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| JT: Drinking beers and plugging movies in center field |
Much has been made about the number of All-Stars chosen this year -- 85 total -- with particular venom reserved for players who declined to appear in the game to nurse nagging injuries or, worse yet, simply take a full three days off. I'm of the view that if you're chosen, you should go, unless you are actually on the disabled list. If guys need a break -- and there wouldn't be a break without the All-Star Game in the first place, maybe you can make the the break four days instead of three. Take Monday and Tuesday off, play the game on Wednesday, and let everybody resume the regular season on Friday. What about the Home Run Derby, you ask?
My next suggestion is to scale back or get rid of the Home Run Derby. Yes, everybody loves those dingers, but this glorified batting practice is far too long -- three hours, really -- and pretty dreadful to watch in the first round. We all felt bad for Rickie Weeks and Matt Kemp. Or maybe we flipped over to Kill Bill. By the way, it was interesting to hear ESPN's Nomar Garciaparra (a two-time participant himself) talk about how sore he was the next. The fatigue factor might not bode well for the AL team, who had three starters (Ortiz, Gonzalez, and winner Cano) go into the final round last night. Both Gonzalez and Cano probably took around 60 home run cuts each. That's a workout.
Given the potential for a slight American League power outage, I am sure that the National League -- especially the Phillies -- are welcoming the chance to assert their pitching dominance to gain the advantage in the World Series. With Roy Halliday to start and Cliff Lee in the bullpen, NL manager Bruce Bochy has four or five innings of the game locked up right there, with Tim Lincecum and a host of other studs ready to go. By the end of the game, I think AL manager Ron Washington will wish he had CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, and Justin Verlander throwing.
I would expect a low scoring game for a while, with the NL breaking it open big after the fifth. I have my bowl of peanuts and a fresh pitcher of iced tea ready to go. Now where'd I put the remote?
Pregame
Going through the lineups during introductions, it appears that Yankees reliever David Robertson appears to be about 15 years old. Good for him. Nice to see THREE members of the Pittsburgh Pirates as All-Stars. And on and on the pregame goes (The X-Factor? Really?) culminating with Tim McCarver's awkward reading of the teleprompter.
Top 1st
Halladay is likely to be awesome. One pitch, one out. Four more pitches, two outs. Four more, inning's over. Halladay is keeping the ball down in the strike zone, too. Will he go two or three innings, is my question. AL 0, NL 0.
Bottom 1st
Weaver is very good, and underexposed, pitching as he does on the West Coast, for the other team in Los Angeles, and for a team that doesn't get much support outside of its limited fan base. I don't expect at this point the National League hitters will fare much better. Batting second, there's Carlos Beltran -- nice to see him coming back into form, despite the strikeout on a change-up from Weaver. Weaver is a fine pitcher, but his command looks a little off, evidenced by the walk to Kemp. I would have liked to have seen Prince Fielder see a few pitches before swinging -- maybe Kemp could have stolen second. As it turns out, Fielder swung at the first one and flied out. That's it, Prince; give the Arizona fans another reason to boo. AL 0, NL 0.
Top 2nd
Nice play from Rolen to get the second out of the inning, as Halliday continues to be super-efficient. A decent at-bat from Adrian Beltre, who saw about six pitches before a respectable fly-out to the opposite field. That appears to be all we'll see from Halladay, who's making the start on three days rest. His teammate Cliff Lee will likely take the next two innings. AL 0, NL 0.
Bottom 2nd
Now there's David Robertson in there, as Weaver -- whose knee has been bothering him -- could only go an inning. No doubt a guy who can warm up quickly. And there's a noisy out, and an out only because of a a great play from Jose Bautista. And now a single up the middle from Lance Berkman. At least he won't be running. After a good at bat from Matt Holliday, he's called out on strikes and Berkman is thrown out. Yowza. Looking back, honestly, I might have pinch run for Berkman -- Hunter Pence, anyone? AL 0, NL 0.
Top 3rd
And here's Cliff Lee, who these days is the best pitcher in baseball. Curve is working. Three up, three down. Lineup changes should start soon, with the AL losing a chess piece by having Robertson pitch the second. AL 0, NL 0.
