Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

There are just four weeks left before the 2019 MLB regular season comes to a close.

The Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers remain in a tier of their own at the top of our weekly power rankings, while the Atlanta Braves have staked claim to the No. 4 spot for the past several weeks.

Behind those four clubs, things continue to shuffle on a weekly basis. At this late stage in the season, there are still as many as 16 teams that can be called contenders.

For now, our weekly power rankings remain fluid. Teams rise and fall based on where they were ranked the previous week. If a team keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it's as simple as that.

Here are the rankings:

	Updated Rankings
1	Houston Astros (90-49)
2	New York Yankees (90-49)
3	Los Angeles Dodgers (90-50)
4	Atlanta Braves (85-54)
5	St. Louis Cardinals (77-60)	3
6	Minnesota Twins (85-52)	3
7	Washington Nationals (77-59)	2
8	Oakland Athletics (78-58)	2
9	Tampa Bay Rays (81-58)	1
10	Cleveland Indians (80-58)	3
11	Chicago Cubs (74-63)	1
12	Boston Red Sox (74-63)	2
13	New York Mets (70-67)	2
14	Philadelphia Phillies (71-65)	1
15	Arizona Diamondbacks (71-67)	3
16	Milwaukee Brewers (70-67)
17	Cincinnati Reds (64-74)
18	San Diego Padres (64-73)	3
19	Texas Rangers (68-71)	3
20	San Francisco Giants (66-71)	5
21	Los Angeles Angels (65-73)	1
22	Pittsburgh Pirates (60-77)	2
23	Chicago White Sox (60-77)	4
24	Seattle Mariners (58-81)	1
25	Colorado Rockies (59-80)
26	Toronto Blue Jays (55-84)
27	Kansas City Royals (49-89)	2
28	Miami Marlins (48-88)	1
29	Baltimore Orioles (45-92)	1
30	Detroit Tigers (40-95)

   

Teams That Impressed

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Since enduring a five-game losing streak at the beginning of August, the St. Louis Cardinals have gone 19-5 in their last 24 games with a plus-61 run differential—both tops in the majors during that span.

In the process, they've gone from 3.5 games back to three games up in the NL Central. With seven head-to-head contests left against the team chasing them in the rival Chicago Cubs, the Cards face a thrilling finish in what has been a season-long battle for the top spot.

Over in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins are enjoying a similarly impressive stretch with a 13-4 record in their last 17 games and a plus-47 run differential during that span.

After watching their division lead evaporate in the middle of August, they've built things back up to a 5.5-game cushion over the Cleveland Indians.

Those two clubs are on the doorstep of joining the four-team upper echelon.

Speaking of that top group, the Houston Astros (4-2) and New York Yankees (5-1) won both of their series last week to maintain their stranglehold on the top spots.

Further down the rankings, the Boston Red Sox (4-1) and Arizona Diamondbacks (5-1) kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a pair of series wins.

Since August 25, Boston's postseason odds climbed slightly from 6.3 to 6.7 percent, while Arizona's jumped from 1.6 to 5.3 percent, according to FanGraphs. In other words, both teams are still facing a steep uphill battle.

Those were the only six clubs to walk away with a pair of series wins in a week of ups and downs for much of the league.

Teams That Disappointed

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The door has slammed shut on the San Francisco Giants (1-5) after their surprise surge back into contention.

A red-hot 19-6 July convinced them not to sell at the trade deadline, but they went 11-16 with a minus-10 run differential in August, and they're 0-2 to begin September.

Taking that one step further, they're 3-10 in their last 13 games, and they've slipped from 4.5 to eight games back for the second NL wild-card spot with 25 games to play.

The Chicago White Sox (0-6) also had a rough week after steadily climbing the rankings in past weeks.

With a 60-76 record, they are firmly in third place in the AL Central, and a .500 record is out of reach, so they don't have much to play for from a win-loss standpoint.

However, the final month will be a period of player development as this team pushes toward legitimate contention in 2020.

While those two clubs had rough weeks, there's little question that the Colorado Rockies (0-6) are the coldest team in baseball. They've lost seven in a row and have a 2-13 record in their last 15 games.

It's been a precipitous fall for last year's NL Wild Card Game winner.

The Miami Marlins (1-6) and Detroit Tigers (1-5) joined those three teams in losing both of their series.

Players of the Week

AL Hitter: Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Stats: 10-for-23, 4 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 6 R

In April, the Boston Red Sox locked up shortstop Xander Bogaerts with a six-year, $120 million extension that will begin next season.

