1. Kansas City Monarchs (22-10, 1st, West)
The Monarchs retain their top spot after winning a weekend set against the Milwaukee Milkmen at home over the weekend, bouncing back from a series loss against Fargo-Moorhead. Overall the top team in the league has won 10 of their last 14 ballgames and leads the league in team batting average (.290) and OPS (.862) while boasting a top-three pitching staff as well.
2. Sioux Falls Canaries (19-15, 3rd, West)
What a week it was in Sioux Falls. The Canaries have soared to the third best record in the league by winning six in a row and 10 of their last 12 games including series wins over Sioux City and Kane County before sweeps of Gary SouthShore and Kane County once again. The Canaries bats have come alive, shooting up to second in the league in team batting average (.276) and OPS (.858) led by Jabari Henry and Josh Rehwaldt with 11 and nine home runs respectively.
3. Sioux City Explorers (22-13, 2nd, West)
The Explorers handled themselves well against the best team in the East, splitting six straight games against the DockHounds before then sweeping a four-game set at home against Lincoln to end this week. The pitching staff was stellar against the Saltdogs, allowing a total of just nine runs in the series with five of those coming in one game on Saturday. The Explorers have two standout starters in Jared Wetherbee (2.16 ERA) and Austin Drury (2.57 ERA) who have led the way.
4. Lake Country DockHounds (18-14, 1st, East)
After splitting that long home-and-home set against Sioux City, the DockHounds continued their western road-trip with a series victory over Fargo-Moorhead over the weekend. The DockHounds pitching has stood out, limiting the RedHawks to nine runs over the weekend and taking over the top spot in the league in terms of team ERA (2.95). Luke Hansel has been the ace among multiple strong starters, with four wins on the season and a 2.18 ERA (4th in AAPB).
5. Chicago Dogs (18-16, 2nd, East)
It looked like Chicago was trending in the wrong direction, losing six of seven to Cleburne and Winnipeg, but they turned it around in a big way and won four in a row to close out the week, including three against Cleburne who is one of their biggest rivals in the East. They had to bring out the bats to beat the Railroaders powerful offense and they did just that, scoring seven, six and 11 runs respectively in the three-game set.
