MLB Heat Check: Philadelphia Phillies Are Scorching (9-1 Last 10)

Every MLB season has a week when the temperature map redraws itself, and this feels like one of them. Philadelphia Phillies have become the team nobody wants to see next on the schedule, while San Francisco Giants are hunting for anything that resembles a good night.

Who's hot

Nobody is playing better than Philadelphia Phillies right now. The record says 9-1 over their last 10; the runs column says even more, a +28 margin that works out to 6.5 scored and 3.7 allowed a night.

The chase belongs to Kansas City Royals, who have gone 9-1 with a +25 margin of their own.

Keep Milwaukee Brewers in the conversation too, at 7-3 over their last 10.

Some context helps: across every club in the sample, scoring sits at 4.3 runs per game right now. Philadelphia Phillies are beating the league's own pace by 2.2 a game.

Who's cold

At the bottom of the temperature map sit San Francisco Giants: 2-8 in their last 10, -17 on runs margin. That is about 1.7 a game in the wrong direction, and no lineup shuffle fixes it overnight.

Detroit Tigers are not far behind on the misery index at 2-8.

The middle of the table is where the real congestion lives: Baltimore Orioles (5-5) and Toronto Blue Jays (5-5) are separated by almost nothing, and one good weekend reshuffles the whole neighborhood.

By the numbers

Here is the warm half of the form table, last ten games for every club:

The fine print

Records fib a little and runs margins fib less. When the two columns disagree about a team, trust the margin, it is the slower liar.

One to circle: Philadelphia Phillies meet Seattle Mariners in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.