On the heels of the announcement of George Steinbrenner’s passing, the National League finally win an All-Star game… their first since I was in my early 30s.
It was a simple win with good pitching and a nice clutch hit by sub Brian McCann who was responsible for all three of the NL’s runs. Indeed, all of the NL’s offense came from the bottom of the order, much from the substitutes. The top four in the order were a combined 0-11.
Kudos goes to my Cub Marlon Byrd who was one those runs McCann drove in during the seventh inning. More importantly, Byrd gunned down David Ortiz at second for a 9-4 assist. Byrd can probably be thankful it wasn’t anyone else besides slow-footed Ortiz but nonetheless it was a ninth inning rally killer.
Final score NL 3 AL 1
And thought you have most likely have seen the box score already, check out the one done by Baseball Reference. It’s the most comprehensive and interactive out there.
Another thought: All 4 runs in the game were driven in (sac fly, 3 run double) against pitchers who are “SET UP GUYS.”
Theory: If set up guys were really good enough to be All Stars, they would either be starters or closers.
I’m not sure if I would go that far but I would say that the managers/the MLB were going out of their way to include EVERYONE in game.
sometimes that’s a good thing. sometimes it feels forced.