The American League went on to defeat the National League 4 to 2. This year, the key names were baseball Royalty: Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez. Kansas City won with home field advantage last season and Boston did the same in 2013.
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Meanwhile, California Angels center fielder Mike Trout extended his All-Star Game first-inning hitting streak after rifling a high fastball from Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants up the middle, making him 6-for-11 lifetime in five all-star games.
The Cubs had all four of their infield starters begin the All-Star Game via the fan vote, and it was third baseman Kris Bryant making an impact in his first at-bat of the game. His teammates all left the dugout to embrace him, which was a really cool thing to see.
The senior circuit had a great opportunity to tie the game in the eighth, loading the bases with two out before Astros reliever Will Harris fanned rookie Aledmys Diaz of the Cardinals to end the threat.
The American League held on to win the game. Ortiz left the game when manager Ned Yost put in a pinch runner. “It is fun when you can play this game and feel like a kid again”.
The Game 1 Series host has won six of the past seven titles and 24 of the past 30.
The most buzzworthy moment of the night actually happened well before the game, when Juno-based group The Tenors performed “O Canada” and one of the members made a decision to alter the song’s lyrics to say “All Lives Matter”, which has emerged as a counter-hashtag to “Black Lives Matter”.
The AL is 29-7-1 in the last 37 All-Star games since the NL took 19 of 20 from 1963-62. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo singled in the fourth, while White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana tossed a scoreless fifth. San Diego’s Drew Pomeranz or Tampa Bay’s Jake Odorizzi could wind up in new rotations.
Randy Jones threw out the ceremonial first pitch and former Padres All-Star closer Trevor Hoffman helped open, bringing the game ball to the mound from the bullpen accompanied by AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells”.
Marcell Ozuna’s RBI single in the fourth against Aaron Sanchez cut the NL’s deficit to 4-2, but that score would never change.
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When it was over, Hosmer said he was giving the midnight black truck he earned with the MVP award to his dad, Michael, who stood off to the side.
