NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Monday morning, August 16, 11:00 AM CT
1. New York Yankees (72-45)
37-20 home record and 617 total runs scored both top the American League.
2. Tampa Bay Rays (71-46)
35-22 road record (best in the majors). Also they have the AL’s best pitching staff, giving up only 449 runs this year.
3. San Diego Padres (69-47)
33-25 road record (best in the National League). They are also the only team in the majors to give up less than less than 400 runs.
4. Minnesota Twins (68-50)
Hottest team in the majors. No other team has won at least eight of their last ten.
5. Texas Rangers (67-49)
Seven of the Rangers’ next 11 games are against teams with a .575 winning percentage or higher. The other four are against the Orioles, who swept the Rangers in Arlington last time the two teams met.
6. Atlanta Braves (67-49)
41-16 home record (best in the majors).
7. St. Louis Cardinals (65-51)
The Cards are having an interesting time with their division rivals these days. They gained the division lead against the Reds but then lost it again while playing the Cubs.
8. Cincinnati Reds (67-51)
576 total runs scored this season (best in the National League).
9. San Francisco Giants (67-52)
By trading for Jose Guillen, the Giants probably did more harm than good. Guillen’s past three years on offense have been bad (.256/.307/.419), and he’s a liability on defense
10. Boston Red Sox (67-52)
The Red Sox continue to hang around the AL Wild Card race, but the loss of Jacoby Ellsbury makes the climb a slippery one on the Wild Card mountain.
11. Philadelphia Phillies (66-51)
The Phillies starters have a 1.53 ERA and 27-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in their last five games. No surprise they are tied for the NL wild-card lead.
12. Chicago White Sox (65-53)
Since stringing together 27 scoreless appearances, J.J. Putz has allowed eight runs over his last 6 1/3 innings, including back-to-back blown saves. Regression is a harsh mistress.
13. Colorado Rockies (61-56)
My surprise MVP candidate of the year is no doubt Carlos Gonzalez (.321 average, 140 hits, 25 home runs, 79 RBIs).
14. Toronto Blue Jays (62-55)
The Blue Jays have faced the fewest left-handed starters in the majors—going 9-15—but will face three straight against the A’s beginning Monday.
15. Oakland Athletics (57-59)
The A’s scored 11 runs and hit .209 with 41 strikeouts during their recent 1-5 road trip.
16. New York Mets (58-59)
The Mets go back on the road after going 3-3 in Flushing, scoring nine runs and hitting .088 with RISP on their six-game homestand.
17. Florida Marlins (57-59)
Rookie Mike Stanton, now hitting fifth in the Marlins’ lineup, is batting .583 (14-for-24) with five doubles, four homers and eight RBIs on Florida’s current road trip
18. Los Angeles Dodgers (60-58)
Since holding the best record in the NL on June 9, the Dodgers are 24-34 and have lost 11 games in the standings to the Padres (35-23).
19. Los Angeles Angels (60-59)
Dan Haren, who has made five starts for the Angels, is now 1-7 in his last 12 outings overall.
20. Detroit Tigers (57-60)
Miguel Cabrera leads the majors in on-base percentage (.433) and OPS (1.063); the way AL clubs have been pitching him lately, he might lead both leagues in intentional walks before long. There’s no way that he shouldn’t be the AL MVP to this point (.341 average, 141 hits, 27 home runs, 95 RBIs).
21. Washington Nationals (51-67)
It’s been a tale of two halves for Josh Willingham, who had a .913 OPS before the break and has a .640 OPS since.
22. Milwaukee Brewers (55-64)
Led by Ryan Braun (.458 BA, 1.051 OPS), the Brewers are tied with Houston for the most runs scored in August (78).
23. Chicago Cubs (50-68)
27-32 home record (worst in the National League).
24. Cleveland Indians (49-69)
As the Indians go into extended audition mode, Michael Brantley is hitting .333 in August as the new leadoff man.
25. Houston Astros (51-65)
Rookie of the year rumblings in Houston. Chris Johnson leads the NL in batting average (.420) and RBIs (26) since the All-Star break and is second in OPS (1.125).
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (47-72)
648 total runs given up this season (worst in the majors).
27. Seattle Mariners (46-72)
The only team in the majors that has yet to score 400 runs (383 to be exact).
28. Kansas City Royals (49-69)
The Royals scored just 17 runs on the week, but still managed to split a four-game set with the Yankees thanks to Bryan Bullington, who picked up his first career win by throwing eight shutout innings Sunday.
29. Baltimore Orioles (41-77)
A 24-34 home record and a 13-43 road record both rank in the bottom two in the majors.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates (39-78)
13-48 road record and 401 total runs scored are both in the bottom two in the majors.
