MLB Power Rankings: Yankees Fall, Mets and Dodgers Rise
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The final days of May and first week of June brought with it some heavy weight matchups.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers took two of three from the New York Yankees and split a series with the New York Mets.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 05: Pete Alonso #20 celebrates a home run with Jeff McNeil #1 of the New York Mets against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning at Dodger Stadium on...
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 05: Pete Alonso #20 celebrates a home run with Jeff McNeil #1 of the New York Mets against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning at Dodger Stadium on June 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. MoreThe San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants split a four-game series, while the Milwaukee Brewers swept the Philadelphia Phillies.
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The Detroit Tigers remain atop the rankings this week, but plenty of teams are right on their tail. Here's the 10th edition of Newsweek Sports' MLB Power Rankings.
1. Detroit Tigers (41-23)
2. Chicago Cubs (39-23)
3. New York Yankees (38-23)
4. New York Mets (39-24)
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (38-25)
6. Philadelphia Phillies (37-25)
7. San Diego Padres (35-26)
8. San Francisco Giants (35-28)
9. St. Louis Cardinals (34-28)
10. Minnesota Twins (34-28)
11. Houston Astros (34-28)
12. Milwaukee Brewers (34-29)
13. Seattle Mariners (32-29)
14. Cleveland Guardians (33-28)
15. Tampa Bay Rays (33-29)
16. Toronto Blue Jays (33-29)
17. Kansas City Royals (33-30)
18. Arizona Diamondbacks (31-31)
19. Cincinnati Reds (30-33)
20. Boston Red Sox (30-34)
21. Atlanta Braves (27-34)
22. Texas Rangers (29-34)
23. Washington Nationals (29-33)
24. Los Angles Angels (28-33)
25. Baltimore Orioles (25-36)
26. Miami Marlins (23-37)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (23-40)
28. Chicago White Sox (20-43)
29. Athletics (24-40)
30. Colorado Rockies (12-50)
Biggest Risers
Milwaukee Brewers (+5)
The Brewers went on an eight-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 10 games. They swept the Red Sox and Phillies before taking two of three from the Reds. They're one of baseball's hottest teams heading into the second week of June.
Toronto Blue Jays (+3)
The Blue Jays just aren't going away, having won eight of their last 10 games. They're suddenly tied with the Rays for the final AL Wild Card spot after sitting at or under .500 for most of May.
Baltimore Orioles (+3)
The AL East division is starting to look formidable again as the Orioles have now won six in a row with sweeps over the White Sox and Mariners. If the Orioles stay hot, their trade deadline plans could dramatically change.
Biggest Fallers
Seattle Mariners (-4)
The Mariners have lost three of their last four series and are now 1.5 games back of the Astros in the AL West. On the bright side, Cal Raleigh is playing like an MVP, leading the entire league in home runs with 24 from the catcher spot. His OPS is an incredible 1.015; however, no one else on the team has an OPS above .800.
Athletics (-4)
The Athletics have been worse than the Rockies over the last month of play. They've won just two of their last 22 games — yes, it's been that bad.
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Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
On a broken toe, Francisco Lindor delivers win for Mets: 'We're watching greatness'
When Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Francisco Lindor could be available in Friday's series opener against the Rockies after keeping him out of the starting lineup for the second straight game, you just knew what eventually happened was a possibility. In the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2 and runners in scoring position with two outs, the Mets skipper called upon his shortstop -- hobbled by a fractured pinky toe -- to try and push across the go-ahead run. Advertisement Mendoza needed something; the Mets outside of Pete Alonso -- whose two-run double in the seventh put them ahead temporarily -- have struggled mightily this season with runners in scoring position. Entering Friday, Lindor was hitting only .189 with RISP, but the Mets needed their de facto captain and he came through, broken toe and all. Lindor pulled a sweeper into right field to score two runs to lift the Mets to a 4-2 win. "Special player, I've been saying it. Special talent. We're watching greatness," Mendoza said of Lindor after the game. "Continues to do what All-Stars do. Continues to show up in big situations on a day when he was in the dugout with a bat in his hand since the fifth inning, finally gets his chance and comes through for us." Advertisement Mendoza said that right before the game, when Lindor came away from hitting in the batting cages feeling ok, he knew he could use him. Ideally, Mendoza wanted to stay away from Lindor, especially knowing that it would have been a two-player move to replace him in the field for the bottom of the ninth, but as the game went on the second-year manager told Lindor in the eighth inning that if Tyrone Taylor's turn at-bat came up in the ninth, he was going to him. "For me and for a lot of people, we are spoiled," Alonso said of Lindor. "With him, he's a guy who is ready to strap on regardless... I see him do stuff like this all the time. I know it's hard to do. Battling through physical stuff, there's limitations. I have nothing but the utmost respect. He's a true pro and he embodies that." "It illustrates what type of person Francisco Lindor is," Kodai Senga, who allowed just one run over six innings on Friday, said through an interpreter. "A leader. He's just a superstar." So, how did Lindor prepare for his pinch-hit opportunity? The shortstop said he was ready because he discussed the possibility with Mendoza before the game and the team's trainers got him ready. Advertisement "Mendy had a great game plan from the beginning of the day, he told me what was in his mind. It was just a matter of the trainers," Lindor said. "They did a fantastic job, they prepped me the right way. They did everything in their power to get me on the field. Around the fourth or fifth inning, Mendy asked me if I was available to hit and I said yeah." This isn't the first time Lindor, who usually plays just about every game, has come up with heroics while not at 100 percent as a Met. Last season saw him overcome the flu to deliver a game-winning hit, and when last year's back issues first popped up, he delivered down the stretch, including help the team clutch a playoff berth. Lindor said he can feel he's not 100 percent at the plate, but knows he's not the only big league player playing through injury. So when he's good enough to play and help the team, he'll be ready. "The Lord has blessed me to play this game and stay on the field. When I'm not on the field, the trainers do a fantastic job. You see the results, but they are the one putting in the time to get me right and on the field. This training staff is one of the best, if not the best. Once it comes to those moments, I'm just there to make something happen. Just get a good pitch, and what happens happens. Don't let the moment get too big." Lindor hopes he's in the lineup on Saturday, but knows that he needs to see how he feels tomorrow and speak to Mendoza and the trainers. But even if Mendoza wants to give his shortstop another day off, he knows he can use him again when he needs a big hit.
