Marcell Ozuna

Ozuna, who boasts a stellar .980 OPS with 28 homers and 79 RBI this season, supplied two of Atlanta's three hits combined off Hunter Greene and a pair of Cincinatti relievers as they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on-base in a near-shutout. Yuck.

Ozuna went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader split against the Cardinals.

Ozuna crushed a 424-foot (108.3-mph EV) solo shot off of Sonny Gray in the fourth inning that pulled the Braves to within three runs at 5-2. He replicated the feat in the sixth inning, that time a 431-foot (107.9-mph EV) solo blast that made it 6-4. The 33-year-old slugger finished the night 2-for-4 and is now hitting .305/.379/.593 with 28 homers and 79 RBI.

With the All-Star festivities behind us, it's time to get back to business on the diamond with the start of the unofficial second half. The final two-plus months of this season promise to be full of excitement. Here are eight storylines to follow down the stretch of 2024.Can Judge do it again? Erick W. Rasco / Sports Illustrated / GettyAll eyes will be on Aaron Judge as he tries to one-up his historic 62-homer season from two years ago. He enters the second half at 34 homers, four off his total through 96 games in 2022. Judge is also slugging .679, putting him within range of the ultra-rare .700 SLG season. That's only been done nine times in the wild-card era.Skenes day Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyPaul Skenes mania has officially taken over baseball. Through his first 11 starts, the 22-year-old has a 1.90 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 12.1 K/9, making him a deserving All-Star Game starter. His starts are becoming appointment viewing, and he might carry the Pirates into the playoffs. How high can he fly from here? All eyes will be on Pittsburgh as we find out.More history from Shohei Ronald Martinez / Getty Images Sport / GettyBefore he finally makes his playoff debut, Shohei Ohtani could make even more history with a Triple Crown. He's got work to do, though. Ohtani leads the NL in homers but sits 10 points back of batting leader Christian Yelich and eight RBIs behind Marcell Ozuna. It's been 87 years since someone won the NL Triple Crown, but if anyone can do it, it's Shohei.Wild division races Mitchell Layton / Getty Images Sport / GettyThis year's stretch run promises to be a nail-biter. Four of the six current division leaders have leads of less than five games. The AL East-leading Orioles and AL West-leading Mariners are clinging to one-game leads. We already know September is going to be loads of fun.NL wild-card madness Justin Berl / Getty Images Sport / GettyIf you think the division races are tight, wait until you see the NL wild card. Seven teams are within six games of the Senior Circuit's final playoff spot, currently held by the Mets - who are only one game up on Arizona and San Diego and 1.5 ahead of Pittsburgh. The separation is so narrow that it's hard to even tell whether some of these teams should buy or sell at the upcoming deadline.Award races Mary DeCicco / Major League Baseball / GettyIndividual hardware is also at stake, and it won't be easy for voters to decide some of these winners. Ohtani's gunning to become the first NL DH to win MVP and just the second player ever to win it in both leagues. But Bryce Harper's hot on his trail as the pulse of the league-best Phillies, and he's trying to join a select group of three-time MVPs. In the AL, Judge appears to be running away with it, but Steven Kwan could make things interesting if he can push that .352 (!) average even higher.The NL Cy Young is also going to be a fascinating finish. The Phillies have three bona fide candidates, but they may all be chasing Chris Sale, who's trying to finally add that Cy Young to his potential Hall of Fame resume. His teammate Reynaldo L pez, meanwhile, has an ERA below two. Heck, even Skenes might push his way into this race. Who knows how this one ends up?Historic misery Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyIt's not just winners that could make history. The 2024 White Sox may end up challenging for the title of worst modern-era team ever. They've already lost 71 games, sport a minus-177 run differential, and may trade their best players (Luis Robert Jr. and Garrett Crochet) at the deadline. It's going to get real ugly - but if these White Sox are going to challenge the infamous 1962 Mets, you'll want to watch it happen.Astros are back Mark Blinch / Getty Images Sport / GettyDon't look now, but the Houston Astros train is continuing to chug along. Despite a litany of injuries, Houston's closed to within one game of the Mariners in the AL West and looks poised to turn on the jets in the second half. Would it be that surprising if the Astros ended up in the ALCS for an eighth straight year?Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Be sure to follow along with us live when the Home Run Derby gets going at 8 p.m. ET.Almost ready to goBut first we stand for the national anthem, and ... uh ... Uhhh... that anthem was interesting. Sung by Ingrid Andress pic.twitter.com/zsjQi84zEy Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL) July 16, 2024 Alec Bohm pic.twitter.com/CGFuDVVZc7 CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 16, 2024 Gonna be lots of bombs at the HR Derby tonight. And the first one was the Anthem. Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) July 16, 2024 Zoinks! - Gunnar's ready for dingers Gunnar Henderson's going all out for his first derby. The Orioles shortstop unveiled a custom Scooby-Doo bat that he'll use during the event. Zoinks! Gunnar Henderson has a custom Scooby Doo bat for the #HRDerby pic.twitter.com/MLVbjIEPI8 MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2024 MLB introduces new formatWho's ready for dingers?Major League Baseball's 2024 All-Star festivities get going Monday with the Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The loaded field will take part in a newly-tweaked format that's a hybrid of old and new, with "outs" being reintroduced to the contest.The first round will see the eight sluggers compete against each other, with the top four totals advancing to the semifinals. Ties in Round 1 will be broken by the longest home-run distance. For the semifinals, the last four standing will be placed in a bracket based on first-round totals, with the No. 1 seed facing No. 4 and No. 2 hitting against No. 3.Each player gets three minutes or 40 pitches - whichever comes first - at the plate in the first two rounds and two minutes or 27 pitches in the final. Revamped bonus time rules allow players to get unlimited bonus pitches until they've recorded three outs within that period. If a home run is hit at least 425 feet during the bonus time, the player is awarded a fourth out. Finally, each player gets one 45-second timeout in each round, though the timeout can't be used during bonus time.Got all that? Good. Now, here's the 2024 Home Run Derby field, with updated odds courtesy theScore Bet. Pete Alonso is the favorite to win his third career Derby, which would tie Ken Griffey Jr.'s all-time record. Player Team 2024 HRs Odds Pete Alonso Mets 19 +275 Gunnar Henderson Orioles 28 +350 Marcell Ozuna Braves 26 +425 Bobby Witt Jr. Royals 16 +450 Adolis Garc a Rangers 17 +550 Teoscar Hern ndez Dodgers 19 +800 Alec Bohm Phillies 11 +1000 Jos Ram rez Guardians 23 +1000 Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.