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MLB Power Rankings: Giants, Indians take the lead

By Stephen Forsha

Jul 1, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Indians designated hitter Carlos Santana (41) celebrates hitting a home run with second baseman Jason Kipnis (22) during the nineteenth inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Cleveland Indians won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 1, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Indians designated hitter Carlos Santana (41) celebrates hitting a home run with second baseman Jason Kipnis (22) during the nineteenth inning in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The Cleveland Indians won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /

Heading into games on Monday, the Fourth of July, there are four teams in the majors who are making fireworks of their own as they each have 50 or more wins as this is the final week before the 2016 All-Star Break.

The Chicago Cubs still are holding on to the best winning percentage in all of baseball to start this upcoming week, but the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants each have the most wins in baseball with 52 apiece. The Cubs are next with 51 wins, and the Washington Nationals earned their 50th win of the season on Sunday, giving the majors four teams with at least 50 wins with one week remaining before the best players today trade to San Diego for the 2016 MLB All-Star Game next Tuesday.

Looking at the teams with 50 or more wins, just one, the Nationals have a winning record in their past 10 games, but they even struggled in a couple games with the Cincinnati Reds this weekend, playing into extra innings and even losing to one of the worst teams in the game as well.

San Francisco and the Rangers are each 5-5 in their past 10 games, and the Cubs roll into this conversation with a 4-6 mark in their 10 most recent games.

The Cleveland Indians must be mentioned as well, with that AL Central franchise building a 14-game winning streak recently, moving to a record of 49-30 overall, but that streak ended on Saturday, with the team losing their last two games of the weekend to the Toronto Blue Jays. Still, with the way they played in June, this month will be tough to keep up to that same type of winning percentage.

All but two division leaders have at least 50 wins this season, and with the Indians coming in close at 49 and the Baltimore Orioles having a record of 47-34 at the beginning of this week, the plot will only continue to thicken as this is the final week before the All-Star game, the unofficial “halfway point” of the MLB season.

Here are the Call to the Pen MLB Power Rankings for this week.

Next: MLB Power Rankings: 30-26

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