Denver, Colorado - Many of the world’s best baseball players performed on the diamond as the American League’s top players took the field against the best the National League had to offer at the 2021 MLB All-Star Game.

The AL All-Stars were in control, jumping out early and staying ahead for the 5-2 win over the NL All-Stars, with the best in baseball gathering for the sport’s annual mid-summer classic.

This year’s game was moved by the MLB out of Atlanta to the mile-high city of Denver due to the league’s recent stance against voter suppression laws that were enacted in the state of Georgia.

The LA Angels’ Shohei Ohtani (27) of Japan was still one of the many headliners, even though he made a surprising first-round exit the night before in the Home Run Derby. He came into the night making history by being the first player to both start at pitcher and lead-off an All-Star game. At bat, he grounded out at first base, but did strike out all three batters he faced and threw the fastest pitch of the game at 100.2 miles per hour, on his way to earning the official win on the mound.

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Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, born in Canada and raised in his legendary father Vladimir Sr.’s native Dominican Republic, also wowed all who watched. Vlad Jr., as he’s often called, showed fans he’s just as good as his father was as he belted a homer, like dad did in 2006, to double the AL lead to 2-0 in the third inning.

He also batted in another run as his Toronto teammate Teoscar Hernández scored in the fifth inning.

The National League eventually got on the board in the fifth thanks to a solo shot by Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto. Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres was able to score on a pass ball just an inning later for the NL's second and last run of the game.

Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox hit a single. Mike Zunino added to the American League’s offense with a solo home run in the sixth inning. And adding to the international appeal of the game, Australian pitcher Liam Hendricks of the Chicago White Sox closed out the game for the American League victory.

For his stellar play, Guerrero Jr. was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, also the youngest player in All-Star history to be given that honor.