The Orioles’ once-promising weekend in Boston came apart due in large part to a dropped fly ball by Ryan McKenna with two outs and nobody on base on April 1, which paved the way for an equally rare blown save by Félix Bautista.
Those two events conspired to make the April 2 matchup a rubber game. Cole Irvin had a very tough first inning, partly because he was being squeezed by a rather random strike zone from home plate umpire Ryan Addison.
The Birds now head to Texas for three. The Rangers, skippered by Bruce Bochy, surprised the world this weekend with a three-game sweep of 2022 National League champion Phillies.
There are very few significant changes to my MLB power rankings for Week 2, the biggest being the drop from third to fifth by Houston. This Astros lineup minus José Altuve, Michael Brantley, Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel is simply not that potent.
One big note for power rankings fans is the early-season matchup between the No. 1 Braves and No. 2 Padres in Atlanta from April 6-9. Now that is must-see TV.
Here are my rankings, sans comments:
1. Atlanta Braves (2-1, No. 1 last week)
2. San Diego Padres (2-2, No. 2)
3. New York Mets (3-1, No. 4)
4. New York Yankees (2-1, No. 5)
5. Houston Astros (2-2, No. 3)
6. St. Louis Cardinals (2-1, No. 6)
7. Cleveland Guardians (3-1, No. 10)
8. Toronto Blue Jays (1-2, No. 7)
9. Seattle Mariners (1-3, No. 8)
10. Minnesota Twins (3-0, No. 12)
11. Tampa Bay Rays (3-0, No. 11)
12. Philadelphia Phillies (0-3, No. 9)
13. Chicago White Sox (2-2, No. 14)
14. Boston Red Sox (2-1, No. 15)
15. Baltimore Orioles (1-2, No. 13)
16. Los Angeles Dodgers (2-2, No. 16)
17. Texas Rangers (3-0, No. 19)
18. Los Angeles Angels (2-1, No. 18)
19. Milwaukee Brewers (2-1, No. 17)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (2-2, No. 20)
21. Chicago Cubs (1-2, No. 21)
22. San Francisco Giants (1-2, No. 23)
23. Miami Marlins (1-3, No. 22)
24. Cincinnati Reds (2-1, No. 27)
25. Colorado Rockies (2-2, No. 28)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (1-2, No. 24)
27. Kansas City Royals (0-3, No. 25)
28. Detroit Tigers (0-3, No. 26)
29. Oakland Athletics (1-2, No. 29)
30. Washington Nationals (1-2, No. 30)
Want more? I discussed this week’s MLB power rankings with PressBox managing editor Luke Jackson: