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The 2025 Major League Baseball All-Star game is behind us, and what a game it was. The National League built a 6-0 lead through six innings, only to see it all disappear as the AL clawed its way back with four runs in the 7th and two in the top of the ninth. When the NL failed to even get a baserunner in the bottom of the 9th, the stage was set for the first-ever 'Home Run Swing-Off' to determine the winner.
Three players from each team were selected with each getting three swings. The side with the most combined home runs would determine the winner.
Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena, and Jonathan Aranda were chosen by the AL while the NL sent up Kyle Stowers, Kyle Schwarber, and Pete Alonso.
The AL took the early lead as Rooker sent two over the fence and Stowers only managed one. Arozarena stretched the AL lead to 3-1 before Schwarber connected on all three of his swings to give the NL a 4-3 lead. When Aranda was unable to tie the game, it was all over and Schwarber took home the MVP trophy as he saved the NL from a total collapse..
Ironically, Schwarber was the lead-off in the bottom of the ninth and had a broken bat line-out to 3rd. He came in to the game as a pinch hitter for Shohei Ohtani in the fifth and flew out to center, then drew a walk in his second at-bat in the 7th as the inning ended with him stranded at second.
One of the top highlights of the broadcast came between the 6th and 7th innings when the host Atlanta Braves and Major League Baseball honored Hank Aaron with a recreation of his 715th home run on April 8, 1974 to pass Babe Ruth as the top all-time home run leader.
With the All-Star Game now behind us, the regular season resumes on Friday with a full slate of games.
There are plenty of highlight moments to come as the teams battle for division and league crowns, and ultimately a World Series titles. There are also a lot of MLB player awards to hand out at the end of the year.
Currently, FanDuel.com odds have the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (-600) favored to claim another AL MVP award with the Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh in second (+360). It's Raleigh leads the HR race with 38 to Judge's 35. He also leads Judge 82-81 in the RBI column, even though he trails 125-90 in hits.
Shohei Ohtani is also favored to repeat as NL MVP as he continues to reward the Dodgers for his $700 million contract. He returned to pitching on June 16 with his first start since August 23, 2023 before he was sidelined by a UCL tear. He unanimously won his second AL MVP that season to pair with his 2021 trophy. In between Ohtani's 2021 and 20232 trophies, Judge took home the 2022 award.
Ohtani (-700) tops Pete Crow-Arnmstrong (+700) of the Chicago Cubs. He has a 32-31 NL home run lead over Arizona's Eugenio Suárez. Ohtani has 102 hits and 62 walks for a .382 OBP and a league-leading .987 OP which is also 3rd-best in all of the Major League. Ohtani has also struck out 109 times which is the 8th-most in baseball.
Ohtani only pitched a single inning in his return to the mound against the San Diego Padres, allowing two hits and an earned run for a 9.0 ERA. He has since made four more appearances with no decisions and a longest outing of three innings versus the San Francisco Giants on July 12. He hasn't allowed a single run in those other starts to reduce his ERA to 1.00 in 9 total innings.
Friday's regular season contests include the AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays hosting the San Francisco Giants. Toronto leads the Yankees by 2, the Red Sox by 3, the Rays by 5,.5 and the resurgent Orioles by 11.5.
Detroit has an 11.5-game lead in the AL Central over Minnesota, while Kansas City and Cleveland each trail by 12 with the White Sox a distant 27 games back of the Tigers. Detroit begins a series at Texas on Friday.
Houston tops the AL West at 5 games clear of Seattle, while the Rangers are 8.5 back, the LA Angels are 9 behind and the Athletics lag by 16. One of the more interesting series of this weekend has the Astros in Seattle.
Philadelphia is clinging to a half-game lead in the NL East over the NY Mets. Those two clubs have distanced themselves from the rest of the division as Miami trails by 10.5, Atlanta by 12.5 and Washington by 17. The Phils begin a series against the Angels on Friday while the Mets host Cincinnati
The Cubbies lead the NL Central by 1 over Milwaukee's Brew Crew. They have leads of 6.5 games over St. Louis, 7.5 over the Reds, and 18.5 over Pittsburgh. Chicago welcomes Boston to Wrigley this weekend while Milwaukee travels to the Ravine to face the NL West-leading Dodgers. L.A. has a 5.5-game advantage over San Diego and a 6-game edge on San Fran. The Diamondbacks are a distant fourth at 11 back while the Rockies are a whopping 37 behind with the worst record in the Majors at 22-74.