Ready for an I-75 World Series?
Less than 500 miles of interstate separate Atlanta from Tampa Bay, and in a figurative sense, the Atlanta baseball club has been sneaking up on the fellows from St. Petersburg for the past few weeks.
Now, the Braves have finally run down the Rays atop USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings.
All it took was a record-breaking June in which the Braves slugged 61 home runs and won 21 of 25 games to run down the Rays, who raged to a 40-18 start. Lately, they’ve played, well, not poorly, but more pedestrian and now ace Shane McClanahan is on the injured list.
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That’s all enough for the Braves (56-27) to nose ahead of the Rays (57-30). At least for the moment.
A look at this week’s rankings:
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Found out the Astros will, in fact, be a factor.
10. Houston Astros (+1)
18. Seattle Mariners (+1)
21. New York Mets (+1)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB power rankings: Atlanta Braves vault into top spot