American League Edges National League To Win 2019 All-Star Game
CLEVELAND (AP) For one night, the pitchers took back the power.
Hours after an awesome Home Run Derby got everyone buzzing even
louder about monster shots and juiced balls, only a couple flew out
of Progressive Field in the All-Star Game.
Instead, Justin Verlander blazed 97 mph heat from the start, Shane
Bieber and Aroldis Chapman each struck out the side and the
American League slowed a loaded NL lineup 4-3 Tuesday for its
seventh straight win.
''I know it's the year of the home run, but pitching dominated
today,'' Colorado slugger Nolan Arenado said.
Sure did - at least until play resumes Thursday.
Facing Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and a bunch of boppers, the
AL staff combined to strike out 16.
''Baseball is a funny game,'' said Bieber, a most unlikely MVP
after being added late to the roster.
With fans hoping to see a replay of Monday's jaw-dropping aerial
show when 312 homers cleared the walls, this became the Arm-Star
Game up until the late innings.
Derby champ Pete Alonso of the Mets grounded a two-out, two-run
single past Gleyber Torres in the eighth to close the NL's gap.
After a double steal put runners at second and third against
Cleveland reliever Brad Hand, White Sox catcher James McCann made a
tumbling catch on Mike Moustakas' twisting foul pop to end the
inning.
Chapman closed to give the AL its 19th win in 22 games, with a tie
stuck in there. He got a little encouragement with two outs -
Yankees teammate CC Sabathia, honored this week for his
contributions on and off the field, strolled to the mound to talk
to the flamethrower.
Chapman then struck out Yasmani Grandal for a save , giving the AL
an overall 45-43-2 lead in the Midsummer Classic.
No need, either, for the experimental rule that was set to go
effect: If the game went into extras, each team would've started
the 10th with an automatic runner on second base.
Major League Baseball is on a record-shattering pace for homers
this season, but no one came close to clearing the walls until
Charlie Blackmon connected in the NL sixth to make it 2-1. Texas'
Joey Gallo countered with a solo drive in a two-run seventh.
Still, it was a far cry from last year's All-Star Game that
featured a record 10 home runs.
''I kind of expected it, to be honest,'' former NL MVP Kris Bryant
said. ''You only see them once, so they have the advantage.''
''There are a lot of hard throwers and great pitchers over there.
Unless you've seen them before, it's a difficult matchup,'' he said.
Cleveland favorite Michael Brantley had an early RBI double off
losing pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Jorge Polanco drove in a run with
an infield single for a 2-0 edge in the fifth and another scored on
a double-play grounder.
''I wanted to swing the bat early. I had some nervous jitters I
wanted to get out,'' Brantley said.
Winning pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, Lucas Giolito and Shane Greene did
their parts to protect the lead with scoreless innings.
Bieber dazzled in front of a chanting home crowd, striking out
Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte and Ronald Acuna Jr. in the fifth
with a 1-0 lead. Bieber later donated his cap to the Hall of Fame.
''It was electric out there, the fans got in it and it was fun,'' AL manager Alex Cora of the Red Sox said. ''And I'm glad that he
got the MVP. He plays at this level. He's really good.''
The biggest misplay of the night might have been on the scoreboard.
NL All-Stars David Dahl of Colorado and Willson Contreras of the
Cubs had their names misspelled - ''Davis Dahl'' and ''Wilson
Contreras'' - on the outfield videoboard. Jeff McNeil was spelled
correctly, but the photo accompanying it was of Mets teammate Jacob
deGrom.
''That was tough, to see deGrom's picture up there,'' McNeil said.
''I didn't really like that. I wanted to see my picture up there. I
know my family did, too. What are you going to do, I guess, but I
don't think that should happen.''
Fittingly, the first batter of the game was the guy who leads the
majors in home runs - Yelich, the NL MVP with 31 homers at the
break, hit leadoff for the first time this year.
Yelich lined out and Verlander quickly fanned Javier Baez and
Freddie Freeman to finish his work.
Those lively balls that Verlander is complaining about? Didn't
bother him a bit.
NL starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, deGrom and Luis Castillo threw scoreless
innings to keep the NL close in the early going.
Pittsburgh dynamo Josh Bell was part of the youngest starting
lineup in All-Star history, with the NL crew averaging under 26
years old.
Overall, there were 36 first-timers, a number boosted by the
absence of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Jose Altuve and several
past perennials. And consider this: Of the 16 AL pitchers on the
2017 All-Star roster, zero made the roster this year.
TRIBUTE
All players wore a uniform patch with No. 45 to honor late Angels
pitcher Tyler Skaggs. Los Angeles teammates Mike Trout and Tommy La
Stella switched their jerseys to Skaggs' number, and there was a
pregame moment of silence.
''I felt him out there with me,'' Trout said. ''To be able to
represent him and what he meant to us on a stage like this is
special.''
UP NEXT
The regular season resumes on Thursday night with one game, Houston
at Texas. All teams are back in action Friday. ... Next year's
All-Star Game is at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 1980.
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Photo: Getty Images
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07-10-2019 00:28:08