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The Houston Astros have won seven in a row through Monday to build a 13 ½-game lead in the American League West and are within 5½ games of the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.
Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez was the AL’s Player of the Month in June, batting .418 with nine home runs and 28 RBI and hit a walk-off home run on Monday. His 1.061 OPS is the best in the majors and he’s second in baseball with 25 homers, trailing only Aaron Judge.
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The Astros went 7-2 against the New York teams over the past two weeks, winning all four contests against the Mets and took three of five from the Yankees.
Here’s how USA TODAY Sports’ eight-person panel voted this week:
Rank (movement from last week)
1. New York Yankees (–)
2. Houston Astros (+1)
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (+1)
4. New York Mets (-2)
5. Atlanta Braves (+1)
6. San Diego Padres (-1)
7. Milwaukee Brewers (+3)
8. Boston Red Sox (-1)
9. Toronto Blue Jays (-1)
10. St. Louis Cardinals (-1)
11. Minnesota Twins (+2)
12. Tampa Bay Rays (-1)
13. Cleveland Guardians (+1)
14. San Francisco Giants (-2)
15. Philadelphia Phillies (–)
16. Texas Rangers (–)
17. Miami Marlins (–)
18. Chicago White Sox (+1)
19. Seattle Mariners (+2)
20. Los Angeles Angels (-2)
21. Baltimore Orioles (-1)
22. Arizona Diamondbacks (–)
23. Colorado Rockies (–)
24. Chicago Cubs (+2)
25. Pittsburgh Pirates (-1)
26. Detroit Tigers (-1)
27. Cincinnati Reds (–)
28. Kansas City Royals (–)
29. Washington Nationals (–)
30. Oakland Athletics (–)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB power rankings: Astros primed to push Yankees atop AL?
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