By Tom Morris A funny thing happened on the way to the ballpark this week: the hot bats got left behind in the back of the Greyhound. Major League Baseball teams usually get rewarded for good pitching, but this past seven days good pitching was outdone -- by better pitching. Take a look down the team stats since last Monday and you'll see a host of teams with stingy ERA's, but with records of 1 - 5, 2- 4, and so on. Go figure. But in both leagues we will be seeing a lot more of this: games being won by the team whose hurlers really show up with the right stuff, and a number of teams are starting to take flight because of it. Some squads continued to keep a decent cruising altitude, while some big-timers felt their very first jolts of air turbulence (OK, you get the metaphor...) The Oakland A's and Houston Astros continued their slumps, which means we again have some log-jammed Wild-Card scenarios in both leagues. Is this a good thing, or will the winner of each race just be the first of many sputtering lemons to steam and hiss across the finish line? You be the judge... [ Last Week's Ranks in Parentheses...] 1. St. Louis Cardinals: ( 1 ) The team at the top of the list is again the team with the best overall record, this time the Cards for the second straight week. Their one weak link in their tight rotation --Jason Marquis-- is 1 - 9 after starting the year 8 - 3. Good thing they don't use 5-man rotations in the playoffs... 2. Boston Red Sox: ( 3 ) I think we can make allowances for the Sox going 3 - 4 since last Sunday; it was the 14 - 2 run beforehand that caught our attention, as the ones with the rings have been driving circles around their opponents. This despite allowing 6 runs a game the last 17... and winning 13 of them. 3. Chicago White Sox: ( 2 ) The Southsiders started heading... well, it wasn't north. Points for demolishing the Puny Unit yesterday, to end an ignominious 7-game slide. But this raises some serious questions about how much of a negative impact Scott Podsednik's line-up absence will be felt. Chicago batted .217 over the week, which won't get you too far unless you have a Roger Clemens cloning project going on. 4. Atlanta Braves: ( 5 ) The Tomahawkers saw their starting pitching take some hits, but their miraculous youngsters continued to prove the genius of their desperate GM John Schuerholz, whose team could have folded up a whole bunch of tents with the rookies they had to roll out this year. Instead, Francouer and Co. lead the charge of another (yawn) division winner... 5. New York Yankees: ( 7 ) In Manhattan Georgie Steinbrenner is getting his prescription changed. Seems he misread the stat line that said the Yankees have a 3.19 ERA since last week, and a team Batting Average of .232. "Can't be right", he says to himself. "Someone call LensCrafters" It's right, and that includes yesterday's pasting at the hands of the frustrated White Sox. It won't last, but the Yankees will by the end of October. 6. LA Angels of Anaheim: ( 8 ) Looking a little average this week were the Halos -- getting by with the bats, but losing an edge on the mound. Outside of powerhouse Bartolo Colon, the starting rotation thins out, and Shields and Donnelly have WAY too many decisions for relievers. Yeah, they'll still win the division. Still too much skill hiding behind the curtains. 7. Philadelphia Phillies: ( 9 ) Moving quickly up the ranks with inspired play and solid pitching are the Phils. Somebody had to step in the NL Rest-of-'EM, and I can tell you I didn't guess it would be these guys. Maybe it's the fact they don't rely on the type of soap-operatics and in-house bickering on display on the team on the other side of the City of Brotherly Love. Just a theory. 8. Oakland Athletics: ( 4 ) Well, the A's cinderella story is starting to look all pumpkin again, after a sorry week winning just 1 of 6 against the Orioles and the Royals. Some of you may think they're better than that, some may feel they are simply returning to earth without a parachute. I think it's a slump. Their outstanding pitching will continue to keep them competitive, so that's why I haven't totally dropped them to the depths of the Team Rankings Page...yet. 9. Houston Astros: ( 6 ) Houston is feeling the late-summer heat in the wild-card race. Indeed they ceded the lead to the sweltering Phillies this past week. Add to that a pitching staff stumbling more than they had been, an offense not Red-Sox Ready to pick up the slack, and you've officially got a group of scufflers. But it won't last. They're too mentally tough on this ballclub. 10. Cleveland Indians: ( 11 ) So the Indians are back on the charge --looking to scalp the heads of every Yankee and Athletic they can find. And they did it this past week by dint of holding their opponents to a .197 BA. Cliff Lee and CC Music Company Sabathia and the best darn bullpen Period lead the group, oh and did I just say "by dint of" ? 11. Florida Marlins: ( 10 ) "What!!" , you holler aloud, spilling your triple-thousand-calorie Mint-Orange Frappa-whatever, "You dropped the Marlins down a spot? " I know...doesn't make sense. They're finally starting to put it together. But it's competitive right here in the middle of the list, with Houston and Oakland dropping down to it, and the Phillies and Indians jumping up through this rest stop. Plus, the Marlins have "finally been putting it together" so many times this year. Let's give it another week, shall we? 12. Minnesota Twins: ( 11 ) A bizarre, but soon-to-be brief, offensive explosion by the Twins, along with consistently .... um... consistent pitching, brings the Twins up the ranks, but more importantly to closer than earshot of the wild-card leaders. Add in Lew Ford's HR binge, and you've got a team with a 6 - 1 record and a .310 BA the last 7 games. That always helps you win, unless you're the Red Sox or Rangers, of course. 13. New York Mets: ( 12 ) I tell ya, the upside is that by this far into the season, the Shea Squad hasn't totally collapsed as they so often do, in the process crushing the hopes of their faithful followers. They've actually got a decent, if flawed, team still. Bad news: this division is just too competitive, and these guys can't string it together much longer, says I. 14. Washington Nationals: ( 15 ) The Nats are still buzzing in our ears. But I for one don't mind it. They have made a more than ugly fall from first-place grace, with one-run games, and thorough injuries coming back to haunt them. But they've got a world-class manager, decent pitching, and I still think a postseason berth is entirely possible in this middling mess of a playoff race. 15. Toronto Blue Jays: ( 13 ) Blue Jays had a stronghold on one thing this year: getting hitters out, and still doing it with Halladay grabbing pine. But they gave away the runs this past week, and were left looking particularly one-dimensional. Hey, still better than the Orioles. And the Royals, who I considered rounding out the list with due to 2 consecutive wins to wrap up the week. Speaking of wrapping up, it's high time I stopped wasting yours. As always, keep your mind in the game, and the game on your mind.