AL wins 8th straight All-Star Game over NL, 5-2
DENVER — Shohei Ohtani entered All-Star Game history when he toed the rubber in the bottom of the first inning last Tuesday night.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put another entry into the record books with an MVP performance in the 91st All-Star Game.
Guerrero crushed the 200th home run in All-Star history and became the youngest All-Star MVP by leading the American League to a 5-2 win over the National League before a crowd of 49,184 at Coors Field on July 13.
“Dreams do come true,” Guerrero said through a translator. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve been thinking about this moment. All my life I’ve worked hard, and thank God it’s happening right now.”
Mike Zunino also homered, and Xander Bogaerts had two hits and an RBI for the AL, which has won eight straight over the NL.
Guerrero’s home run marked the third time a father and son have accomplished the feat. His father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., hit one off Brad Penny at the 2006 All-Star Game. The other two father-son duos to hit All-Star home runs are Bobby and Barry Bonds, and Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr.
“I can’t wait to get back to hear what (George) Springer and Lourdes Gurriel have to say about this,” Guerrero Jr. said of his Toronto Blue Jays teammates. “Before I left, I made a promise to them that I was going to win MVP, and they said, ‘You had better win MVP.’”
Ohtani made All-Star Game history by becoming the first player to be counted as both a pitcher and hitter. He went 0-for-2 at the plate but pitched a clean first inning to earn the win.
Major League Baseball changed the rule to allow Ohtani to essentially be counted as two players.
“I heard that (Tampa Bay Rays manager) Kevin Cash asked the commissioner to do it, and I just got to thank Cash for making it happen,” Ohtani said through translator Ippei Mizuhara.
“This has been the best experience, most memorable. Obviously I’ve never played in the playoffs or World Series, so once I do that, that’s probably going to surpass it. But this has been the most memorable.”
Liam Hendriks pitched the ninth for the save.
The AL took the early lead against Corbin Burnes (0-1). Aaron Judge led off the second with a walk, and Rafael Devers bounced a double down the right-field line to put runners on second and third.
Marcus Semien beat out the throw from Nolan Arenado on his slow grounder to third to make it 1-0.
Guerrero hit a two-out, 468-foot solo homer off Burnes in the third inning to extend the lead to 2-0.
“Wow,” NL shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “It was a moonshot. It was something impressive. He’s been doing it all year. Why not show it off here?”
Colorado fans got a charge when Rockies pitcher German Marquez pitched a perfect fourth inning, but the American League struck again in the fifth.
Teoscar Hernandez led off with a double, and Cedric Mullins reached on an error by shortstop Brandon Crawford. One out later, Hernandez scored on a Guerrero groundout and Mullins came home on a single by Bogaerts to make it 4-0.
Realmuto got the NL on the board when he homered with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning off Gregory Soto to make it 4-1, but Zunino answered for the AL with a solo homer off Taijuan Walker in the sixth.
The NL got a run back in the sixth when Manny Machado singled with two outs and moved to second on an outfield error, then both Jake Cronenworth and Juan Soto walked. Machado scored on a passed ball to make it 5-2.
The NL loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but Kris Bryant lined out to left on a sliding catch by Jared Walsh to strand the runners.
Hendriks worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth and got Trea Turner to ground out to end the game and extend the NL’s futility.