The Chicago Cubs lost two out of three against the Detroit Tigers over the weekend, including getting shut out 4-0, with the offense producing four hits and 12 strikeouts. While Jameson Taillon put together a crisp seven innings on Saturday to hold the Tigers to one run, the series was not a great showing in what could have been a potential World Series preview.
Even while coming up short in potentially their biggest series yet, the Cubs are still considered solid contenders that can make a deep run in the postseason. Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter put out his latest Power Ranking on Monday morning, ranking all 30 MLB teams based on recent performance and league-wide stature.
Chicago is at No. 3, dropping one slot from their previous No. 2 spot. That No. 2 went to the Detroit, the Cubs' weekend opponent, which holds the top spot amongst all American League teams. But where Chicago stands between two other NL teams on the list.
The Los Angeles Dodgers sit at No. 4 on the power ranking, one spot behind Chicago. The Cubs have had a better record than the Dodgers for large stretches of the season, but many experts still put Los Angeles over them to respect their current reign as World Series champions.
But even with Chicago falling short to Detroit, the body of work is now too large going into the middle of June. The Cubs have been the better team with the Dodgers losing their series to the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, and still have the superior record they've always had to back it up.
Chicago is 4-3 against the Dodgers this season.
The New York Mets have the No. 1 spot on Reuter's list. They've gone 12-3 in their last 15 games to overtake Chicago for the best record in the NL.
That placement may come as a surprise with that 15-game set including a series against the Chicago White Sox, who sit at No. 25, and two series against the Colorado Rockies, who sit at No. 29.
The Mets and Cubs played each other May 9-11 with New York taking two out of three. The two clubs don't face off again until September 23.
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