MLB Power Rankings for the week ending July 23rd

A few long streaks – of both the winning and losing variety – caused a huge shake up in the power ratings for this week.

Well, except for the lead.

The Braves remain the unanimous No. 1 team, but a new team is swinging on their heels this week. There was also a newcomer to the top five and a pair of other clubs jumped into the top ten.

Here’s a full look at the ranking:

Biggest jump: Although the Brewers dropped two-of-three to the Braves this weekend, it only came after they swept the Reds in Cincinnati after coming out of the break and won two-of-three against the Phillies in Philadelphia. Since falling to 34-34 on June 14, Milwaukee has gone 21-11 to move 10 games over . That’s enough to move the Brewers up to seventh place in this week’s rankings — an eight-point jump from last week.

biggest drop: At the other end of the spectrum, the Marlins have lost eight straight games from the All-Star break. They finally snapped that slide with a win over the Rockies on Sunday, but Miami now finds itself an inward-looking outsider when it comes to the NL Wild Card race — and dropped eight spots to No. 16 this week.

1) The Braves, 64-34 (last week: 1)

With Ronald Acuna Jr. putting together an MVP-caliber season—he’s going for 38 homers and 76 stolen bases—it’s sometimes easy to forget just how dangerous the rest of the Braves lineup is. Austin Riley delivered quite the reminder this week, pitching in five straight appearances (including a double-double performance in Atlanta’s wild 16-13 loss to a D-back). Riley hit six homers and 16 RBI in six games for a Braves team that sits 3 1/2 games ahead of the Orioles for the best record in the Majors.

2) Orioles, 61-38 (last week: 5)

After starting the week by dropping two of three to the Dodgers, the O sent a message to the rest of the league by taking three of four from the Rays at the St. Louis Cardinals. Pete. Felix Bautista won Game 1 of that series, then made the save in two more victories in Baltimore. The All-Star closer has held the opposition scoreless in 21 of their past 22 matches. He has 28 saves and a 0.92 ERA in 45 games this season. This Baltimore quarterback is a big reason the club is 18-9 in one-run games — and now sits atop the AL East.

3) Radiology, 61-42 (last week: 2)

Tampa Bay is only 3-7 in the second half, but the club’s struggles actually date back to two weeks before the break. The Rays are 4-14 over 18 games, and last week was a particularly brutal blow. After being swept by the first-place Rangers, Tampa Bay came home losing three of four against the Orioles, who took a two-game lead ahead of the Rays in the AL East. Still the club’s most consistent pitcher, Zac Evelyn notched the club’s only win in that series, throwing seven scoreless innings to lower his season’s ERA to 3.36.

4) Dodgers, 57-41 (last week: 6)

Although the Dodgers did not have the dominant pitching that has become a staple in recent seasons, they regained the lead in the NL West behind a growing offense. Freddie Freeman carried the torch last week, hitting . 583 (14-for-24) with three homers, three doubles, one triple and seven. He also worked out five times while striking out only three times. That helped the Dodgers win a pair of series against first place teams, taking two of three against both the Orioles and Rangers – all on the road.

5) Rangers, 59-41 (last week: 3)

A week that started with such promise couldn’t end much worse for the leading Western side, Rangers. After sweeping the Rays to push their winning streak to six games, the Rangers lost the first two games of their block against the Dodgers by an aggregate score of 27-8. If that wasn’t bad enough, Corey Seager left the Friday game after jamming his thumb and being relegated to the IL 10 the next day. Texas already had to beat Seager one IL assignment when he missed a month earlier this season, but it’s still a solid blow considering he hit . 350 with 15 homers and a 1.044 OPS in 66 games.

Remaining field 30:

The Voters: Will Leach, Alison Vaughter, Anthony Castrovins, Paul Casella, Mark Vinsand, Natalie Alonso, Mike Petrillo, Sarah Lang, Arturo Bardvila, Andrew Simon, David Fenn, Sweeney Morty, Doug Josepol, Travis Miller