Manny Machado of the Padres stays atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. In a quiet performance for Machado, he goes two for five in the 13-2 drubbing of the Rockies in Colorado. That opens a little distance between Machado and Anthony Rendon of the Angels. Rendon goes 0 for 4 as Seattle gets a rare win 2-1.

Jose Abreu of the White Sox picks up a single and a walk in four trips to the plate to hold third place and help Chicago beat Kansas City 5-2. Chicago and Cleveland are tied for first place in the AL Central, and the White Sox lead the season series between the two clubs 4-2.

Trea Turner of the Nationals hits well again in a loss, as he goes three for five against the Red Sox to hold fourth place. Turner and teammate Juan Soto are both hitting .360 on the season.

Mookie Betts of the Dodgers moves back into the top five as he singles twice, walks, and hits a sacrifice fly in five trips to the plate. A friend asked me recently if I was going to make any predictions about the season. My prediction is that this is the Dodgers’s year. Sometimes a team is just so good you can can’t see them losing. The 1976 Reds and the 1998 Yankees were two teams that looked invincible from the beginning. Dodgers hitters now occupy five of the slots between five and fourteen. It’s tough to shutdown all that talent over a even a small number of games.