MLB 2013 All Star Game report
Runs were few and far between but the American League’s electric pitching prevailed to lead the AL to a 3-0 victory over the NL; and more importantly, home field advantage in the World Series.
Matt Harvey retired both Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis, via the strikeout of course, in the first to strand runners at first and second thanks to that of his beguiling slider (sliders to hitters this year: 42 strikeouts and 21 hits). The Mets ace, and now the youngest All Star game starter since 1988, further adorned himself to the adoring fans at Citi Field not only with his dominant performance, but also inadvertently when his 97mph fastball struck Robinson Cano’s knee with a deadening thud.
The Yankees superstar’s dismal All Star break (he finished last in the HRDerby as AL Captain) concluded in the same inning (top of the first) as he was humiliated further as he was replaced by fierce Red Sox rival Dustin Pedroia.
Max Scherzer and Chris Sale combined for three dominant 1-2-3 innings as the offenses failed to establish themselves in the game. To demonstrate how dominant they were, not a single runner reached base and three innings required just 36 pitches. Felix Hernandez, Matt Moore, Grant Balfour, Greg Holland, Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar, Mariano Rivera and Joe Nathan continued where Sale and Scherzer left off, breezing through 9 masterful, scoreless innings. Utter dominance. Over the entirety of the game, AL pitching allowed just four baserunners.
Offensively speaking, the AL’s reversal of fortunes began in the fourth when Jose Bautista’s sac fly scored Miguel Cabrera (the 2012 Triple Crown winner and AL MVP) in the fourth, who had lead off the inning by scorching a double into the right center gap. This ended seventeen consecutive innings for the AL without scoring a run, an indication of the success to come.
The AL added to their lead in the fifth off Phillies left hander Cliff Lee. After Adam Jones doubled and then advanced to third on singled Joe Mauer’s single, JJ Hardy hit into a fielder’s choice which brought Jones home to make it 2-0. It was not until the eighth when another runner crossed home plate, once again in favour of the AL. Salvador Perez lead off the frame with a single before Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis doubled over the left fielders head to increase the lead to 3; an ideal save situation for Mariano Rivera. However, as a precaution to make sure he got to pitch in his 17th and final season, in New York, he pitched a perfect eighth before parting to a chorus of applause, to allow Joe Nathan to earn the save in the ninth.
