gone 4-12.
	23 (22)	Reds	45-59	The Reds have lost six straight games and 12 of their past 13.
	24 (24)	Pirates	45-59	Andrew McCutchen, who hit three homers Saturday, was 7-for-12 over the weekend.
	25 (25)	Diamondbacks	46-59	Mark Reynolds has hit home runs in five of his past six games.
	26 (27)	Athletics	44-60	Rookie Vin Mazzaro has allowed 23 runs in 13.1 IP over his past four outings.
	27 (26)	Indians	44-61	The Indians have won seven of their past 10 games.
	29 (28)	Royals	41-63	Bruce Chen and Sidney Ponson have combined to go 1-13 with a 6.73 ERA.
	29 (28)	Padres	43-63	The Padres have won five of six games, their best streak since winning 10 in a row from May 15-25.
	30 (30)	Nationals	33-72	Josh Willingham has 16 home runs and 40 RBIs in his past 66 games.