Carter’s MLB Award Races:
National League MVP Award Race:
1. Albert Pujols (STL): .315 avg., 137 hits, 30 HR, 86 RBI
2. Carlos Gonzalez (COL): .321 avg., 140 hits, 25 HR, 79 RBI
3. Joey Votto (CIN): .322 avg., 130 hits, 28 HR, 79 RBI
4. Dan Uggla (FLA): .286 avg., 122 hits, 27 HR, 74 RBI
5. Adam Dunn (WSH): .271 avg., 115 hits, 31 HR, 78 RBI
6. Ryan Howard (PHI): .292 avg., 119 hits, 23 HR, 81 RBI
7. Rickie Weeks (MIL): .278 avg., 135 hits, 23 HR, 72 RBI
8. Ryan Zimmerman (WSH): .303 avg., 119 hits, 24 HR, 68 RBI
9. Mark Reynolds (ARZ): .214 avg., 83 hits, 26 HR, 70 RBI
10. Prince Fielder (MIL): .268 avg., 115 hits, 25 HR, 61 RBI
American League MVP Award Race:
1. Miguel Cabrera (DET): .341 avg., 141 hits, 27 HR, 95 RBI
2. Josh Hamilton (TEX): .362 avg., 160 hits, 26 HR, 80 RBI
3. Jose Bautista (TOR): .258 avg., 106 hits, 36 HR, 88 RBI
4. Paul Konerko (CHW): .302 avg., 123 hits, 29 HR, 80 RBI
5. Adrian Beltre (BOS): .328 avg., 146 hits, 22 HR, 80 RBI
6. Mark Teixeira (NYY): .256 avg., 114 hits, 26 HR, 86 RBI
7. David Ortiz (BOS): .261 avg., 97 hits, 26 HR, 77 RBI
8. Nick Swisher (NYY): .294 avg., 126 hits, 22 HR, 67 RBI
9. Carlos Quentin (CHW): .233 avg., 81 hits, 24 HR, 77 RBI
10. Carlos Pena (TB): .212 avg., 75 hits, 23 HR, 68 RBI
National League Cy Young Award Race:
1. Adam Wainwright (STL): 17-6, 1.99 ERA, 158 strikeouts
2. Ubaldo Jimenez (COL): 17-3, 2.59 ERA, 153 strikeouts
3. Josh Johnson (FLA): 10-5, 2.27 ERA, 156 strikeouts
4. Roy Halladay (PHI): 15-8, 2.24 ERA, 175 strikeouts
5. Tim Hudson (ATL): 14-5, 2.13 ERA, 89 strikeouts
6. Mat Latos (SD): 12-5, 2.32 ERA, 134 strikeouts
7. Chris Carpenter (STL): 13-4, 2.95 ERA, 139 strikeouts
8. Yovani Gallardo (MIL): 11-5, 2.97 ERA, 154 strikeouts
9. Jaime Garcia (STL): 10-5, 2.71 ERA, 99 strikeouts
10. Johan Santana (WSH): 10-6, 2.89 ERA, 121 strikeouts
American League Cy Young Award Race:
1. Cliff Lee (TEX): 10-5, 2.57 ERA, 137 strikeouts
2. Clay Buchholz (BOS): 13-5, 2.49 ERA, 86 strikeouts
3. Felix Hernandez (SEA): 8-10, 2.62 ERA, 172 strikeouts
4. Jon Lester (BOS): 13-7, 2.80 ERA, 165 strikeouts
5. Jeff Niemann (TB): 10-3, 3.12 ERA 102 strikeouts
6. Trevor Cahill (OAK): 12-5, 2.50 ERA, 81 strikeouts
7. Jered Weaver (LAA): 11-7, 2.87 ERA, 182 strikeouts
8. C.C. Sabathia (NYY): 15-5, 3.14 ERA, 134 strikeouts
9. David Price (TB): 15-5, 2.84 ERA, 133 strikeouts
10. Jason Vargas (SEA): 9-5, 3.15 ERA, 92 strikeouts
National League Rookie of the Year Race:
1. Jaime Garcia (STL): 10-5, 2.71 ERA, 99 strikeouts
2. Gaby Sanchez (FLA): .289 avg., 121 hits, 12 HR, 53 RBI
3. Starlin Castro (CHC): .314 avg., 101 hits, 3 HR, 37 RBI
4. Ian Desmond (WSH): .266 avg., 97 hits, 9 HR, 49 RBI
5. Alcides Escobar (MIL): .251 avg., 97 hits, 3 HR, 33 RBI
American League Rookie of the Year Race:
1. Austin Jackson (DET): .303 avg., 132 hits, 1 HR, 25 RBI
2. Neftali Feliz (TEX): 3-3, 3.48 ERA, 53 strikeouts, 29 saves
3. Brennan Boesch (DET): .274 avg., 96 hits, 14 HR, 55 RBI
4. John Jaso (TB): .270 avg., 65 hits, 3 HR, 36 RBI
5. Reid Brignac (TB): .259 avg., 64 hits, 6 HR, 36 RBI
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