When you glance at the Major League Baseball team statistics, there doesn't seem to anything special about the Kansas City Royals.

• They are 18th in baseball in runs scored (273 in 68 games) and ninth in batting average (.258).
• They have hit the fewest home runs in MLB (33) and rank 25th in OPS (.675).
• Kansas City is 13th in ERA (3.69).

But the Royals have won a season-high seven straight games, and they have done so in a manner that might impress even Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs coach who has made sideline interviews appointment television.

(Interviewer: "Coach, what is it about your defense that seems to be frustrating the Heat?" Popovich: "They're making stops." Interviewer: "Thanks, Coach. Mike, back to you.")

During the seven-game streak, Kansas City has outscored the opposition 45-17. The Royals have held four of the seven opponents to two runs or fewer and have scored six runs or more in five of the seven contests.

The surge has pushed Kansas City's run differential to plus-8 on the season, making the Royals one of only six American League teams to be on the plus side.

The Royals have crept within 1.5 games of the Tigers for first place in the AL Central, thanks to starting rotation that has been surprisingly solid.

James Shields has won five consecutive games and is 8-3 with a 3.50 ERA. Rookie Yordano Ventura is 4-5 with a 3.20 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings.

Jason Vargas is 6-2 with a 3.30 ERA, and in eight starts since being inserted into the rotation, Danny Duffy is 3-4 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.

The worst of the bunch has been Jeremy Guthrie, but the veteran has a respectable 4.04 ERA and has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his last eight starts.

This week, the Royals have jumped into the top 10 of our power rankings. Two weeks ago -- the last time we ranked baseball's 30 teams (sorry, we intended to write Week 11 power rankings from the beach, but like Jose Canseco trying to chase down a ball in the outfield, Mother Nature won) -- Kansas City was No. 21.

Our Week 12 breakdown (all records are through the Sunday afternoon games on June 15):

• 1. Oakland Athletics (Week 10: 2): 42-27 (3-3 last week)
• 2. San Francisco Giants (1): 43-27 (1-6 last week)
• 3. Toronto Blue Jays (5): 41-30 (3-4 last week)
• 4. Milwaukee Brewers (3): 41-29 (3-3 last week)
• 5. Los Angeles Angels (6): 37-30 (3-2 last week)
• 6. St. Louis Cardinals (10): 37-32 (4-1 last week)
• 7. Detroit Tigers (4): 36-29 (3-3 last week)
• 8. Los Angeles Dodgers (9): 37-34 (4-3 last week
• 9. Kansas City Royals (21): 36-32 (5-0 last week)
• 10. New York Yankees (7): 35-33 (4-2 last week)
• 11. Atlanta Braves (8): 35-32 (3-3 last week)
• 12. Washington Nationals (14): 35-33 overall (3-4 last week)
• 13. Baltimore Orioles (11): 35-33 (4-3 last week)
• 14. Miami Marlins (13): 35-33 (2-3 last week)
• 15. Texas Rangers (12): 34-35 (3-3 last week)
• 16. Seattle Mariners (15): 35-34 (2-5 last week)
• 17. Pittsburgh Pirates (23): 34-35 (5-2 last week)
• 18. Cleveland Indians (17): 35-35 (3-4 last week)
• 19. Colorado Rockies (18): 34-35 (5-2 last week)
• 20. Cincinnati Reds (19): 33-35 (4-3 last week)
• 21. Minnesota Twins (20): 32-35 (3-3 last week)
• 22. Boston Red Sox (16): 31-38 (3-4 last week)
• 23. Chicago White Sox (22): 33-37 (2-4 last week)
• 24. Houston Astros (28): 32-39 (4-3 last week)
• 25. New York Mets (24): 31-38 (3-3 last week)
• 26. Philadelphia Phillies (25): 29-38 (4-2 last week)
• 27. Tampa Bay Rays (27): 27-43 (3-3 last week)
• 28. Chicago Cubs (30): 28-39 (3-4 last week)
• 29. San Diego Padres (26): 29-40 (1-5 last week)
• 30. Arizona Diamondbacks (29): 30-42 (2-5 last week)
• For a week-by-week look at our 2014 power rankings, click here.