Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is a finalist for his first National League MVP award after winning the AL honor twice, joined among the top three in NL voting by New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte.

Aaron Judge is mashing homers at an astounding pace for the New York Yankees.

The National League playoff race is getting very interesting with three weeks remaining in the regular season.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the midst of a stretch that most big-league clubs can only dream about, winners of six straight games, 20 of 25 since the All-Star break and 30 of 40 since late June.

Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte left Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies with a left ankle contusion.

Josh Bell homered from both sides of the plate in his Arizona debut, Ketel Marte also hit two home runs and the Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 on Friday night after blowing a five-run lead.

Ketel Marte, Joc Pederson and newcomer Josh Bell hit consecutive first-inning home runs for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

The oddsmakers say Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are the front-runners for baseball’s MVP awards.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had five RBIs and three hits, including a two-run homer, and the Arizona Diamondbacks used a franchise-record 14-run third inning to cruise over the Colorado Rockies 16-1 on Thursday night.

Corey Seager launched a two-run homer and made a slick defensive play in the eighth inning to start a crucial double play, Max Scherzer combined with four relievers for a gem on the mound and the Texas Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series.

Ketel Marte extended his postseason-record hitting streak to 19 games with a lined single in the sixth inning off Jon Gray in Game 3 of the World Series.

Merrill Kelly struck out nine in seven innings of three-hit ball, Ketel Marte extended his postseason hitting streak to a record 18 games and the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Texas Rangers 9-1 to even the World Series at one game apiece.

Ketel Marte has the longest hitting streak in postseason history at 18 games after a two-run single in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

Ketel Marte extended his postseason hitting streak to 17 games, tying the major league record shared by Derek Jeter and two others, when he laced an RBI double in the World Series opener.

Some say the Arizona Diamondbacks are ahead of schedule, advancing all the way to the World Series with a young roster that was supposed to need a few more years of seasoning before hitting the sport’s biggest stage.

Philadelphia spent most of the night taking advantage of Arizona’s moves in a bullpen game, building a three-run lead by the seventh inning.

Alek Thomas hit a tying, two-run homer in a three-run eighth inning, Gabriel Moreno followed with a go-ahead single and the Arizona Diamondbacks stunned the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-5 victory that tied the NL Championship Series at two games apiece.

Ketel Marte capped a three-hit afternoon with a walk-off single in the ninth, rookie Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 to close to 2-1 in the NL Championship Series.

The hard-hitting Arizona Diamondbacks rode a record-setting barrage of solo homers in the third inning to a 4-2 win in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday night, sweeping the 100-win Los Angeles Dodgers out of the playoffs.

The Arizona Diamondbacks became the first team to hit four home runs in a postseason inning when Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno went deep off the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Lance Lynn in the third inning of NL Division Series Game 3.

Gabriel Moreno’s three-run homer highlighted a six-run first inning for Arizona, and the Diamondbacks battered Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on the way to an 11-2 victory in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.

Clayton Kershaw crashed out of Game 1 of the NL Division Series, getting tagged for six runs in one-third of an inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Zac Gallen settled down after a shaky start and Arizona’s bullpen stepped up at the very end, helping the Diamondbacks sweep their NL Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-2 victory in Game 2.

Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno homered against Corbin Burnes, helping Arizona erase an early three-run deficit and sending the Diamondbacks to a 6-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series.

Geraldo Perdomo gave Arizona the lead with a two-run double in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks took advantage of Atlanta’s worst pitching effort of the season to beat the Braves 16-13.

Corbin Carroll singled with the bases loaded in the 10th inning and the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.

Luis Matos hit his first career home run, a go-ahead two-run drive in the sixth inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 for their 12th win in 13 games.

Evan Longoria hit a three-run homer to finish with four RBIs and the Arizona Diamondbacks withstood Philadelphia’s J.

Corbin Carroll had a two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 on Thursday to tie the idle Los Angeles Dodgers for a share of the NL West lead.

Brandon Crawford hit a game-ending two-run homer off Ian Kennedy moments after Thairo Estrada’s two-out triple, and the San Francisco Giants rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1.

Christian Walker had three hits and three RBIs, Jake McCarthy homered and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Phillies 13-1 to end Philadelphia’s nine-game winning streak and give interim manager Rob Thomson his first loss.

Zack Wheeler struck out eight over six sharp innings, Bryson Stott hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies won their ninth straight game with a 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa became the seventh trio of teammates to open a game with three straight home runs, starting a barrage of five long balls in 2 1/3 innings against New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Merrill Kelly threw seven shutout innings and Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed each homered in the eighth inning, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Sergio Alcantara snapped a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, Ketel Marte added an RBI double and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 3-2.

Ketel Marte had the game-ending sacrifice fly in the 10th inning after Seth Beer tied it with a single, and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros.

Carlos Correa hit his first spring homer with the Twins, providing a preview of what he could provide Minnesota’s lineup this season.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have decided to anchor their offensive future around Ketel Marte’s ample talents.

LaMonte Wade Jr. singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning and the San Francisco Giants held their two-game lead in the NL West by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4.

