Professional baseball rankings -- week 15

Hello again baseball fans. My professional baseball rankings for week 15 are ready for your inspection. My rankings reflect all games played from April 1st through July 15th. New rankings every Week.

*Number 1: SEATTLE MARINERS -(66-25)- Pitcher Aaron Sele showcases his talent on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball by pitching a complete game shutout against Arizona 8-0. He retired 22 batters straight at one point. He improves his record to 11-1. His ERA is 3.28. Mariners are 41 games above .500. They are No. 1 in hitting and No. 2 in pitching in the A.L. Just think if they still had A-Rod.

*Number 2: MINNESOTA TWINS -(57-34)- Twins 33-14 at home. Lead Cleveland by five games in A.L.Central. Twins defeat Milwaukee Thursday 13-5. Pitcher Kyle Lohse improves to 3-0 with that win. Torii Hunter hit two homeruns to give him 15 on the year. Third baseman Corey Koskie hit two also, to give him 14 on the year. Doug Mientkiewicz added his 12th of the year. Jacque Jones hit two, to give him eight for the year. That's a total of seven homeruns in that Twin rout.

*Number 3: NEW YORK YANKEES -(53-37)- Yankees beat Florida on Saturday, 5-4. Roger Clemons pitched, but did not figure in the decision. Game was won in the 10th inning when pinch hitter Chuck Knoblauch singled home a run. Yankees lead Boston in the A.L. East by 0.5 game.

*Number 4: CHICAGO CUBS -(53-37)- Pitcher Jon Lieber improves his record to 12-4 with 2-1 win over Kansas City Sunday. Lieber's ERA is 3.32. Tom Gordon recorded his 16th save. Slugger Sammy Sosa hit his 30th homerun, in a loss to the White Sox Friday 7-2. Cubs made trade for Tampa's Fred McGriff, but Fred has no-trade clause in contract. He hasn't approved the deal yet or disapproved it. Cubs really need him.

*Number 5: BOSTON RED SOX -(53-38)- Pitcher Hideo Nomo goes to 9-4 with 8-5 win over Montreal Sunday. He struckout seven. Derek Lowe earned his 17th save. Chris Stynes hit two homeruns to give him six on the year. Brian Daubach went 2-3 with a double and two RBI's. Pedro Martinez may be out till September.

*Number 6: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES -(52-39)- Phillies tear up Yankees Sunday 9-3. Pitcher Robert Person improves his record to 7-5 with win. Doug Glanville went 2-5 with a double and two RBI's. First baseman Travis Lee went 1-3 with a double and two RBI's.

*Number 7: ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS -(53-38)- Ace pitcher Curt Schilling goes to 13-4 with 6-2 win over Anaheim Friday. Schilling's ERA is 3.15. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez hit his 36th homerun of the year. He went 3-4 with three RBI's, two runs and a double. He has 89 RBI's on the year. He is batting .353. Mark Grace, who has done an excellent job at first base hit his 10th homerun in that contest.

*Number 8: ATLANTA BRAVES -(51-40)- Pitcher Tom Glavine won his second game in a row by beating Baltimore Friday night 7-1. Outfielder Andruw Jones went 1-4 with three RBI's and one run scored. B.J. Surhoff went 2-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. He also hit a double. Greg Maddux improved to 11-5 with 6-5 win over Baltimore Thursday night. His ERA is 2.60. This kid Mark DeRosa, has really been a big plus for the Braves when the Braves need him. He's batting .413. His OBP is .486.

*Number 9: HOUSTON ASTROS -(50-40)- Astros are 28-18 when playing on the road. Pitcher Tim Redding improves to 2-0 with 5-3 win over Cleveland Sunday. Moises Alou slammed his 19th homerun of the year in that win. Pitcher Roy Oswalt won his eighth game of the year and his sixth straight decision Friday over San Deigo 11-3. Oswalt has an ERA of 2.39. He struckout eight in that game. Lance Berkman read Ted William's book "Science of Hitting" when he was eight or nine years old. It shows. He is batting .357. He has 26 homeruns and 82 RBI's.

*Number 10: CLEVELAND INDIANS -(51-38)- Pitcher C.C. Sabathia runs his record to 8-3 with 5-1 win over Cincinnati Friday. He had 11 strikeouts. Second baseman Roberto Alomar hit his 10th homerun in that game. Along with three RBI's. Closer John Rocker has been struggling lately. He's lost a couple of games and has been wild. Outfielder Juan Gonzalez hit his 25th homerun in an extra inning loss Saturday 6-5 to Cincinnati. Ellis Burks hit his 22nd.

*Number 11: LOS ANGELES DODGERS -(50-42)- Pitcher Kevin Brown could be hurt again. Having problems with his elbow. He beat Pittsburgh Sunday 4-2. His record is 8-4. Jeff Shaw got his 25th save. They trail Arizona by 3.5 games in the N.L. West.

*Number 12: SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS -(48-44)- Barry Bonds hit his 40th homerun Thursday night, in an extra inning loss to Seattle. Pitcher Livan Hernandez improves to 7-11 with 7-6 win over Texas Sunday. His ERA is 6.16.

