Major League Baseball is thriving two years after introducing sweeping measures to make the game more exciting.

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

Will Smith hit a late three-run homer, Shohei Ohtani added his 43rd of the season and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their NL West lead to five games with a 10-9 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Justin Verlander is scheduled to start for the Houston Astros against former teammate Carlos Correa and the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.

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.

Major League Baseball has made the games faster, the bases bigger and defense a little bit harder.

Clayton Kershaw pitched seven dominant innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West for the ninth time in 10 seasons, blanking the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0.

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols blasted two more homers, pushing his career total to 692 and helping St. Louis beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 16-7.

Rob Thomson took his first loss as interim manager and the Philadelphia Phillies ended a nine-game winning streak, falling 13-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Josh Rojas launched his first three longballs of the season and the Arizona Diamondbacks powered past the Chicago Cubs 10-6 in a game of home run derby at Wrigley Field.

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.