The San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds have both reached new heights in our weekly MLB power rankings, and they are quickly closing the gap to the top tier of teams made up of the Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers.
Further down the rankings, the Chicago Cubs are steadily making a climb of their own, and they could still be alive in a wide-open NL Central race.
With a little more than a month to go until this year's trade deadline, the line between buyers and sellers will be drawn in the coming weeks, and for teams on the fringe that makes the lead-up to the All-Star break a crucial time.