The American League knocked off the National League 6-3 in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, their third straight win in the midsummer classic. The AL champion will now have homefield advantage in October’s World Series. The win went to David Price and the loss went to Clayton Kershaw, who allowed two runs on three hits in the fifth inning.
The scoring started early on when Mike Trout started the game with a leadoff homer against NL starter Zack Greinke. Greinke then walked Josh Donaldson, but retired the final six batters he faced in a row – four via the strikeout. The NL tied the game up in the second off of AL starter Dallas Keuchel after Jhonny Peralta singled home Paul Goldschmidt. Arizona’s first baseman reached on an infield single, and advanced to second on a Donaldson throwing error.
In the fifth, the AL struck again off of Kershaw. Alcides Escobar led off with a single, and Kershaw retired the next two batters. But then he walked Albert Pujols, and Nelson Cruz singled in Mike Trout to make it 2-1. Lorenzo Cain then doubled home Pujols, turning it into a 3-1 game.
The NL made it 3-2 in the sixth following a solo homer by Andrew McCutchen off of Chris Archer, but the AL made it 5-2 in the seventh following an RBI double by Manny Machado and a sac fly by Prince Fielder. Each team added another run after that, the AL on a Brian Dozier solo homer and the NL on a Brandon Crawford sac fly, to lead to the 6-3 final score.
Mike Trout was named the MVP for the second straight year, the only player in MLB history to win the All-Star Game MVP in consecutive seasons. Trout went 1/3 with a walk, a solo homer, and two runs scored. He’s now hit for the cycle in his All-Star Game career – not a bad achievement, and something to add to his lengthy ledger of accomplishments.
