In this 2020 MLB season simulation, Arizona ends LA’s NL West reign.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, the season-long surprise team in the National League, completed their regular-season quest.
The D-Backs held off the heavily favored multi-champion Los Angeles Dodgers to capture the NL West title in the 2020 NL simulation. Arizona finished 106-56, seven games ahead of Los Angeles, 99-63. Arizona won the 19-game season series 11-8.
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Arizona trailed the Dodgers by a game and a half at the All-Star break and appeared on the verge of losing its season-long momentum. But the D-Backs forged a tie for the division lead by August 1, carried a one-game lead into September, then finished 19-3 with winning streaks of seven and 11 games down the stretch.
NL MVP Ketel Marte batted .384 to easily win the batting race he had dominated all season. Marte also led in on-base average (.441), slugging average (.727), and hits (242).
The NL’s other two divisional races were baseball’s two closest, both coming down to the final day. In the East, Atlanta took a one-game advantage over Philadelphia into its season-ending three-game interleague series with the AL West champion Houston Astros.
The Braves lost two of three but survived when the Phillies won only once in their three-game finale in Washington. On the final Sunday, while Houston was giving the Phillies one last chance to forge a tie, Stephen Strasburg held them to a single run and four hits in a 3-1 loss. Juan Soto and Carter Kieboom both homered to consign the Phillies to the wild card race.
Here’s how the division races developed after the All-Star break: