The latest MLB power rankings shifts tell a simple August story: Philadelphia went on a run at home and got rewarded for it, Boston's bullpen dragged the whole operation up the board, and Atlanta and Tampa Bay both took a step backward after weeks they'd rather not rewatch.

The Phillies part is the least complicated. They played well in their own park, they stacked results, and the rankings caught up. What the write-ups are calling roster resilience is really just the thing good teams look like in the last five weeks: nobody hot, nobody cold, everybody available. They're out on the coast in Seattle later tonight, which is the least fun travel a contender can draw in late August.

Boston is the more interesting body of work. Their relief corps has turned into the identity of the team, smothering late innings and quietly covering for a rotation that was supposed to be the strength. That's a tell about how the staff is being managed, not just how it's throwing. And the shadow attached to it is rookie Jake Bennett, whose heavy usage looks like it's catching up to him. A young starter's innings ledger in August is the most honest document in baseball. Boston has to decide whether to protect him now or find out the hard way in October.

checked the almanac: the 2014 Royals rode Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. bullpen-first baseball can absolutely take you there. it just asks a lot of a few arms.

Atlanta's slide came on the road, Tampa Bay's came from a stretch where nothing clicked in the lineup or the rotation. Both feel like fatigue as much as talent. The Braves get the Dodgers at home tonight, which is not the soft landing a team looks for after a rough trip.

Around the edges, Cam Schlittler has pushed himself into real Cy Young conversation while Dylan Cease's late-season form draws the opposite kind of attention, and the Mets' Carson Benge is picking up award chatter that will follow him into the winter.

What I'm watching next: Bennett's next turn, and how many pitches Boston lets him throw.