ANOTHER ONE FOR THE AL!
In a game that was a bit light on action, Pete Alonso briefly added some late-inning drama into the affair, capping off an impressive All-Star break.
Down 4-1 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Alonso had a chance to be the second-ever player to hit a grand slam in an All-Star game. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be, and Alonso had to settle for a two-RBI base hit which cut the AL lead to a single run. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn’t keep the rally going, and the NL fell short against the AL for the seventh consecutive season, 4-3.
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom made an appearance, pitching a 1-2-3 third inning and racking up a strikeout in the process. The Mets’ Jeff McNeil went 0-1, popping a fly ball to left.
The AL manufactured three of its runs in the second, fifth and seventh innings, and Joey Gallo hit a solo dinger in the 7th to round out the AL’s offensive efforts.
Yanks slugger Gary Sanchez hit a double in the fifth, and scored the second run in the game. All-Star alternate Gleyber Torres had an infield single in the eighth. Yanks pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched a scoreless second inning, giving up a hit but reg
istering a strikeout, while Chapman entered in the ninth and struck out three to close the book on the matter.
Cleveland pitcher Shane Bieber, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning, struckout three in the process and earned himself the All-Star Game MVP trophy for his troubles.
Chapman struck out Yasmani Grandal for a save, giving the AL an overall 45-43-2 lead in the Midsummer Clas- sic. Yankees teammate CC Sabathia, honored this week for his contributions on and off the field, strolled to the mound to talk to the flamethrower before the final out.
“I know it's the year of the home run, but pitching dominated today,” Colorado slugger Nolan Arenado said.
There was no need for the experimental rule that was set to go effect: If the game went into extras, each team would start 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.
Still, it was a far cry from last year's All-Star Game that featured a record 10 home runs.
“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 (Bieber) got the MVP. He plays at this level. He's really good.”
Cleveland favorite Michael Brantley had an early RBI double off losing pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Jorge Polanco drove in a run with an infield single and another scored on a double-play grounder.
Tanaka, Lucas Giolito and Shane Greene did their parts to protect the lead with scoreless innings, shutting down Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and the rest of the NL boppers.
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, featuring 97 mph heat, quickly fanned Javier Baez and Freddie Freeman to finish his work. Those juiced balls that Verlander is complaining about? Didn't bother him a bit.
Baez came up again in the third with a bright red bat, stepped out of the box and playfully waved to his pal Francisco Lindor in the AL dugout.
NL starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, deGrom and Luis Castillo threw scoreless innings to keep the NL close in the early going.
Pittsburgh slugger 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 firsttimers, 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 AllStar 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.
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 AllStar Game is at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 1980.