Ian Anderson pitched two-hit ball over six-plus innings and Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman homered as the Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-2.

Austin Riley had three doubles and three RBIs, Adam Duvall added a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves extended their lead in the NL East by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-4.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched a postseason berth by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 for their fifth straight win.

Tyler Gilbert became the first pitcher in 68 years to throw a no-hitter in his first big league start, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks over the San Diego Padres 7-0 Saturday night with the record-tying eighth no-hitter in the majors this season.

Albert Pujols doubled home three runs to cap a five-run second inning, Mookie Betts homered in his return from the injured list and the Los Angeles Dodgers hammered the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-0 on Sunday.

The Arizona Diamondbacks snapped their record 24-game road losing streak by routing the San Diego Padres 10-1, getting six strong innings from Merrill Kelly and four hits and five RBIs from Eduardo Escobar.

Burly slugger Daniel Vogelbach hobbled home on one leg when Arizona’s defense fell asleep, and the Diamondbacks dropped back into a rut with a 5-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Merrill Kelly pitched seven effective innings, Ketel Marte had two hits and the Arizona Diamondbacks finally snapped a 17-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Monday night.

Major League Baseball will begin its crackdown against pitchers using sticky substances, with umpires making regular, random mound checks starting on Monday.

Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer and passed Mel Ott for 14th on the career runs list, and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended the Arizona Diamondbacks’ losing streak to 17 games with a 9-8 victory.

The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped their 22nd straight road game, matching the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia Athletics for the major league record with a 13-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

Shohei Ohtani struck out eight, hit two doubles at the plate and pushed through an injury scare to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 10 innings.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom was pulled after five innings with right side tightness in his return from an injury to a similar area, but the bullpen closed out a four-hitter as New York beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 for its fifth straight win.

Starter Zach Eflin pitched four shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out four without a walk. ROCKIES 2, MARINERS 1Kyle Freeland allowed three hits in four shutout innings in his second start for Colorado, striking out four. Seattle's Marco Gonzales threw four shutout innings in his second start, allowing two hits while striking out four. Martín Pérez made his second start, allowing two hits and a walk in four scoreless innings. ATHLETICS 5, REDS 2 (7)Oakland lefty Sean Manaea struck out four in three innings, allowing one run and three hits.

Bauer wound up pitching three scoreless innings with the creative approach, striking out three while allowing two hits and a walk. Known for speaking his mind and going his own way, Bauer said he regularly shuts one eye during bullpen sessions and other workouts. METS 6, ASTROS 1 (6)Jacob deGrom pitched two scoreless innings in his spring debut, striking out three and allowing one hit. AdBLUE JAYS 7, PHILLIES 1 (7)Newcomer Tanner Roark made his first start for Toronto, allowing one hit in two scoreless innings. Jorge López threw three scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)SAN FRANCISCO Evan Longoria and Darin Ruf launched back-to-back home runs in the second inning and the Giants spoiled Madison Bumgarners return to San Francisco with a 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night. His 119 wins are third-most in San Francisco history and his 1,794 strikeouts rank second. Joey Bart and Mauricio Dubn added consecutive RBI triples in the sixth to give San Francisco a 4-1 lead. San Francisco improved to 6-2 against the Diamondbacks this season, outscoring them 39-23. He went 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA in three starts against San Francisco last season.

(AP Photo/Matt York)PHOENIX David Peralta slapped a bases-loaded single through the right side of the infield with one out in the ninth inning to push the Arizona Diamondbacks past the streaking Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Monday night. The As trailed 3-1 going into the eighth but came back to tie it after loading the bases with one out. Ahmed quickly made up for his mistake, smacking a leadoff double to left field to start the decisive ninth-inning rally. UP NEXTAthletics: Oakland wraps up the quick two-game series by sending RHP Frankie Montas (2-1, 1.57 ERA) to the mound. Diamondbacks: Arizona goes with RHP Luke Weaver (0-3, 11.85), who has pitched just 13 2/3 innings this season in four starts.

The Astros built their 4-0 lead with the help of Kyle Tucker's two-run homer and Abraham Toro's solo shot. But the right-hander fell apart in the fourth inning and was eventually pulled after facing 10 batters. George Springer hit a two-run homer in the fifth to pull the Astros within a 9-6 margin but they couldn't get any closer. Once it opened, the homers started flying in the desert: The Astros hit three and the D-backs hit four over the final six innings. Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (0-0, 2.70) will try to win his first game of the year after getting a no-decision in his first two starts.

PHOENIX Jos Altuve and Carlos Correa hit solo homers, George Springer added a two-run double and the Houston Astros roughed up Madison Bumgarner in an 8-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night. Altuve hit his homer in the first inning and Correa connected in the second. The Astros put the game away in the fifth inning with five runs, including two on Springer's bases-loaded double. Weve spoken and budgeted for rough times.DODGERS AFTERMATHCorrea was in the spotlight during the Astros' series with the Los Angeles Dodgers last week. The 26-year-old Young was playing in just his second game in the big leagues.