Another year, another American League All-Star win, this time by a 4-3 margin. It was the 13th straight AL win and the 4th straight 1-run win. Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th for an All-Star record 4th save.
The night began with a very lengthy ceremony, which based on Twitter responses seemed to be well received. It thought it was a little schmaltzy and over the top, but some of the sentiment seemed genuine.
Honoring some of the Cardinals greats - Bob Gibson, Stan "the Man" Musial, Lou Brock and others. Honoring normal citizens that have contributed to society was a nice touch, especially have all the ball players greet them and give them a pat on the back.
President Obama, in his White Sox jacket, throwing out the first pitch was great. Unfortunately, the morons at Fox (conspiracy?) didn't bother to show Albert Pujols catching the ball. It was finally shown on a replay much later in the game when the President stopped in to talk with Tweedledee and Tweedledum (McCarver and Buck). By the way Mr. President, I think you're great, but you throw like Johnny Damon.
As for the game itself, it moved quickly, which was fantastic, especially on the heels of the HR Derby debacle. The AL took a 2-0 lead in the first in part thanks to errors by David Wright (how does he win a Gold Glove with that tin arm?) and Albert Pujols (on a ball hit by Mark Teixeira). The most memorable moment of the 1st inning was also the most aggravating. NL starter Tim Lincecum hit Derek Jeter on the wrist. The ball may have gotten part of the bat, but it got part of the Captain too! Outrage throughout Tweetville and living room and bars across the Tri-State area.
Roy Halladay moved down the NL in the 1st, but ran into 2-out trouble in the 2nd. Wright reached on a pop fly single and Shane Victorino and Yadier Molina followed with singles of their own. Wright scored and the "Flying Hawaiian" came home when center fielder Josh Hamilton's throw hit him in the back and got away. Prince Fielder's ground-rule double plated Molina for a 3-2 NL lead. But that would be it for the NL for the night and, in fact, the next 18 NL batters would go down without reaching safely.
The AL tied it up in the 7th against Chad Billingsley when Carl Crawford led off the inning with a single, and Joe Mauer doubled home Jeter, who had forced out Crawford.
Crawford was the defensive hero in the bottom half of the inning when he reached over the wall to take back a home run by Brad Hawpe, who tagged Jonathan Papelbon's delivery. The next hitter, Miguel Tejada, drilled one to right, but the ball seemed to die and landed in the glove of Adam Jones.
The AL took the lead for good against Heath Bell in the 8th thanks to Justin Upton playing out of position. Upton, normally a right fielder, was in lef field and looked totally clueless on Curtis Granderson's drive to the wall in left-center. Instead of a double, Granderson was able to cruise into third with a one out triple.
Victor Martinez was intentionally walked to set up a double play, but Jones delivered the run with a deep fly ball to right.
Joe Nathan ran into his own troubles in the bottom of the 8th when he issued a 2-out walk to Adrian Gonzalez and Orlando Hudson singled him to third. But after Hudson stole 2nd base, Nathan struck out pinch-hitter Ryan Howard with a nasty breaking pitch to preserve the lead.
The Mets' Francisco Rodriguez retired the AL in order in the top of the 9th and then it was time for the Sandman. And Mo didn't disappoint. He retired Upton on a ground out, struck out Hawpe with a filthy cutter and got Tejada on a game ending pop up to 2nd base.
Another year, another win. Carl Crawford was named the game's MVP for his catch and the start of the game tying rally.
Next year's game will be in Anaheim.
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