43 minutes ago
Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. has The Seventy Percent Solution
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Francisco Lindor once again helps save Mets, ‘broken toe and all'
DENVER — Broken pinkie toe and all, Francisco Lindor jogged out from the dugout to join the rest of the New York Mets infield. As they waited near second base with arms over each other's backs, they left a spot open for him in their circle. It was only when Lindor finally reached them that they performed their postgame celebration. Advertisement 'I wanted to be there,' Lindor said. He wasn't going to miss it. His teammates weren't going to allow him to miss it. Not after Lindor's latest heroics Friday night. After sitting out Thursday's game and not starting Friday because of a broken pinkie toe, Lindor came off the bench in the ninth inning and delivered a go-ahead, two-run double to lift the Mets over the Colorado Rockies, 4-2. MAN, WE LOVE FRANCISCO!!! MAKE HIM AN ALL-STAR 🗳️👉 — New York Mets (@Mets) June 7, 2025 'All-Star voting started, what, a couple days ago?' Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. 'Here he is, continuing to do what All-Stars do.' Once again, Lindor helped save the Mets. The hit would deserve the status of 'signature moment' attached to it had Lindor not already created so many other bigger ones over the past couple of years. Think: his playoff heroics, the time he came off the bench and hit a walk-off while dealing with the flu — the list goes on. This one's importance ranks lower than most of those others, but don't sleep on it. The Mets (40-24), one of MLB's best teams, were close to what would've been a miserable loss to one of the worst teams in the history of the sport through 64 games. And it would've been because of an inability to come through with runners in scoring position, their major season-long issue. Heading into the ninth inning, the Mets were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Pete Alonso supplied the lone hit with a two-run double in the seventh inning to give the Mets a one-run lead. Before Lindor's at-bat, the Mets had left 11 runners on base. New York entered Friday's game with the third-worst batting average (.218) with runners in scoring position, ahead of only the Baltimore Orioles (.216), Rockies (.215) and Chicago White Sox (.210). And that's with Alonso carrying a .358 batting average with runners in scoring position on his own. Advertisement For the Mets, one season-long concern looked better, but the other stalled. The Mets performed better defensively, which was their other issue, with Alonso (throwing home), third baseman Brett Baty (double-play liner) and Francisco Alvarez (pick and caught stealing) making important plays. Still, the problems with runners in scoring position persisted. Mendoza said the Mets' at-bats with runners in scoring position 'weren't good.' In the sixth inning, they had the bases loaded with no outs and failed to score. Brett Baty struck out after two poor calls, but Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio also went down on strikes. From Mendoza's perspective, the Mets chased too often, took good pitches early in counts and then missed fastballs. 'That shows you we are in between when we are making decisions,' Mendoza said. 'We just gotta continue to work, grind through it, and we'll get better.' In the meantime, the Mets relied on their three big stars: Alonso, Lindor and Juan Soto, who continued to look better at the plate and went 3-for-4 with a walk and got things going in the ninth with a one-out single. Alonso, who is red hot, followed with a walk. After Jeff McNeil flew out, Mendoza summoned Lindor off the bench. Since the fifth inning, Lindor had stood in the dugout with a bat in his hand. Mendoza knew right before the game that Lindor would be available late. In a perfect situation, Lindor wouldn't have played at all Friday even though Mendoza revealed before the game there was a decent chance the star shortstop would be in the starting lineup Saturday or Sunday. But the Mets needed him Friday. So when the eighth inning ended, Mendoza told Lindor that if Tyrone Taylor's spot popped up in the ninth inning, 'Be ready to go.' The move was always going to cost Mendoza two players because he was going to take Lindor out after an at-bat. That's how it played out, with Mendoza using Luisangel Acuña as a pinch runner for Lindor once the job was done. Advertisement As Lindor busted it out of the batter's box, passed first base and turned the corner to head to second base, Mets first-base coach Antoan Richardson shouted at him, 'Stop! Stop! Stop!' Richardson quickly learned something: Sometimes, there's just no stopping Lindor. 'Gotta love him,' Richardson said. His teammates do. 'To see that at-bat happen,' said starter Kodai Senga, who threw a career-high 109 pitches in six innings, 'it just illustrates what type of person Francisco Lindor is. He's a leader. And he's just a superstar.' 'We are spoiled because, with him, you get a guy who is just willing to strap it on regardless of how he feels or regardless of how his health is,' Alonso said. 'I just have nothing but the most amount of respect. For me, knowing him, it's like, 'Of course. Of course he's going to do that.' But when you really take a step back, that's really special, having a teammate willing to put his body on the line every single day like that. It's a true pro, and he embodies that.'
