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.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge is a finalist for his second American League MVP in three seasons, joined by Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto.

Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Angels and finished second to Judge in the 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers.

Ohtani would join Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.

Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes is a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year. The 22-year-old right-hander out of El Toro High becomes the fifth rookie to finish among the top three in Cy Young Award voting, after Mark Fidrych (1976), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Dwight Gooden (1984) and José Fernández (2013). The only one to win both in the same year was Valenzuela in the National League.

Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Ohtani would become the first primary DH to win an MVP award.

The top three finishers in voting for each of the major individual awards presented annually by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America were announced Monday night. Winners will be revealed next week.

Balloting is conducted before the postseason.

Ohtani would become the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).

Lindor batted .273 with 33 homers, 91 RBIs and 29 steals, while Marte hit .292 with 36 homers and 95 RBIs.

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs.

Atlanta’s Chris Sale and Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler are NL Cy Young Award finalists along with Skenes, who made his big league debut May 11 and went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts, striking out 170 in 133 innings.

Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, Kansas City’s Seth Lugo and Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase are the finalists for the AL honor. Clase becomes the first reliever to finish among the top three in voting since San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman came in second in 2006 NL balloting.

Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio joined Skenes as finalists for NL Rookie of the Year. Yankees right-hander Luis Gil and catcher Austin Wells are AL finalists along with Baltimore outfielder Colton Cowser.

Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt, Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro and Detroit’s A.J. Hinch are finalists for AL Manager of the Year. The three NL finalists were all first-year managers with their teams: the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza, Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy and San Diego’s Mike Shildt.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco was involved in an armed altercation in a parking lot in the Dominican Republic countryside and was arrested, police said.

Meregirdo Espinosa, a Dominican police spokesman, told The AP it happened in San Juan de la Maguana, a city that is 116 miles west of Dominican Republic capital Santo Domingo. Franco was arrested Sunday. Another man and a woman were also detained, police said.

Espinosa didn’t specify who, but said some men in the altercation were carrying firearms.

Franco, 23, is yet to stand trial Dec. 12 in the northern province of Puerto Plata in a sexual abuse case involving a 14-year-old girl. He was also charged with sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking.

Franco was conditionally released Jan. 5, four days after his arrest on the abuse allegations.

TENNIS

Carlos Alcaraz struggled with a stomach issue and looked far from the player who won two Grand Slams this year while losing to Casper Ruud 6-1, 7-5 at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

It marked Ruud’s first victory over Alcaraz in five career meetings, and the result could make it difficult for Alcaraz to advance from the round-robin stage at the season-ending event for the top eight players.

“I didn’t feel well on court,” Alcaraz said. “A few days before coming here, I got sick at home. ... This morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach.”

In the same group, Alexander Zverev began his bid for a third ATP Finals title by beating Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4.

The top two finishers from each group advance to the semifinals.

Jannik Sinner was awarded the trophy for finishing the year at No. 1 in the rankings before his home fans at the ATP Finals. Sinner won the Australian Open and U.S. Open for his first two Grand Slam titles. He mathematically secured the year-end No. 1 a month ago.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Kansas stayed atop the first AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll of the regular season after winning a matchup of bluebloods, while Gonzaga and Auburn cracked the top five after opening-week wins and St. John’s led by Rick Pitino joined the rankings.

The Jayhawks received 44 of 62 first-place votes after a home win against North Carolina, a game that saw Kansas blow a 20-point lead but hold on for a 92-89 win. That kept them ahead of Alabama and two-time reigning national champion UConn in an unchanged 1-2-3 lineup in the poll, with the Crimson Tide getting six first-place votes and the Huskies getting seven.

Mark Few’s Bulldogs moved up two spots to No. 4 after blowing out then-No. 8 Baylor to open the season, then pushing past Arizona State. Next came Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers, who jumped six spots to No. 5 for the week’s biggest leap after beating then-No. 4 Houston. The Bulldogs and Tigers earned the remaining five first-place votes.

Auburn was the only new arrival in a largely reshuffled top 10, with Duke rising one spot to No. 6 to lead the next group. Iowa State was seventh, followed by Houston, Arizona and North Carolina, which fell one spot after the loss at Kansas.

South Carolina was the unanimous No. 1 in The AP Top 25 women’s basketball poll after a pair of wins to kick off its national championship repeat bid while Kansas State joined the top 10 and both Stanford and Oregon cracked the first regular-season rankings of the season.

The Gamecocks earned a six-point win over Michigan in Las Vegas to open the season and beat then-No. 9 North Carolina State on Sunday by 14. The two victories made the defending champions a unanimous choice from the 31-member national media panel. In the preseason poll, No. 2 UConn got two first-place votes and No. 3 USC one.

The top eight teams in the rankings remained unchanged with Texas and UCLA rounding out the top five.

Reuben Chinyelu tied his career-high with 14 points, Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard added 12 apiece, and host No. 20 Florida beat Grambling State 86-62 in coach Todd Golden’s first game since he acknowledged an ongoing school inquiry into sexual harassment and stalking allegations.

NO. 2 ALABAMA 72, MCNEESE STATE 64: Grant Nelson scored 22 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Crimson Tide (3-0) at home.

NO. 7 IOWA STATE 82, KANSAS CITY 56: Curtis Jones came off the bench to score 20 points and Milan Momcilovic added 16 to lead the Cyclones (2-0) in Ames, Iowa.

NO.13 PURDUE 92, YALE 84: Braden Smith finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 17 points to lead the host Boilermakers (3-0).

NO. 21 OHIO STATE 81, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 47: Aaron Bradshaw and John Mobley Jr. each scored 16 points to lead five scorers in double figures for the host Buckeyes.