​The Los Angeles Dodgers are intent on addressing two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s persistent knee issue as they push toward a third consecutive World Series title, with the season now at its midway point. As MLB reached the mid-season All-Star break on Sunday, Los Angeles stood atop the standings with a 61-36 record, despite falling 5-3 at home to Arizona. Ohtani, who homered on the first Arizona pitch in Sunday’s game, planned to skip the All-Star Game and have fluid drained from his left knee, allowing four days of rest before the Dodgers resume play Friday against the New York Yankees. “The knee flared up. Sometimes it calms down,” Ohtani said, adding that his pitching mechanics may be contributing to the knee issue. “In terms of the knee, I think it’s more of my pitching motion. That’s something I need to work on.” Ohtani is in the running for his fifth overall MVP award and a fourth consecutive National League MVP, following his American League MVP season with the Angels. “He has been managing this quite well, the knee, and so if there’s a chance we could be proactive and get it drained… we were going to do that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. At the plate, Ohtani is hitting .293 with 22 home runs and 58 RBIs, while on the mound he has gone 8-2 with 95 strikeouts and a 1.79 ERA. The Dodgers claimed the 2024 World Series title by defeating the Yankees and then topped Toronto last year. They could become the first National League club to win three straight championships, and the first team overall to do so since the Yankees accomplished it from 1998 to 2000. At the All-Star break, Los Angeles led the NL West by 11.5 games over Arizona—the largest lead among division leaders. Milwaukee sat second in the NL with a 59-37 mark in the Central, while Atlanta led the NL East at 55-40, with Philadelphia, the Chicago Cubs, and Miami holding wildcard spots and St. Louis, Arizona, and Washington within four games. In the American League, Tampa Bay led both the division and the league at 56-38, with the Yankees at 54-42 and in the top wildcard position. The Chicago White Sox led the AL Central at 50-45, with Cleveland close behind, and the Texas Rangers led the AL West at 49-47, with Seattle clinging to the final wildcard spot. In race-leading performances, Philadelphia designated hitter Kyle Schwarber has 32 homers, one more than AL leader Yordan Álvarez of Houston. St. Louis outfielder Jordan Walker leads MLB with 74 RBIs, with Álvarez at 70 in the American League. Miami shortstop Otto López has the top batting average at .334, ahead of San Francisco second baseman Luis Arraez at .331, while Yandy Díaz of Tampa Bay leads the AL at .322, followed by Álvarez at .318. In other notes, Cristopher Sánchez of Philadelphia and Dylan Cease of Toronto were named starting pitchers for the upcoming games.