MLB power rankings: Red-hot Astros look unstoppable as All-Star break nears. Gabe Lacques. ... completing a startling five-week rise from No. 12 to No. 2 inpower rankings the rankings.

Beal was set to make $53 million with Phoenix in the upcoming season, and that meant the trade market was drier than the Sonoran desert. Instead, the Suns chose to buy out Beal after a disappointing season in which he averaged 17.0 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds across 53 games.

The Boston Red Sox, who traded $313 million slugger Rafael Devers in mid-June, will take a 10-game winning streak into the second half, climbing within a game of the New York Yankees and lurking within striking distance of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in a once-again rugged American League East.