ANAHEIM, Calif. — One key swing by Brian McCann pulled the National League out of the All-Star shadows.
McCann's three-run double in the
seventh inning provided the NL all the offense it needed to capture its
first Midsummer Classic since 1996 with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
In a year of dominant pitching, young
starters David Price and Ubaldo Jimenez set the tone — and got even
more help from the tricky shadows. Nearly the entire field at Angel
Stadium was bathed in odd patterns of sunlight for a twilight first
pitch, creating more awkward swings and misses than usual in baseball's
annual talent show.
Even that bouncing Rally Monkey on
the big screen in a red AL jersey couldn't change things this time. The
National League earns home-field advantage in this year's World Series.
The AL didn't go down without some
ninth-inning drama, started by David Ortiz's leadoff single. But
Jonathan Broxton sealed it, helped by an alert play from right fielder
Marlon Byrd and shaky baserunning by Big Papi.
Ortiz was on first with one out when
John Buck hit a blooper that Byrd scooped up and threw to second for a
forceout on the slow-moving Boston DH. With Alex Rodriguez standing on
the steps in the AL dugout, Ian Kinsler flied out and the NL had its
win.
"It felt awesome for us to get the win and break the streak," Broxton said.
Until MVP McCann cleared the bases,
Robinson Cano's fifth-inning sacrifice fly stood as the lone run in a
game expected to be decided by the loaded pitching staffs on each side.
McCann's deep fly ball to the warning track in right gave the NL hope
in the fifth. When he made good with that bases-loaded double off Matt
Thornton, Atlanta's steady catcher hit second base and pumped his right
fist. The three guys who scored headed to the dugout with a renewed
swagger.
Cano and his fellow Yankees All-Stars
wore black armbands after the death of longtime New York owner George
Steinbrenner from a heart attack earlier Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., at age
80. Pictures of The Boss showed on two video screens before a pregame
moment of silence, and flags hung at half-staff.
"It's a difficult time, on a great
day for baseball, the All-Star game, something everyone looks to,"
Yankees and AL manager Joe Girardi said. "A great man in baseball
passed. He's meant so much to not only this organization, but to the
game of baseball, and to all of us personally."
It took the NL 14 years to break
through after several close calls. The National League lost the last
two 4-3, including that 15-inning affair in 2008 at Yankee Stadium. The
two before that were also one-run defeats. In 2002, they tied 7-7.
Phillies chairman Bill Giles had razzed Charlie Manuel that his job was on the line if the NL didn't finally win again.
Turns out this National League
lineup didn't need star Washington rookie Stephen Strasburg – though
the phenom pitcher might have generated a nice buzz around the ballpark
in those early innings.