The Giants’ Buster Posey, who exited before the clubhouse opened to the media, had earned his fourth All-Star selection.
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The Chicago Cubs’ Ben Zobrist flied out to center on the second pitch of the game from the Chicago White Sox’s Chris Sale. The AL has claimed wins in 16 of the past 20 years, per ESPN. Colorado Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado grounded into a double play to end it.
Hosmer’s was a solo shot, while Perez contributed a two-run blast for a 3-1 A.L lead in the second. (Despite the fact the game was in a NL park, the AL was the home team). The team with the best record during the season should always get (home-field advantage).
No problem initially for the NL, because that allowed the “visitors” to strike quickly.
The NL was leading 1-0 thanks to a Kris Bryant homer in the first inning when Hosmer tied it with a one-out homer off NL starter Johnny Cueto. Bryant was sitting fastball and got one.
Back in 2003, when a “This Time It Counts” sign was put up in right at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, the stars included Roger Clemens and Hank Blalock.
National Basketball Association owners made no decision Tuesday after a lengthy debate about moving next year’s All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina’s law limiting protection for LGBT people. Oh, and there was only one minor-league game played today in the U.S. by our farm teams, so I’m not going to bother with a full recap.
“I would have loved to be able to get them out, but I just left two pitches up and that was the story”, Cueto said after failing to complete two innings of work. “When you are talking the first two games of the World Series at your home field, it just brings that sense of comfort to the team and gives you a jump start for the whole series”.
Yes, Hosmer delivered a second hit and an RBI with a sharp single to left off the glove of Bryant the following inning, but that turns out to be an insurance run the AL never needs. Perez and Hosmer became the eighth set of teammates to homer in an All-Star Game, including Stan Musial and Ken Boyer in 1960 and the first pair to do it, Frankie Frisch and Joe Medwick in 1934.
Random other stuff. The David Ortiz Farewell Tour got its inevitable nice moment when he came out of the game after being replaced by a pinch-runner in the third inning.
The first pitch, indeed was an 80-mph batting practice pitch, but Ortiz took it for a ball. Fernandez reverted to game mode, throwing 96 miles per hour heaters, but walked Ortiz on a 3-2 pitch.
Ortiz, the American League’s designated hitter, didn’t do much on the field of play Tuesday night, flying out and walking in his two at-bats before getting lifted for a pinch runner and receiving handshakes and hugs from each of his teammates on his way back to the dugout.
And that was it for Ortiz, one of the best sluggers and biggest personalities of his generation. Prior to Tuesday’s game, the only time a player hit a home run off a teammate from the previous season in the All-Star Game was when Alfonso Soriano took Roger Clemens deep in 2004, according to Elias research.
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Encarnacion raced to third on a double by Boston’s Xander Bogarts and scored on a single by Hosmer, the second RBI by the Royals first baseman.
