While the Cubs swerved for the first time last week with four straight losses, the Giants quietly cemented their status as baseball's most dominant team.

Of course, it's a meaningless, subjective ranking that neither team cares about having.

But after all the hype surrounding the Cubs since the start of spring training, it's interesting to see a franchise with three titles in six seasons get overshadowed by a franchise with none in 107 years.

The Cubs will likely take center stage in the upcoming All-Star Game if the five players currently leading the voting at their positions make it into the starting lineup, joining probable pitching selections Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester.

In comparison, the Giants have no starting players and could send as few as three representatives — starters Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto and catcher Buster Posey, who was about 75,000 votes behind leader Yadier Molina in the most recent voting.

Still, from May 11 entering the weekend series against the Phillies, the Giants had the best record in baseball at 30-9. They had 21 wins in their last 28 road games, dating to May 1. They beat the Cubs in two of three in their series last month at AT&T Park and won't meet again until a four-game set at Wrigley Field on Sept. 1-4.

The Giants also have a relatively easy schedule coming up, with their next 19 games, starting Friday, against teams with sub-.500 records. They had a 32-14 record against such teams entering the weekend, so it should be time to clean up.

The strange part of their prolonged hot streak is that they've done it with little power from Brandon Crawford (no home runs since May 19) or Posey (no homers since June 2) and without Hunter Pence, out since June 2 and not expected back until late July after surgery for a hamstring tear.

Like the Cubs, the pitching has carried the load. And the starting pitching has been as good as advertised, with Bumgarner and Cueto leading the way.

Free-agent signee Jeff Samardzija has rebounded from a rough season on the South Side and another former White Sox starter, Jake Peavy, recovered from a start so awful it appeared his career had finally hit the wall. After going 1-5 with an 8.21 ERA in his first nine starts, Peavy went into Friday's start with a 1.76 ERA in his previous five outings.

Rookie Albert Suarez replaced the injured Matt Cain in the rotation and only made it stronger.

Also like the Cubs, the Giants are trying to curb enthusiasm over their hot stretch. Asked about the Dodgers' pursuit of them, manager Bruce Bochy asked a reporter if he knew the Giants' magic number yet, suggesting everyone was getting ahead of themselves.

But they're good, and they know it.

“I think everyone here in this clubhouse knows we have a lot of talent,” second baseman Joe Panik told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Right now, we're playing up to our standards.”

Perhaps the Cubs would be better off embracing the underdog role and letting the Giants embrace the target for a while.

Number nine: If the current All-Star voting numbers hold, Cubs President and former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein will have drafted, acquired or signed half of the players in the starting lineups — five in the NL and four in the AL.

The nine players are Anthony Rizzo (drafted with Red Sox, acquired with Cubs), Ben Zobrist (signed with Cubs), Addison Russell (acquired with Cubs), Kris Bryant (drafted with Cubs), Dexter Fowler (acquired and signed with Cubs), David Ortiz (signed with Red Sox), Xander Bogaerts (drafted with Red Sox), Jackie Bradley Jr. (drafted with Red Sox) and Mookie Betts (drafted with Red Sox).

If Arrieta, whom Epstein acquired from the Orioles, gets the NL start, make that an even 10.

But at this point, it looks like Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw may start over Arrieta, based on another dominant first half. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kershaw on Monday joined Rube Marquard (1912), Gaylord Perry (1974), Ron Guidry (1978) and Randy Johnson (2000) as the only pitchers since 1912 to have a record of 11-1 or better and an ERA of 1.57 or lower after their first 15 games.

NL manager Terry Collins of the Mets will choose the starter.

Brave new world: An astute Tribune sports reader named Kevin Pender came up with a fine suggestion to add some spice to the All-Star Game — ditch the too-long, too-boring, too-Berman-ish Home Run Derby and replace it with a Bat Flip and Taunting Derby.

In this plan, the hitter gets five swings to hit one home run and can taunt his pitcher both before and after each pitch. If he fails to hit one, he's out.

Like Olympic gymnastics and figure skating or the NBA's slam-dunk contest, the Bat Flip and Taunting Derby would have to be decided by voting.

So how would it work?

“After he hits his homer, he can admire his shot, flip his bat and taunt the pitcher as he trots around the bases,” Pender suggested. “No bad language or obscene gestures allowed. Points could be given for taunting, bat flipping, admiration and distance of homer. I guarantee that fans and players will love it.”

I wholeheartedly agree, and since Jose Bautista is on the disabled list, I'd make Bryce Harper the favorite over a field that would include Ortiz, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Yoenis Cespedes, Mark Trumbo, Jose Altuve and Bumgarner.

It sounds like a good way to get the kids to turn the TV on for baseball.

Anyone second the motion?

psullivan@tribpub.com