ALL-STARS: Molina replaced Posey in 6th
worth savoring.
Cano earned the MVP honor with his one clutch swing. At 34, the Seattle second baseman was among the oldest players in a game built around so many of the sport’s new, young stars. He sent a hanging curve off the back wall of the right-field bullpen, then blew a bubble with his gum when rounding the bases.
Cano’s homer came exactly 50 years after the previous extra-inning homer in an All-Star Game, when Tony Perez hit a tiebreaking 15thinning shot off Catfish Hunter in the NL’s 2-1 win at Anaheim, California. Perez, now a Marlins executive, was among eight Latin-born Hall of Famers who threw out ceremonial first pitches.
Miguel Sano put the AL ahead in the fifth with a bloop RBI single against Alex Wood. Yadier Molina tied it in the sixth with a home run off Ervin Santana.
Molina had just entered behind the plate in the top half and snapped off an All-Star first – Nelson Cruz pulled a phone out of his uniform pants and asked the catcher to snap a photo of him with umpire Joe West.
Davis wasn’t with the Cubs last fall when they won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. He was acquired in a trade from Kansas City to fortify the bullpen, and was the only Cubs player in this showcase. Chicago has struggled this season, going into the break at 43-45.
Kimbrel, throwing at up to 100 mph, stranded runners at second and third to end the ninth, striking out Michael Conforto. The Boston closer wound up with the win.
Miller, whose Cleveland Indians lost the World Series in Game 7, got the save with some help from Upton.
A left fielder playing in right for the first time in four years, Upton extended his arm on a full run to catch Corey Seager’s liner leading off the 10th. Miller walked Joey Votto with two outs, then struck out rookie sensation Cody Bellinger.
The AL’s first six hits were by first-time All-Stars but some things don’t change. The AL has won 12 of 15 and 17 of the last 20 AllStar Games played to a decision.
The night’s mostwatched sluggers fizzled.
A night day after winning the Home Run Derby with 47 long balls, Yankees rookie sensation Aaron Judge went 0 for 3 with a strikeout, groundout and flyout. Giancarlo Stanton, the star slugger of the hometown Marlins, was 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts and a dribbler in front of the plate.
NL pitchers struck out 14, including four by Carlos Martinez, three by Kenley Jansen and two each by starter Max Scherzer and Greg Holland. AL pitchers fanned nine.
In the first All-Star Game in Florida, Jonathan Schoop doubled off Wood with two outs in the fifth and came home when Sano blooped a single about a foot fair down the right-field line, 207 feet from home plate, where right fielder Bryce Harper, second baseman Daniel Murphy and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman – all from the Washington Nationals – were unable to reach it.
Two days shy of his 35th birthday, Molina became the oldest catcher to homer in an All-Star Game, driving a 95 mph from Santana into the right-field bullpen.