Prince Fielder awarded MVP as National League defeats American League 5-1 – MLB All-Star Recap
The much awaited All-Star Game is finally over and as expected, the National League obliterated the American League 5-1 at the Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona helped by a strong pitching staff and Prince Fielder’s three-run homer.
Fielder was awarded with the All-Star Most Valuable Player Award for his brilliant effort at the plate.
The American League was missing key pitchers due to the “Sunday before” rule and that made the difference in the end. Chase Field is known as the hitters’ ballpark and it was expected that the team with strong pitching staff will prevail. National League
did not experiment and kept their pitchers intact whereas American League became complacent with their batting abilities led by Jose Bautista.
The American League suffered an additional below when Boston Red Sox ace pitcher Josh Beckett could not recover from soreness in his left knee and had to miss the game. With the likes of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Clayton Kershaw on the opposite pitching
staff, it was tricky to contend.
Jered Weaver started for the American League All-Stars and was almost perfect at the mound. He did not concede any hit in the first inning. David Robertson was quick to relieve Weaver and turned-out with figures identical to Jered.
The audience saw the first glimpse of a “star” performance in the second inning when Brian McCann freed his arms for a massive hit only to be caught brilliantly by Jose Bautista on a sliding effort in the deep.
Roy Halladay started for the National League All-Stars and reproduced what he has been doing all season. He pitched two top-quality innings without conceding a hit or a run to keep the game in balance.
The third inning yielded a similar result with Michael Pineda for the AL and Cliff Lee for the NL pitching a scoreless inning.
It was in the fourth inning that the game picked momentum. Batting for the AL at the top of the fourth inning, Adrian Gonzalez pulled Cliff Lee’s pitch with full force to rocket the ball in the stands. Gonzalez broke the log jam of homers as he registered
the first home-run in the All-Star Game since 2008.
The Nationals had their reply ready and out-performed the AL at the bottom of the fourth inning when Prince Fielder, the home-run derby captain, hammered C.J. Wilson for a three-run homer to establish a two-run lead for the NL. Carlos Beltran and Matt Kemp
completed their runs on Fielder’s hit.
This hit was enough to decide the game as the American League did not get a chance to reply. The NL had Clayton Kershaw, Jair Jurrjens and Craig Kimbrel to control the reins. All three of them pitched brilliantly and lived-up to the expectations of Bruce
Bochy. Tyler Clippard turned out to be the lucky one as he ended up winning the game for the Nationals.
The American League All-Stars could not fire in with the same intensity from the mound. Jordan Walden allowed Rickie Weeks to add a run in the fifth inning. Pablo Sandoval then managed to hit Brandon League for a single allowing Hunter Pence to add the fifth
run for the National League and impose a four-run unassailable lead on the AL.
Bochy used the pitchers efficiently and none of them disappointed. Brian Wilson came to close things off for the National League and raised his arms in joy as he saved the game to ensure the NL of their second consecutive All-Star victory for the first time
since mid-90s.
The National League now has home advantage for the World Series.
Tags: