Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - The National League, sparked by a trio of
San Francisco Giants and exceptional pitching, will again have home-field
advantage in the World Series after blanking the American League, 8-0, in the
83rd edition of the Midsummer Classic.
The capacity crowd at Kauffman Stadium watched the NL rough up reigning AL MVP
Justin Verlander for five runs in the first inning, three coming on a triple
by Pablo Sandoval.
Sandoval's teammate in San Francisco, Melky Cabrera, was voted the MVP as he
went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, while starter Matt Cain, the backbone of
the Giants' pitching staff this year, hurled two scoreless innings to earn the
win.
Last year's NL MVP, Ryan Braun of the Brewers, went 2-for-3 with a run scored
and an RBI and had one of three triples for the Senior Circuit, which won the
showcase game for the third straight time after a 13-year drought.
Tony La Russa, the first inactive All-Star manager since Bob Lemon in 1979,
used a combination of 11 pitchers who held the AL to just six hits, one
coming from the Angels' Mike Trout in the 20-year-old's first at-bat.
It was the eighth shutout in All-Star history.
Ron Washington, manager of the two-time reigning league champion Rangers,
opted to start Verlander, and the Tigers ace surrendered four hits and two
walks his only inning on the hill.
Cabrera, sporting Giants-orange cleats, began his memorable night by singling
in the first inning and scoring when Braun doubled over the head of Jose
Bautista in right.
After striking out Joey Votto for the second out, Verlander walked the next
two and threw a breaking ball to Sandoval that was golfed down the right-field
line. The ball ricocheted off the wall and away from Bautista, allowing
the
bases to clear and Sandoval to pull up for a rare triple.
Dan Uggla beat out a run-scoring single between short and third to cap the
five-run frame.
Cain, making his first appearance on the hill in his third All-Star selection,
shook off Derek Jeter's leadoff single in the first and hurled a perfect
second. Texas' Josh Hamilton, who received a record 11,073,744 votes in fan
balloting, narrowly missed a two-run homer when he flew out to the warning
track in left in his first at-bat.
Tampa Bay's David Price and Washington's Gio Gonzalez exchanged 1-2-3 innings
in the third, and a pair of Cardinals and Cabrera put together a two-out rally
in the fourth to blow the game open.
With Texas' Matt Harrison on the mound, Rafael Furcal legged out a stand-up
triple, and his teammate, Matt Holliday, slapped a base hit to right for 6-0
cushion.
Five pitches later, Cabrera took Harrison over the wall in left to highlight
his first All-Star appearance.
Bryce Harper made history an inning later when he entered as a pinch-hitter
and worked a walk. The 19-year-old Nationals phenom became the youngest
position player in All-Star history, though his night was somewhat sullied
when he lost a ball in the lights in the bottom half. The Junior Circuit
eventually loaded the bases, but the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw worked out of
the jam by getting Texas' Ian Kinsler to fly out, coincidentally, to Harper.
In the home sixth, Trout, who turns 21 next month, became the third youngest
player to record a hit in an All-Star Game, but R.A. Dickey, the surprisingly
successful knuckleballer from the Mets, stranded a pair to keep the AL off the
board.
The Phillies' Cole Hamels retired three straight in the seventh, including
Billy Butler, the only representative of the hometown Royals.
Braves closer Craig Kimbrel struck out Asdrubal Cabrera and Kinsler to start
the eighth, and Reds flamethrower Aroldis Chapman, after walking Trout, blew a
98-m.p.h. fastball past Mark Trumbo to end the inning.
Twins catcher Joe Mauer led off the home ninth with a single off Wade Miley,
who was pulled with one away for Joel Hanrahan. The Pirates closer struck out
Butler on a payoff pitch, and the Phillies' Jonathan Papelbon closed out the
shutout by retiring Matt Wieters.
Game Notes
The AL has scored just two runs during its three-game losing streak in the
event...La Russa retired as Cardinals manager after leading the club to last
year's World Series...The Nationals' Stephen Strasburg worked around a single
and a walk in pitching a scoreless fourth...Giants catcher Buster Posey, who
topped all National League vote-getters with 7,621,370, went 0-for-2 with a
walk and a run scored...AL pitchers retired the final 11 batters they
faced...This was the first All-Star Game in Kansas City since July 24,
1973...The contest featured 26 first-timers, as well as a record five
rookies...The game marked the 10th straight year that the All-Star Game
determined which league gets home-field advantage in the World Series...Next
year's contest will be played at Citi Field in New York.
The Sports Network