The Times’ baseball rankings
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Last week’s ranking in parentheses, statistics are through Friday’s games:
1. DODGERS: Only NL team with two triples from catchers (Butera, Olivo). Of course, catchers are also below .200. (3)
2. ANGELS: All this with little from Josh Hamilton. Trout, St. Louis Pujols, Texas Hamilton would be something. (5)
3. OAKLAND: McCartney can close down Candlestick Park, but Selig still can’t close down Oakland Coliseum. (1)
4. BALTIMORE: C Caleb Joseph, a 28-year-old rookie and proud Lipscomb U. Bison, homers in five consecutive games. (2)
5. MILWAUKEE: Mike Fiers strikes out 14 in six innings. The other seven to do that include N. Ryan, R. Johnson, K. Wood. (4)
6. WASHINGTON: Nationals have issued fewest walks in MLB: 279, in 1,089 IP. White Sox, in 1,084 IP: MLB-high 433. (9)
7. KANSAS CITY: Celebrating one week in first place in the AL Central! (8)
8. SEATTLE: In ’06, Cano hit .342, third in AL batting race behind Mauer, Jeter. He’s at .330 now, second to Altuve. (13)
9. DETROIT: Tigers’ record since trade for David Price: 7-8. Rays’ record since trade of David Price: 8-6. (6)
10. ST. LOUIS: “We’re not even the best team in Missouri?!” Last time Royals had better record than Cardinals: 1995. (12)
11. PITTSBURGH: Next weekend’s Pirates-Brewers series ought to be biggest Pirates-Brewers series ever. (7)
12. ATLANTA: Braves celebrate 100th anniversary of 1914 title with $1 hot dogs. In 1914, hot dogs cost a nickel, maybe a dime. (15)
13. TORONTO: Might have been jinxed by CFL Argonauts looking into alternate fields during Jays’ playoff games. (16)
14. CLEVELAND: Walkoff home run Friday by Mike Aviles, once traded by Boston to Toronto for Manager John Farrell. (18)
15. N.Y. YANKEES: Ugly swan song? Jeter never has played on team with losing record, but this could be the year. (10)
16. SAN FRANCISCO: Willie McCovey last played at Candlestick Park at age 42. McCartney did it at 72. (12)
17. TAMPA BAY: Fourth team in history to get to .500 after falling 18 games under. First team: 1899 Louisville Colonels. (20)
18. MIAMI: Giancarlo Stanton leads NL with 20 intentional walks. No one else has more than 11. (14)
19. CINCINNATI: C Devin Mesoraco (20 HR) hits one every 14.4 AB. NL HR leader Stanton: one every 14.5 AB. (17)
20. SAN DIEGO: Quentin had to average 107 games in a 3-year deal to guarantee $3-million buyout. Won’t happen. (21)
21. N.Y. METS: Matt Harvey, coming off TJ surgery, wants to return in September. Manager Terry Collins: “Back off.” (22)
22. CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Reinsdorf fails miserably in bid to set game back to era of strikes, lockouts, collusion. (19)
23. BOSTON: The mlb.com description of challenge to umpire’s call: “Red Sox challenged (multiple issues).” Indeed. (23)
24. MINNESOTA: AL Central balance of power? Twins have 11 games left against Tigers; five against Royals. (26)
26. CHICAGO CUBS: The Chicago Little League World Series team gets better TV ratings than Cubs. It’s a World Series! (24)
25. HOUSTON: Astros on pace to lose 95 — and that would be a 16-game improvement from last season. (27)
27. ARIZONA: Team built around Paul Goldschmidt-Mark Trumbo duo. Games played together this season: 37. (25)
28. PHILADELPHIA: On Ryan Howard bobblehead night, ask doll if Howard will strike out that night. Doll will nod yes. (28)
29. TEXAS: Since June 7, their last day at .500, Rangers have a .267 winning percentage. 2013 Astros, after June 7: .322. (29)
30. COLORADO: Nice week: Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez lost for the season. So’s the team, really. (30)
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