Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder flop in All Star Game – MLB Update
Justin Verlander had a poor time on the mound in Tuesday’s All Star Game between the American League and National League at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The 2011 AL Most Valuable Player Award winner, Verlander threw extremely hard and his curveballs
also seemed to be curving but the results still did not go in his favour.
Nationals’ batters took complete advantage of his errors, scoring five runs in the first inning to establish complete control over the contest. It will not be wrong to say that the reigning Cy Young Award winner tried a bit too much to cheer up his fans.
"It's very disappointing, because we're competitors and we want to win," said AL manager Ron Washington. "They came out. They swung the bats. Once they got the lead, started bringing those arms in their hand, and they got the job done."
Ryan Braun doubled to deep-right in the first inning to put the Nationals’ on the board. Pablo Sandoval tripled to deep-right and Dan Uggla’s infield single to shortstop sealed Verlander’s fate on Tuesday evening. AL starting pitcher was supposed to toss
up two innings but after leaking five runs in the first he was sent to the dugout, from where he watched the rest of the game.
"I think when you face somebody that good, you just try to shorten your swing and hope you're able to find the barrel," Braun said. "He's probably the best pitcher in our game today. He wanted to come out and showcase the fact he has a great fastball, which
everybody already knew. But everybody got to see it tonight."
Third baseman Miguel Cabrera grounded into double play in the sixth in his only at-bat. When Cabrera stepped on to the plate, the Nationals already had their third straight All Star Game victory within their reach. It was just a formality.
Prince Fielder, who homered 28 times to win his second Home Run Derby on Monday night, also had nothing much to offer. The $214 million first baseman went 0-for-2 as the AL collapsed for the third straight season. It was quite surprising to see the one-sided
nature of the All-Star Game this year.
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