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A quick recap of how the local teams fared last week…

Los Angeles Dodgers

Highlights of the week: It was a week of ninth inning heroics for the Blue. First, Juan Pierre came to the rescue on Wednesday against the Brewers with a two-run double to steal the win. Then last night the Legend of Blake DeWitt continued to grow with game winning RBI single against Cincinnati. Chan Ho Park also brought back some memories with a solid start on Saturday, his first for the Dodgers in years.

Lowlights of the week: Park aside it was not a good week for the arms, particularly what was supposed to be their big 1-2 punch in their rotation. Derek Lowe struggled mightily Sunday against the Angels and Brad Penny continued his nightmarish start to the season with another horrible outing last night.

The week ahead: Two more against the Reds at home before hosting the surprising Cards for a weekend set.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Highlights of the week: Mike Napoli blasted two homers against the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon, giving him 10 long balls on the season, tops on the team and the second most in the A.L. John Lackey made his season debut on Wednesday and looked fantastic, allowing only one run in seven innings.

Lowlights of the week: After last seasons troubles, 2008 has been a tremendous bounce back year for Ervin Santana, but nobody’s perfect. He suffered his first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon to the Dodgers, giving up four earned runs over six innings.

The week ahead: A six-game roadie starts tonight in Toronto and concludes this weekend against the surging White Sox.

This week’s MLB Power Rankings (May 13-20) with the team’s current standings and their rise/fall since the last rankings:

1. Chicago Cubs (28-17) (+3): Geovany Soto is adding inside-the-park homers to his impressive breakout season.

2. Boston Red Sox (28-19) (no change): Another year, another no-hitter for a BoSox pitcher.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks (28-16) (-2): At some point, 9-0 Brandon Webb has to lose a game, right? Right?

4. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (26-20) (-1): The offense hasn’t been as consistent since Chone Figgins went down with a hamstring problem.

5. St. Louis Cardinals (27-20) (+2): Ryan Ludwick, not Albert Pujols, leads the team with 12 homers.

6. Tampa Rays (26-19) (+8): Will this finally be the year the Rays play meaningful games in September?

7. Florida Marlins (24-19) (+6): Oakland A’s, NL version.

8. New York Mets (22-19) (no change): All is well (for now) after a weekend sweep of the Yankees.

9. Houston Astros (25-21) (+12): Red hot Lance Berkman has got to be the early favorite for NL MVP.

10. Oakland A’s (24-22) (+2): Something tells me they are gonna be a thorn in the Angels sides for the rest of the season.

11. Philadelphia Phillies (24-22) (-2): Jayson Werth made quite the splash in interleague play over the weekend.

12. Los Angeles Dodgers (23-21) (-6): Memo to Ned Colletti: Get Clayton Kershaw here quick.

13. Baltimore Orioles (23-20) (+6): The more I doubt teams, the more they win.

14. Chicago White Sox (23-20) (+4): Maybe those profanity laced Ozzie Guillen tirades still work.

15. Atlanta Braves (22-21) (+1): Mid-May and Chipper Jones still has that average above .400.

16. Cleveland Indians (22-22) (-4): Cliff Lee finally suffered his first loss on Sunday.

17. Minnesota Twins (22-22) (-2): Livan Hernandez keeps on racking up innings.

18. Toronto Blue Jays (23-23) (+2): Looked impressive taking the final two games against the Phillies over the weekend.

19. Texas Rangers (22-24) (+10): 50 RBIs and counting for Josh Hamilton.

20. Cincinnati Reds (21-24) (+7): They had a nice six-game winning streak, don’t have enough to stay competitive in the NL Central.

21. New York Yankees (20-24) (-16): They’ve fallen on some hard times over in the Bronx.

22. Kansas City Royals (21-23) (+1): Don’t be shocked if this team finishes around .500.

23. Milwaukee Brewers (20-24) (-13): Ryan Braun is worth every penny of the extension he received.

24. Pittsburgh Pirates (21-23) (+6): That this team is hovering around .500 is an accomplishment in itself.

25. Detroit Tigers (17-27) (-8): We’re all waiting for the big break out… but it hasn’t happened.

26. Seattle Mariners (18-27) (-4): Too much talent for this team to be dead last in the AL West.

27. Washington Nationals (20-26) (+1): Tim Redding’s scoreless streak is at 13 1/3 innings and counting. Yeah, I don’t know who he is either.

28. Colorado Rockies (18-27) (-2): Things are so back in Denver there are grumblings that MVP runner up Matt Holliday could be traded. Ouch.

29. San Diego Padres (16-30) (-4): I’ll leave them out of last. After all, the news on Jake Peavy’s elbow is upsetting enough.

30. San Francisco Giants (17-29) (-6): Welcome back to the bottom. We missed yah.

Discuss:

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