Well, it’s time for the third installment of our weekly countdown series known simply as “3 Up & 3 Down.” So if you’re new to the Baseball Banter Broadcast, 3 Up & 3 Down is our weekly examination of three teams playing well, three teams that aren’t. And we add in a team to “Be On the Look Out” for (or BOLO) just for good measure. So let’s examine “week two” of 3 Up & 3 Down.

FIRST UP: TAMPA BAY RAYS (48-33)

The Tampa Bay Rays have recently been baseball’s best team, winning nine of their last eleven games. It was an incredible turnaround from a few weeks ago when Tampa was struggling to win games. Tampa even clawed back a three-game deficit in the division and turned it into a four-game lead. The Rays are once again home, taking on the second-place New York Yankees in a four-game set, and could do serious damage to any hopes the Yankees have for a divisional crown with a strong performance this upcoming series.

FIRST DOWN: NEW YORK YANKEES (49-40)

To say that the Yankees are struggling would be a massive understatement. New York has played such an incredibly poor brand of baseball that you could probably take nine random strangers off a remote island who’ve never heard of baseball, and they could probably beat the Yankees right now. The Yankees have lost nine of their last ten games, and many of them have come in absolutely pathetic fashion. At one point not long ago, the Yankees had the third-best run differential in the sport, and were at +107 (in week 11’s countdown.) Yet, now the Yankees are at just +78, meaning that New York has dropped nearly thirty runs to their opponents in three weeks. There is plenty of blame to go around in the Bronx, and the ship needs to be righted immediately if the team wants to have any hope of a deep postseason run.

SECOND UP: LOS ANGELES DODGERS (59-31)

There’s a reason that fans of every other baseball team hate the Dodgers’ right now, and it’s because they are good. Plain and simple, the Dodgers’ find ways to win and don’t rest on their laurels or past successes, they strive for more. At the time of this writing the Dodgers continue their winnings ways with a three game winning streak. However, more importantly to the point, LA has won eight of their last ten games. No it to mention the fact that LA has the very best run differential in the sport at +166. So again, it’s no wonder that fans of essentially every other team would hate the Dodgers, the keep winning and are aggressive and hungry for more like they’ve never eaten. The Dodgers are the gluttons of winning baseball and it doesn’t seem like anyone is capable of stopping their devouring ways.

SECOND DOWN: SAN DIEGO PADRES (43-45)

The team that has fiercely battled the Dodgers over the past few seasons is now coming up on some hard times. San Diego has not had the best time of late playing baseball in 2026. Over their past ten games, the Padres are 2-8 and have dropped to -45 in run differential. However, worst than that is the current eight game losing streak that the team is currently in the midst of dealing with during the last couple of weeks. There no doubt that there are some very talented baseball players on the Padres roster. And at some point the talent will win out. However, there is no denying that it has been a difficult stretch to endure if you’re a fan of the Friars.

THIRD UP: CHICAGO CUBS (50-40)

The Chicago Cubs are a very interesting squad to watch. As the 2026 season has unfolded, like many teams, the Cubbies have already faced their share of ups and downs. And right now is another time of riding high for the North Siders. Over their last ten games, the Cubs are 7-3 and have increased their run differential to +46. If Chicago has the hopes of chasing down the Milwaukee Brewers for the division lead, playing like this will surely help them to achieve that goal.

THIRD DOWN: LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM (36-54)

To say that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a team in need of change would be the biggest “thank you Captain Obvious” moment of the past decade. It has seemed like outside of originally signing Shohei Ohtani, not that it did much good overall for their record, there has not been anything remotely positive about the Angels since 2002 when the won the World Series. And their recent stretch of baseball is sadly more of the same. The Angels are in the midst of a five-game losing streak (at the time of this writing), and are 4-6 over the most recent ten game stretch. Anaheim has seemed directionless like a ship lost to the sea without a sail or a rudder. It’s sad to see the organization that houses one of the greatest players of All-Time (in Mike Trout) simply waste his entire career. Unless there are major and drastic changes, namely the selling of the team by Arte Moreno, it seems that the Angels are doomed to repeat their listless performance year after year.

BE ON LOOKOUT FOR (BOLO): MIAMI MARLINS (48-42)

The Miami Marlins have turned out, thus far, to be the biggest surprise of the 2026 season Miami has been playing such good baseball that it seems like the team may actually be buyers at the trade deadline, instead of the perennial sellers that they usually are at this time of year. Over their last ten games, the Marlins are 7-3 and have increased their run differential to +23. And while that may not seem like a lot for a team coming into the season expected to be performing to another losing record, this type of winning performance is a breath of fresh air.