MLB Heat Check, Los Angeles Dodgers 8-2 in Their Last 10

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

Burning up

Los Angeles Dodgers own the league's best recent ledger at 8-2, and the +24 runs margin underneath it says the record is earned. Per game the numbers read 5.7 for and 3.3 against, a gap that does not happen by accident across 10 games.

Right behind them sit New York Mets, 7-3 over the same kind of stretch and +22 on runs margin, quieter, but pointed the same direction.

And do not sleep on Tampa Bay Rays, quietly 7-3 across their last 10.

The whole league is averaging 4.7 runs a game in this stretch, which makes Los Angeles Dodgers outrunning that number by 1.0 per night the loudest stat on the page.

Who's cold

Then there is Colorado Rockies. A 2-8 stretch is ugly on its own; pair it with a -28 runs margin and it stops looking like bad luck. They are being outscored by about 2.8 runs a game, and no scheduling quirk explains that away.

Washington Nationals are not far behind on the misery index at 3-7.

Do not ignore the middle class, either: Atlanta Braves (5-5) and San Francisco Giants (5-5) sit close enough that a single hot or cold series flips their order.

At a glance

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: Los Angeles Dodgers meet Cincinnati Reds in their next game, and we will find out quickly whether this stretch travels.