The decision to strike before he began his contract year has proved to be a stroke of brilliance, as he's undoubtedly boosted his stock with a career year offensively.

The 26-year-old is hitting .312/.388/.580 for a 144 OPS+, and he's already set career highs in doubles (48) and home runs (31) while matching his RBI total (103) from a year ago.

"If he's not the best shortstop in the league, well, he's in the conversation, and that's what we wanted," manager Alex Cora told reporters. "I'm very proud he's doing this, and I'm very happy he's going to be here for a while."

With his stellar performance at the plate last week, he became the first Red Sox shortstop since Nomar Garciaparra in 1998 to put together a 30-homer, 100-RBI season.

AL Pitcher: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

Stats: 2 GS, 2 W, 14.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 18 K

Who else?

After getting ejected from his Tuesday start for arguing balls and strikes, Justin Verlander took the mound Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays and twirled the third no-hitter of his storied career.

He joined Nolan Ryan (seven), Sandy Koufax (four), Bob Feller (three), Cy Young (three) and Larry Corcoran (three) as the only pitchers in MLB history with more than two no-hitters.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't know that," Verlander told reporters. "Definitely a big hurdle to get over and a special moment for me."

The 36-year-old now sports a 2.56 ERA and 0.77 WHIP with 257 strikeouts in 193 innings. He leads the AL in wins and ERA, and trails only teammate Gerrit Cole in strikeouts (266), so the pitching Triple Crown is within reach. He has to be viewed as the AL Cy Young front-runner here at the start of September.

NL Hitter: Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati Reds

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Stats: 11-for-30, 2 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R

With his fifth home run of the week Sunday, Eugenio Suarez reached the 40-homer plateau for the first time in his career.

The 28-year-old has sold out a bit to reach those new power heights, with an uptick in his strikeout rate (+4.9%) accompanying a downturn in his walk rate (-1.1%). That said, he's still getting on base at a solid .342 clip despite the whiffs.

But after he hit home run No. 40 in the first game of a doubleheader, he was hit in the hand with a pitch in the second game and forced to exit.

His MRI came back clean, and he's listed as day-to-day.

"I was out there seconds after it hit," manager David Bell told reporters. "I looked at it, and in my mind, it was broken. [The MRI result] was very surprising and excellent news. I was even talking to him last night about what a great season he's had. He remained really positive, and I think it really paid off today. He got great news, and it'll be nice to have him the rest of the way."

His 40 home runs are tied for seventh on the franchise single-season list. Once he returns to action, he'll look to pass Greg Vaughn and Johnny Bench (45), Adam Dunn (46), Ted Kluszewski (47 and 49) and George Foster (52).

NL Pitcher: Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Stats: 1 GS, W, 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 14 K

In his first start of August, Stephen Strasburg was shelled for nine hits and nine earned runs in 4.2 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Five starts later, he closed the month with his most dominant performance of the season.

While authoring his third straight quality start, Strasburg matched a season high with 14 strikeouts while allowing just two hits and zero walks over eight scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins.

"He can attack you in multiple ways," Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters. "Changeup, fastball, two-seam, four-seam, curveball. And throw them all for strikes."

The 31-year-old now has a 3.47 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with National League highs of 215 strikeouts and 179 innings.

Must-See Upcoming Matchup

Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins (Friday-Sunday)

Mike ClevingerJim McIsaac/Getty Images

The Minnesota Twins watched what was an 11.5-game lead in the AL Central standings June 2 evaporate into a tie with the Cleveland Indians on Aug. 9.

That lead has once again swelled to 5.5 games, and this weekend's three-game series between the two teams could determine whether the battle for division supremacy rages on. Another three-game series awaits Sept. 13-15 in Cleveland.

The Indians hold a 7-6 advantage this year even though the Twins have a 54-53 lead in runs scored in those head-to-head meetings.

Cleveland will turn to Adam Plutko and Aaron Civale on Friday and Saturday before handing the ball to Mike Clevinger—who struck out 10 Detroit Tigers over eight scoreless innings in his last start—in the finale.

The Twins will counter with Michael Pineda, Jake Odorizzi and either Jose Berrios or Randy Dobnak.

If the Indians can take two of three, it will keep them alive with a chance to do further damage at home next weekend. If the Twins win the series, it will all but clinch their first division title since 2010.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs and accurate through Sunday's games. Team records accurate through Monday's games.