It was another great week for the St. Louis Cardinals, not only adding an additional young arm (Michael Wacha) to its Major League roster, but also posting another solid week of baseball to its season, resulting in another first place finish in the latest MLB Power Rankings at The Wife Hates Sports.  The Cards gained eighteen ratings points from last week, increasing its lead on the field.  St. Louis also had the fifth best overall week.  The top five teams (since the last poll) are as follows:

Minnesota Twins: +35 points

Tampa Bay Rays: +28 points

Houston Astros: +28 points

Oakland Athletics: +26 points

St. Louis Cardinals: +18 points

The Texas Rangers return to second place, barely holding off the Boston Red Sox.  Rounding out this week’s top five are the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves.

The Chicago White Sox are the big losers of the week, falling seven spots, and here are the five teams that had the biggest decline over the last seven days:

Chicago White Sox: -38 points

New York Yankees: -29 points

Detroit Tigers: -26 points

Los Angeles Angels: -22 points

Colorado Rockies: -19 points

The entire list of Power Rankings is as follows, featuring one statistic from the month of May for every team in baseball, while also highlighting the clubs that had positive or negative jumps in the latest poll:

yadier-molina-st-louis-cardinals

Yadier Molina and the St. Louis Cardinals are pointed in the right direction

KP’s MLB Power Rankings: June 4, 2013

Note: Statistics and point totals as of Tuesday morning (6/4/13) and do not include night games

1. St. Louis Cardinals (160 points) – Last Week: #1 (+18)

It’s not just the pitching that is dominating, but also the bats, as the Cardinals batted .289 during May, which is the best team average in baseball for the month.

2. Texas Rangers (123 points) – Last Week: #3 (+11)

An unsung offensive hero in May, Adrian Beltre posted 44 hits in the month, tied with Miguel Cabrera and Manny Machado for the most in baseball.

3. Boston Red Sox (121 points) – Last Week: #5 (+15)

red-sox-logo

The Red Sox are back in the top three

May was a rough month for Ryan Dempster, who walked 18 batters (the most in the AL for the month), with a 1-4 record and 5.51 ERA over six starts.

4. Cincinnati Reds (110 points) – Last Week: #4 (+2)

The Reds finished 19-8 in May, second only to the red hot Cardinals (20-7).

5. Atlanta Braves (102 points) – Last Week: #6 (+11)

After a torrid April, Justin Upton cooled off in May, batting .210, with just 2 HR and 10 RBI in 95 AB’s.

6. Oakland Athletics (89 points) – Last Week: #11 (+26)

Underrated: During 28 May games, Josh Donaldson batted .330, with 6 HR and 13 RBI.

7. Arizona Diamondbacks (86 points) – Last Week: #7 (-4)

Patrick Corbin was 5-0 in May, and the only National League pitcher to post five victories last month.

8. Detroit Tigers (86 points) – Last Week: #2 (-26)

Miguel Cabrera’s 12 HR in May were tied for the most in baseball, and his 33 RBI are seven more than any other player.

9. Pittsburgh Pirates (71 points) – Last Week: #8 (-7)

The Pittsburgh pitching staff posted the best overall team ERA (2.51) during the month of May.

10. Baltimore Orioles (67 points) – Last Week: #12 (+4)

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Buck’s Orioles are hitting, but struggling to get outs

While the offense flourishes (46 HR in May, the most in MLB), Baltimore’s pitching staff has struggled, posting a 5.06 team ERA for the month, tied with Houston for the worst mark in baseball.

11. Tampa Bay Rays (61 points) – Last Week: #15 (+28)

More known for its pitching, Tampa Bay’s 166 runs (in May) were the most in baseball.

12. New York Yankees (45 points) – Last Week: #9 (-29)

Despite its recent team struggles, the Yankees managed the best ERA in the American League for the month of May, a 3.25 mark.

13. Colorado Rockies (45 points) – Last Week: #10 (-19)

After tossing 11 1/3 shutout innings in May, Rex Brothers has earned a chance to be Colorado’s closer.

14. Cleveland Indians (30 points) – Last Week: #13 (-15)

The Indians were a Major League best 14-5 at home during the month of May.

15. San Francisco Giants (23 points) – Last Week: #14 (-18)

Marco Scutaro led all qualifying batters with a .420 average in May (over 100 AB’s).

16. Kansas City Royals (9 points) – Last Week: #18 (-5)

Kansas City’s 14 home runs in May were the fewest in baseball for the month.

17. Chicago Cubs (6 points) – Last Week: #20 (+5)

The Cubs posted just two saves in May, less than any other team in baseball for the month.

18. Washington Nationals (4 points) – Last Week: #19 (-7)

Most of the talk in D.C. has been Washington’s struggling offense or the performance of Jordan Zimmermann, but in six May starts, Stephen Strasburg was 2-1, with 37 K’s and a 1.95 ERA.

19. Minnesota Twins (3 points) – Last Week: #26 (+35)

Joe Mauer swung a hot bat in May, posting a .371 average, with 12 doubles, 3 HR and 10 RBI.

20. Los Angeles Angels (-1 point) – Last Week: #16 (-22)

Jason Vargas was 5-0 in May, and the only American League pitcher to post five victories last month.

21. Philadelphia Phillies (-4 points) – Last Week: #22 (+3)

Domonic Brown’s 12 HR in May led all National League hitters, and was tied for the Major League lead with Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera.

22. Los Angeles Dodgers (-9 points) – Last Week: #21 (-4)

L.A.’s dangerous rotation duo was stellar in May.  Clayton Kershaw posted a 1.97 ERA in six starts and Hyun-Jin Ryu posted a 2.38 ERA in five starts.

23. San Diego Padres (-11 points) – Last Week: #23 (+2)

Everth Cabrera’s 12 steals in May are more than any other player in baseball last month.

24. Chicago White Sox (-23 points) – Last Week: #17 (-38)

No regular starters posted an average over .300 during the month of May.  The closest batter to hit the mark was Alex Rios, who batted .280 through 27 games.

25. Seattle Mariners (-25 points) – Last Week: #27 (+8)

Seattle’s top starter in May was not King Felix, but Hisashi Iwakuma, who posted a 4-0 record, with 37 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA over six starts.

26. Toronto Blue Jays (-28 points) – Last Week: #24 (-10)

Adam Lind proved his worth to the organization by batting .346 in May, with 4 HR in 78 AB’s.

27. New York Mets (-40 points) – Last Week: #28 (-5)

Matt Harvey posted a 2.15 ERA in five May starts, but no other member of New York’s rotation posted an ERA under 5.00.

28. Milwaukee Brewers (-46 points) – Last Week: #25 (-15)

Milwaukee’s 6-22 record in May was tied with Miami for the worst winning percentage in baseball.

29. Houston Astros (-55 points) – Last Week: #29 (+28)

Houston’s 5.06 ERA in May was tied with Baltimore for the worst mark in baseball.

30. Miami Marlins (-89 points) – Last Week: #30 (+3)

Miami’s .217 team batting average was the lowest mark in baseball for the month of May.

* All stats per MLB.com

Note: RED = Falling 3+ spots from last week, GREEN = Rising 3+ spots from last week

The Wife Hates Sports MLB Power Rankings system has a method to its madness, attempting to be different and not just rank by popularity and record.  It mixes a secret formula of six completely different categories, meshed into a points system.  The categories don’t just include team results regarding record, but how each team has performed recently, as well as incorporating some statistics on both a team’s offense and pitching staff, too.