Tonight, the best players in the MLB take on the All Star Game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the 96th edition of the midsummer classic. The ALnow leads the series 49-45-2 all time over the NL. If tonight’s game ends in a tie after 9 innings, it goes to a swing-off where each manager picks three batters in order and each player gets three swings where the away team will bat first. The team with the most homers after nine swings will win the game. If we remain tied each manager picks one batter for the next round of three swings. The AL would trot out Randy Arozarena, Willson Contreras, and Munetaka Murakami if we got to a swing off. The NL would trot out Jordan Walker (2026 Home Run Derby Champ), Hunter Goodman, and James Wood if we were to go to a swing off.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez got the start for the NL in front of his hometown fans. He got Mike Trout to strike out, Yordan Alvarez hit a single, Shea Langeliers walked on 4 pitches, Junior Caminero hit into a fielders choice to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd with two outs, Bobby Witt Jr walked after he had Witt on an 0-2 count, Cody Bellinger hit a 2 run RBI single to give the AL a 2-0 lead early on, Ben Rice hits an RBI single to give the AL a 3-0 lead, and Riley Greene strikes out for the final out. Not an ideal start in front of your hometown fans for Sanchez who threw 34 pitches in the 1st inning.
Kyle Schwarber led off for the NL team in the bottom of the first and struck out chasing a slider. In the bottom of the 2nd, Brandon Marsh struck out looking on a full count in front of his hometown fans.
Rays third baseman Junior Caminero left the game in the top of the third inning after getting hit in the hand/finger by Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien. In his second AB of the game, Schwarber grounded out. AL still leads 3-0 after three innings.
Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo is throwing the fourth inning for the NL. Riley Greene strikes out, Ernie Clement grounds out on one pitch, and Mike Trout grounded out on one pitch as well. The NL finally picks up their first hit in the bottom of the fourth inning as Juan Soto gets a single off of Joe Ryan.
In his second AB of the game, Marsh struck out swinging on a full count in the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, Harper got his first AB and struck out swinging on a splitter in the dirt. AL still leads the NL 3-0 after six innings. The NL has only managed to muster together one hit so far.
In the Top of the 8th, White Sox 3B Miguel Vargas crushed a solo homer off of Dodgers Pitcher Justin Worobleski to give the AL a 4-0 lead and the first homer of this game. Cubs OF Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a single in the bottom of the 8th inning off of Blue Jays pitcher Louis Varland to give the NL for only their second hit of the game.
In the Top of the 9th, Padres Closer Mason Miller came on and pitched to White Sox 1B Munetaka Murakami and Murakami struck out. Dave Roberts went to the bullpen and brought in Phillies closer Jhoan Duran to pitch in front of the home crowd. Randy Arozarena led off with a single, Travis Bazzana hit into a fielder’s choice, and Ceddanne Rafaela grounded out to end the top of the ninth. Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman will be pitching the bottom of the ninth to try and close this game out for the American League. Chapman got his first two hitters out with ease and the AL turned to Rays closer Bryan Baker to get the final out of the game. Marlins SS Otto Lopez hits a single for the third hit of the game for the NL and Sal Stewart grounded out for the final out of the game. The American League defeated the National League 4-0. It is the first shutout in an All Star Game in thirteen years.
The MVP of the 96th annual All Star Game is awarded to Yankees OF Cody Bellinger who had a 2 RBI single to start the scoring in tonight’s game. He is the first Yankees player to win MVP in the All Star Game since Giancarlo Stanton did it in 2022.
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