After winning their last eight games, the St. Louis Cardinals moved up six spots in this week's MLB.com Power Rankings.
The team took two of three games against the New York Mets before completing back-to-back sweeps of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals from Sunday, May 4 through Sunday, May 11.
The victorious week pushed the Cardinals from No. 23 to No. 17 on MLB.com's list - the team's highest ranking of the season, so far.
Will Leitch of MLB.com attributed stand-out center fielder Victor Scott II's 11-game hitting streak as a "primary reason" for St. Louis' eight-game win streak. The 24-year-old went 5-for-15 (.333) in five games last week while scoring four times, currently carrying a .357 on base percentage on the year.
The Cardinals also saw an uptick in production from Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar as the offense finished the week with eight batters totaling at least five at-bats hitting higher than .250.
Arenado - who missed Wednesday's game with a back issue - slashed .375/.412/.625 in four games during the week, collecting six hits - including a double and home run - scoring four times and driving in two runs.
Contreras also picked up a double and a home run, finishing the week with four RBI and slashing .286/.500/.571 with five walks and four runs.
Nootbaar carried a .524 slugging percentage through 21 at-bats, picking up two doubles and a home run to drive in four and score three times. Three walks pushed his on base percentage up to .375 in that five-game span.
With the return of Ivan Herrera, who had two hits - including a double - and two RBI in seven at-bats last week, the Cardinals are looking to keep rolling through the East in Philadelphia during a three-game set this week.
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