*NUMBER 13: OAKLAND ATHLETICS -(47-44)- Slugger Jason Giambi has been hot. Friday he hit his 20th homerun and went 4-5 with three RBI's, two runs and a double in a 11-7 win over Los Angeles. He hit his 21st on Saturday and his 22nd on Sunday. Pitcher Tim Hudson was the winner Friday. He is 10-5 on the year. Oakland still trails Seattle by 19 games in the A.L. West.

*NUMBER 14: FLORIDA MARLINS -(46-46)- Marlins crush Yankees Friday 11-1. Pitcher Chuck Smith improves to 5-5. Cliff Floyd hit his 22nd homerun in that game. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez hit two homruns to give him six on the year. He went 3-4 with 3 RBI's and three runs scored.

*NUMBER 15: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS -(45-45)- Mark McGwire hit his 564th career homerun in 3-2 win over Detroit Saturday. He passed Reggie Jackson for career homeruns. He is now sixth on the all-time homerun list. Pitcher Matt Morris won his 11th in that contest. Rookie Albert Pujols hit his 22nd homerun of the year and Lankford hit his 15th. Cardinal pitching ranks seventh in the N.L. with an ERA of 4.35.

*Number 16: CHICAGO WHITE SOX -(44-45)- Pitcher Sean Lowe improved his record to 5-1 with 3-1 win over Cubs Saturday. His ERA is 2.37. Carlos Lee hit his 16th homerun of the year. Ray Durham went 3-5 with one RBI and one run scored. Keith Foulke recorded his 19th save. Pitcher David Wells had back surgery and will probably be out for the year.

*Number17: MILWAUKEE BREWERS -(43-47)- Geoff Jenkins slams his 15th homerun of the year in 6-3 win over Minnesota Friday. Ron Belliard hit his fifth. Richie Sexson went 2-4 with three RBI's and one run scored. Pitcher Allen Levrault goes to 4-3 with win.

*Number 18: SAN DEIGO PADRES -(44-48)- Padres win Sunday 5-1 over Anaheim. Pitcher Brian Lawrence goes to 2-0 with a complete game. Phil Nevin hit his 24th homerun of the year. He is batting .304 and has knocked in 76 runs.

*Number 19: TORONTO BLUEJAYS -(44-48)- Pitcher Joey Hamilton improves to 5-6 with 4-2 win over Philadelphia Saturday. Billy Koch got his 18th save.

*Number 20: ANAHEIM ANGELS -(43-48)- Pitcher Scott Schoeneweis improves his record to 7-8 with 4-1 win over Arizona Thursday. Closer Troy Percival got his 22nd save. Catcher Ben Molina hit his first homerun of the year in that win.

*Number 21: BALTIMORE ORIOLES -(41-50)- Cal Ripken Jr. hit two homeruns against Atlanta Saturday, in 4-1 win. He has six on the year now. On June 13, 1999 he went 6-6 with two HR's, six RBI's and 13 total bases against Atlanta.

*Number 22: COLORADO ROCKIES -(40-51)--Rockies lead the N.L in runs scored with 541. Larry Walker hit his 28th homerun of the year in a 6-3 loss to Oakland Sunday.

*Number 23: NEW YORK METS -(41-52)- Pitcher Rick Reed improves to 8-4 with 6-2 win over Toronto Sunday. Mike Piazza hit his 23rd homerun of the season. He drove in three runs.

*Number 24: MONTREAL EXPOS -(39-53)- Expos defeat Tampa Bay Saturday 10-2. Tony Armas Jr. improves his record to 8-8 with win. Jose Vidro hit his 13th homerun of the year and Vladimir Guerrero hit his 23rd.

*Number 25: DETROIT TIGERS -(39-49)- First baseman Tony Clark has been rumored to be for sell. He does have a bad back though. They beat Cincinnati Sunday 8-5. Catcher Robert Fick hit two homeruns to give him sixteen on the year. Bobby Higginson hit his 11th.

*Number 26: TEXAS RANGERS -(37-54)- Bless his heart, he's doing everything he can to win. I'm talking about Alex Rodriquez. He hit his 26th homerun in 7-6 loss to San Francisco Sunday. He's batting .322 with 76 RBI's.

*Number27: KANSAS CITY ROYALS -(35-56)- They had loss nine in a row, before winning Saturday. Royals beat Pittsburgh 7-4 Saturday. That's the only bright spot for this team all week long.

*Number 28: PITTSBURGH PIRATES -(35-55)- Pitcher Todd Ritchie barely misses perfect no-hitter. He allows hit to Royal's Luis Alicea in the ninth. Ritchie improved his record to 6-9. His ERA is 3.77. Outfielder Brian Giles has hit 22 homeruns and knocked in 67 runs so far this season. His average is .329.

*Number 29: CINCINNATI REDS -(34-57)- Nobody in their right mind expected this. Team not playing any better with Griffey. They are 19.5 games out of first in the N.L. Central. Their home record is 12-34.

*Number 30: TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS -(29-63)- I don't think it matters if they keep McGriff or not. Fred hits two homerun against his former team, the Atlanta Braves. Tampa won that game 9-1. Fred has 18 homeruns on the year. I would like to see him go back to Atlanta. The Braves could use his pop on the bat. Devil Rays have allowed 567 runs to be scored on them.

See you at the game.