There’s no slowing down the Athletics, who have won eight of their last 10 games to hold their ground as baseball’s best.
The Brewers are tied with the A’s for the most wins in the majors entering the week.
The Angels are hoping Jason Grilli can return to his dominant form of last season after trading their own struggling closer, Ernesto Frieri to the Pirates.
Clayton Kershaw extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 28 innings after striking out 13 Cardinals in seven innings on Sunday. The win put the Dodgers in a tie with the Giants in the NL West.
Ian Kinsler has been on fire at the plate recently, raising his average from .279 on June 13 to .307 entering the week. The second baseman also has the highest WAR among his Detroit teammates.
The Giants continue to lose games in bunches, allowing the Dodgers to move into tie for the lead in the NL West.
Toronto took another step back after losing three of four to the White Sox to end last week, but they still maintain a slight lead in the AL East.
Cardinals top prospect Oscar Taveras is returning to St. Louis for the second time this season after playing 11 games earlier in June, hitting just .189.
While run support has been an issue for Seattle, it doesn’t seem to matter when Felix Hernandez is pitching. The ace allowed just one hit over eight shutout innings Sunday to earn his 10th win this season.
Manny Machado will serve his five-game suspension this week after a failed appeal. Hitting just .239 this season, the young third baseman could possibly use a break to regroup.
With Bryce Harper returning to the lineup this week, and the Nationals sitting just a half game out of first place in the NL East, things are starting to look up again in Washington.
The Yankees failed to take advantage of series against the Orioles, Blue Jays and Red Sox, going just 3-6 in their last nine games against division rivals.
Atlanta swept a four-game series in Philadelphia for the first time since 1964, holidng on to its slim lead in the NL East over the rising Nationals.
The Royals signed 42-year-old veteran Raul Ibanez to add another bat to the lineup. The outfielder/DH was released by the Angels after hitting .157 in 57 games.
Homer Bailey had his no-hitter broken up in the seventh inning Sunday against the Giants but still settled for a complete game shutout. He has an 8-4 record and 4.39 ERA in 17 starts.
With the starting rotation pitching better of late, Pittsburgh could jump back into the playoff race.
After being one of the Red Sox’s most consistent hitters this season in a backup role, Brock Holt is now becoming an everyday player. He is hitting .321 with 17 RBI in 48 games.
After dropping three straight starts, Josh Tomlin pitched a one-hit shutout against the Mariners Saturday to end his slide.
Miami was sitting 2.5 games back in the division after splitting a series with Philadelphia. Then the mighty A’s swept them, leaving the Marlins 5 games out of first.
Rookie sensation Jose Abreu is tied for the AL lead in home runs with Nelson Cruz and Edwin Encarnacion with 25 long balls despite missing 14 games in May.
Hitting just .180 when he was demoted to Triple-A on June 8, rookie catcher Travis d’Arnaud returned to the Mets lineup this week after destroying minor league pitching and put together a five-game hit streak.
The Rays look to be recovering from an awful stretch of games in past weeks by winning six of their last 10 games. At 10 games back in the division, Tampa Bay will likely just play spoilers from here on out.
After losing eight straight games over the past two weeks, the Rangers finally picked up a series win, their first since June 14, taking two of three against the also struggling Twins.
Jake Arrieta continues his great run after taking a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Reds last week in Cincinnati.
The Twins fell back into old habits, going just 1-5 last week on a tough AL West road trip against the surging Angels and struggling Rangers.
After stealing two bases on Sunday, Jose Altuve became the first player since Ray Chapman in 1917 to have multiple steals in four straight games. He leads the AL with 36 stolen bases entering the week.
Subpar pitching continues to plague the Rockies with a majors-worst 6.43 ERA in June. Colorado has gone 2-11 in its last 13 games as it continues to drop down the standings.
Chase Utley collected his 1,500th career hit as the Phillies were swept in the four-game series against the Braves.
Chris Owings hit the DL last week with a shoulder injury. The rookie shortstop has hit .277 with six home runs and 21 RBI in 72 games played this season.
Filling in for an injured Andrew Cashner, Odrisamer Despaigne, signed from Cuba, has looked the part of a big-league pitcher in two starts, going 2-0 while giving up just one run.
