Hello everyone, and welcome to the All-Star Game, from Kauffman stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Changing the format for the recap tonight only, to allow detailed reports of all that goes on as baseball's best join together on one field. Here's how it goes down.
In the first inning, American League starting pitcher Justin Verlander took the mound. He struck out leadoff hitter Carlos Gonzalez, but allowed a single to Melky Cabrera. Ryan Braun doubled Cabrera home to open the scoring. Verlander settled down, striking out Joey Votto next, but walks to Carlos Beltran and Buster Posey loaded the bases. Braun, Beltran, and Posey all scored when Pablo Sandoval tripled (no small feat even if it is in an exhibition level game). Sandoval then scored on a single by Dan Uggla. Verlander induced Rafael Furcal to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning, handing the ball over to his National League counterpart, Matt Cain. Cain let leadoff hitter Derek Jeter aboard with a single, but his teammate Robinson Cano fouled out (much to the pleasure of the hometown crowd). The third batter, Josh Hamilton, followed with a flyout, and then finished the inning by striking out Jose Bautista. The National League led 5-0 at this point.
After the ugly first inning, Joe Nathan was called on to relieve a tired Verlander for the second inning on the American League side. He got Gonzalez to groundout for the first out, following up with Cabrera doing the same thing for the second out, and finished the 1-2-3 inning by having Braun flyout, minimizing the damage of the previous inning. The National League trotted Cain back out on the hill for the bottom of the second. He continued his success by getting Prince Fielder to flyout, Adrian Beltre popped up, and David Ortiz also flew out to end the inning, with the score remaining at 5-0.
The American League continued their pitcher shuffle, sending David Price to pitch in the third inning. Price made quick work of Votto, getting him to groundout, as well as Beltran, who flew out, and Posey got the last out of the inning by fouling out. The National League changed pitchers for the third inning, putting Gio Gonzalez on the mound. He quickly struck out Mike Napoli, and got Curtis Granderson to fly out, before finishing the inning with a Jeter grounder good for the third out. The strong performance kept the score at 5-0.
The American League switched to Matt Harrison for the fourth inning, and he got both Sandoval and Uggla to fly out, but gave up a triple to the last batter in the order, Furcal. Gonzalez was the first batter pulled, in favor of Matt Holliday, who singled in his teammate Furcal before scoring on a Cabrera two-run home run. Braun put Harrison back in trouble by tripling, but he got out of it by inducing Votto into a groundout. The National League chose to throw Stephen Strasburg out for the fourth inning, as well as pulling Sandoval for David Wright at third base. Strasburg allowed Cano a single, but was freed from the miscue when Hamilton hit into a double play. Bautista was then walked, but a Fielder flyout ended the inning with the National League up 8-0.
Jered Weaver was next for the American League for pitching in the fifth inning, and he walked his first batter, Bryce Harper, a pinch-hitter for Beltran. Weaver got Posey to fly out next, but Harper moved to second base on the play. Harper got no further, as Wright hit into a fielder's choice that saw Harper out at third base. Uggla's flyout ended the inning. The National League switched to Clayton Kershaw at pitcher, as well as putting Andrew McCutchen in center field for Cabrera, Jay Bruce in right field for Beltran, Harper in left field to relieve Braun, Jose Altuve at second base in favor of Uggla, and David Freese at first base over Votto. Kershaw got the first out by having Beltre ground out, but Ortiz singled to get on base. Napoli made things tricky for Kershaw by singling too, while Granderson got both runners in scoring position by grounding out. Asdrubal Cabrera was called on to hit for Jeter, who was walked to load the bases, leaving Ian Kinsler in the position of power, but he flew out to end the inning. The score remained at 8-0 over halfway through the game.
Looking for answers, or at least a hindrance to the opponents, the American League fielded Chris Sale at pitcher in the sixth inning, as well as swapping Cabrera in at shortstop over Jeter, Kinsler at second base instead of Cano, Mike Trout over Hamilton in left field, Mark Trumbo over Bautista in right field, Paul Konerko replaced Fielder at first base, Miguel Cabrera took over at third base for Beltre, Matt Wieters catching instead of Napoli, and Adam Jones taking over center field for Granderson. Furcal was first up, but he was retired by a groundout, followed by Chipper Jones replacing Holliday at designated hitter for the National League, and he got a single in his first visit to this particular park. McCutchen followed this was a single of his own, but Bruce flied out for the second out, and Freese struck out to end the inning. The National League turned the ball over to R.A. Dickey, and this meant that Carlos Ruiz took his turn behind the plate, relieving Posey. Dickey's appearance started rough, as Trout singled aboard and stole second base, trying to spark some offense into his team. Trumbo was next up, and he struck out. Dickey then plunked Konerko, but got off the hook when Cabrera hit into a double play to end the inning, keeping the score at 8-0.
For the seventh inning, it was Ryan Cook pitching for the American League. He struck out his first batter, Harper, before getting Ruiz to fly out and Wright also struck out for a quick inning of work. The National League called on Cole Hamels to relieve Dickey, and Bryan LaHair took over first base for Freese. Hometown hero Billy Butler took the first at-bat in the bottom of the seventh, but he grounded out. Wieters was next, but he flew out, and his teammate Jones grounded out to finish another inning.
The eighth inning saw the American League put Jim Johnson atop the mound to pitch, and Joe Mauer took over for Konerko at first base. Johnson put Altuve away with a groundout and pinch hitter Starlin Castro (in for Furcal) was taken out on a flyout. Michael Bourn was called on to replace Chipper Jones, but he struck out and ended the inning. The pinch hitters took over their respective positions, and Craig Kimbrel did something rare for him, as in pitching the eighth inning for the National League. He struck out Asdrubal Cabrera first, and did the same to Kinsler, but wasn't given the chance to go after Trout, as that was Aroldis Chapman's honor. He didn't take it, walking the young phenom, and he moved to second on fielder's indifference, but Chapman settled down to strike out Trumbo.
Looks line the ninth inning will be the final inning, and Fernando Rodney is given the ball for the American League, while Elvis Andrus makes an appearance at third base for his team. McCutchen was first up, but he grounded out, as did the next two batters, Bruce and LaHair. The National League looked to close up the game with Wade Miley on the hill for the bottom of the ninth. This started off a bit rough, as Mauer singled, but was out at second when Andrus reached on a fielder's choice. Joel Hanrahan replaced the ineffective Miley, but fielder's indifference put Andrus in scoring position, and he moved to third on a wild pitch. Hanrahan calmed down by striking out Butler, but wasn't allowed to go for the last out, as that was Jonathan Papelbon's honor. He took care of things by getting Wieters to fly out, ending the game at 8-0 for the National League. Whichever National League team plays in the World Series can thank these stars for the home field advantage.
Follow me on Twitter @UltBaseballTrip, and come back here on Friday when regular baseball resumes.
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