Mariners make biggest leap in Power Rankings

For the first half of the season, the National League West race tipped in favor of the Giants, who had one of the best records in baseball until the All-Star break. Few could have predicted that the Giants would put together one of the worst two-month stretches ever compiled by a contending team and that the Dodgers, piecing together an injury riddled rotation lacking star power and veteran durability, would somehow keep winning and eventually take over the division lead.

As we present one of the final Power Rankings rundowns of the 2016 regular season, it should be noted the Giants and Dodgers play each other six more times over the next two weeks, which could affect the final NL West standings. But the Giants have to be nearly perfect from this point, quite a lofty expectation given their continual inability to put together any type of significant winning streak.

Power Rankings

Biggest jump: The Mariners jumped from 15 to 11, and perhaps it should be even higher, given how relevant they are in the Wild Card race heading into the stretch run. Seattle seemed to be fading quickly a couple of weeks ago but then strung together nine wins in 11 games to inch to within two games of the second Wild Card spot. They missed a bit of an opportunity over the weekend by dropping two of three to the Astros, but they can boost their chances this week when they host the very team they’re trying to catch, the Blue Jays, for three games at Safeco Field.

Biggest drop: The Tigers dropped from nine to 13 after a so-so week during which they won three and lost four. Last week Tigers manager Brad Ausmus mentioned during an interview with MLB Network commentator Chris Russo that they would need to take five of their seven remaining games against the Indians to have a realistic chance to catch up in the AL Central. After dropping two of three in Cleveland over the weekend, …

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