The American League will have home-field advantage for the 2015 World Series after defeating the National League 6-3 in Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout started the action off with a bang by homering off of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke. Trout’s dinger was most notable considering Greinke has a running streak of 35.2 scoreless innings going in regular-season action.
Fox Sports Live highlighted the history Trout made in the Midsummer Classic:
ESPN’s Jayson Stark noted how Trout later impacted the game with his hustle to help his team pull away late:
It therefore came as little surprise that Trout was the game’s Most Valuable Player.
But the NL wasn’t going to go quietly, responding to Trout’s solo shot in the bottom of the second to even the score at 1-1 on a two-out RBI single from St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta.
Reigning World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner took the hill in the top of the fourth and got into a bases-loaded jam with two outs. The San Francisco Giants southpaw got out of it by getting Houston Astros supreme hitter Jose Altuve to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Another sensational pitcher in Clayton Kershaw was on the bump for the NL in the fifth to spell Bumgarner, but he didn’t show off his usual dominant form. Prince Fielder socked a two-out single to score Trout, and Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain smacked a double to plate Albert Pujols.
ESPN’s Dave Rothenberg alluded to Kershaw’s postseason—an especially humorous comment considering the man Kershaw replaced:
New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom gave the National League a spark of hope with a stupendous sixth, which ESPN Stats & Info logged in detail:
No one had ever struck out the side on 10 or fewer pitches in an All-Star Game, according to MLB.com.
The momentum deGrom generated carried over to the very first pitch in the bottom of the sixth. Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen destroyed the offering from Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer to make the score 3-2.
That also turned out to be an unprecedented development in All-Star lore, per Stark:
Even the groundbreaking achievements deGrom and McCutchen attained to add suspense to the contest weren’t enough to stop the American League from emerging victorious.
Fielder added another RBI on a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-1 in the seventh, allowing Manny Machado to score after the Baltimore Orioles prodigy slammed a double off the right field wall against Milwaukee pitcher Francisco Rodriguez.
Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier added a solo homer in the eighth off of Pirates reliever Mark Melancon to further ensure an AL triumph.
At least home fans were in for a treat to start the ninth. Reds flamethrower closer Aroldis Chapman entered the game and struck out the side with heaters, hitting as high as 103 mph on the radar gun, per Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan:
Ryan Braun hit a triple to lead off the bottom of the last frame and came in to score when Brandon Crawford flew out to left field, but it was of little consolation. Although closer Glen Perkins wasn’t in a save situation, he’s converted all 28 of his opportunities in 2015, so he wasn’t going to let the big lead slip.
A considerable amount of parity exists in the American League at the moment. It’s going to be a big edge for the AL to have home field in battling for the Commissioner’s Trophy against their top-heavy NL adversaries.
Only two teams ultimately remain to battle for the top prize. It’s a bit hard to look too far ahead in that regard with so many significant games to be played. However, five of the past six teams to have home field in the World Series have come out on top.
The National League hadn’t won an All-Star Game from 1997 through 2009 before rattling off three consecutive victories thereafter. Now the AL has responded with three straight wins of its own, reasserting its superiority in this high-stakes All-Star showcase.
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