Once again the MLB Power Rankings here at SB Nation New York show just how different the paths are for the New York Yankees and New York Mets down the stretch of the 2012 season. The Yankees were an impressive 5-2 this week, while the Mets continued to flounder with an ugly 2-4 road trip.
The Yankees are in the middle of a pennant race while the Mets are playing out the string and that clearly shows in this week's rankings.
1. Hiroki Kuroda, Yankees - The 37-year-old Japanese right-hander has had a good season for the Yankees, but with CC Sabathia on the disabled list he has really stepped up his game. Kuroda went 2-0 over the past week, surrendering only one run in 17 innings of work. He had a complete-tame shutout of the Texas Rangers and worked eight one-run innings Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. He surrendered only six hits. Kuroda is now 12-8 with a 2.96 ERA on the season. -- Ed Valentine
2. Ichiro Suzuki, Yankees - The 38-year-old isn't the superstar he once was, but Yankee pinstripes seem to have revived him. Sunday he hit a pair of home runs in a 4-1 victory over Boston, only the seventh multi-homer game of his career. For the week, Ichiro hit .526 (10-for-19). In 26 games with the Yankees he is hitting .322. With the Mariners Ichiro was hitting only .261. -- EV
3. Matt Harvey, Mets - Sure, it's another lost season for the Mets, but at least their fans get a chance to see the young Harvey take the mound every week. Against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, Harvey was once again brilliant, pitching into the eighth inning while giving up just one run on just 89 pitches.
4. Derek Jeter, Yankees - The 38-year-old Yankee Captain continues to hit and to compile milestones. He hit .370 over the past week (10-for-27) with a home run, three doubles and three RBI. Jeter's home run was the 250th of his career, tying him for ninth on the Yankees' all-time list with Graig Nettles. He is one of only four players to have 3,000 hits, 300 stolen bases and 250 homers. Rickey Henderson, Willie Mays and Craig Biggio are the others. -- EV
5. Jon Niese, Mets - Like Harvey, Niese tossed a gem this week, blanking the Washington Nationals over 7.1 innings and giving up just five hits while striking out seven. In August, the lefty has now given up only six runs in 28.1 innings.
6. Nick Swisher, Yankees - With Alex Rodriguez on the DL and Mark Teixeira missing a few games with a wrist injury, Swisher picked up some of the slack. He matched Jeter's .370 average over the past week, but added four homers and 11 RBI. He also filled in capably at first base for Teixeira. -- EV
7. Ike Davis, Mets - Another lackluster week of offense for the Mets (2.8 runs per game) but Davis did manage to get the team going in both of their wins with long balls. Considering he was invisible to start the season, sitting at 22 HR and 67 RBI is respectable.
8. Jon Rauch, Mets - Even after saving Frank Francisco's bacon again -- this time from blowing Matt Harvey's second major league win -- Terry Collins still refuses to move Rauch into the closer role. The tall righty had another solid week and deserves to push Francisco out of the top spot in the bullpen.
9. Rafael Soriano, Yankees - Three appearances, three innings pitched, three saves for the Yankees' replacement closer. Soriano gave up just one hit in his three innings of work. He has been brilliant stepping in for Mariano Rivera, converting 31 of his 33 save opportunities and pitching to a Rivera-esque 1.64 ERA. -- EV
10. Jason Bay, Mets - Don't check your computer screen, Bay actually found his way into the rankings. Sure, he sat the first two games of the week and only picked up hits in one of the four games he appeared in. But Bay went yard for just the sixth time this year along with Davis to help Harvey win Thursday. He also picked up one of the two Mets RBI on Sunday.