Bottom 3rd
Seattle rookie Michael Pineda is pitching now -- very good, and very composed for a 22-year-old. Weeks bats for the second time in the game now with two outs. Time to guess of a pitch and try to jack one out. Wow --strikeout on a filthy pitch down and away. Will Washington let the rookie pitch another inning? AL 0, NL 0.
Top 4th
I like the substitutions of Hunter Pence and Justin Upton in outfield. After one out, Adrian Gonzalez puts one just over the fence in right-center. That's how good Gonzalez is -- a little mistake from Lee and A-Gon puts a run on the board. And, with Fielder dropping the pop-up by Bautista, there's another reason for the Arizona fans to boo. And there are the boos. With a cheap little flare by Lee's former teammate Hamilton, Bochy goes to Tyler Clippard, the politest-looking man on either team. Adrian Beltre singles to left, but for some reason Bautista tried to score from second and was thrown out easily. Feh. You have to let Clippard get those outs in a situation like this, with big bats up and down the lineup. AL 1, NL 0.
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| Boo -- I mean, hooray! (photo from AP) |
I like CJ Wilson as a left-hander here in the fourth, as well as Youklis at third. "Infield single" by Beltran. But, Fox, do we have to have a poolside interview with Justin Timberlake? Single by Kemp. Getting interesting here with two on and no outs. The home run from Prince Fielder should limit the boos from the Arizona crowd for the rest of the night. Needless to say, I was wrong to like Wilson pitching here, as his command is a little off and he's leaving pitches up in the strike zone. Wilson settles down and finishes the inning with 22 pitches, but the damage is done. NL 3, AL 1.
Top 5th
Votto in at first, with Clayton Kershaw on the mound now, a pitcher that the bottom of the AL order doesn't see much. Not much going on in this inning -- and it's three up three down, with Votto making a nice play at first to close out the inning. NL 3, AL 1.
Bottom 5th
Migel Cabrera at first, Howie Kendrick an second, Johny Peralta at short, Ellsbury in center, with Walden pitching. Here's where the lack of real aces for the American League is starting to show. Tulowitzki singles, Castro is the pinch runner, Castro steals second. Rolen strikes out (again), when a proper ground ball to the right side of the infield would have moved the runner over. Not a good night for Rolen. Interesting detail on screen, showing the replay of how Walden sneaks off the rubber and closer to the plate during his delivery. Castro steals third. Weeks hits a little grounder back to the pitcher, who throws out Castro at home, with Weeks now at first. I totally understand Weeks stealing second in this situation. Can the NL get a balk here, please? This is the second inning in a row that the AL pitchers have labored, so I would expect (another) error from the AL before the end of the game. Weeks scores from second on Ethier's single, with Ethier being tagged out between first and second, probably drawing the throw from the cutoff to ensure the run scores. It took Walden about 20 pitches to finish that inning. NL 4, AL 1.
Top 6th
Brandon Phillips in and second, Castro at short, Pablo Sandoval at third, with the outstanding Jair Jurrjens opening the inning to Ellsbury, who strikes out. Two more up, two more down. None of the AL hitters looked comfortable. Nine outs to go for the American league and they're done. NL 4, AL 1.
Bottom 6th
Matt Joyce in left, Carlos Quentin in right, Matt Wieters behind the plate, with Chris Perez pitching. These guys are all good, but very young. In the field right now, the lack of stature among the AL players is quite apparent. Kemp flies out, but Joey Votto could be trouble in his first at bat here. Nope, he struck out -- but at least he swung hard. Yader Molina gets a nice double off his former teammate, much to Perez's amusement. And a quick fly out by Justin Upton -- patience, Grasshopper! -- ends the inning. Another run would have been worth working for there. NL 4, AL 1.
Top 7th
With Jair Jurrjens starting the seventh, I think the game is likely over if he can manage three outs. With Andrew McCutchen in center, the NL defense now is very strong all around. I like how Fox flashed an on screen ad for Moneyball when Youklis ("The Greek God of Walks") came up. Youklis delivers a single, and Bochy, taking no chances, brings in Craig Kimbrel. First pitch, 97 miles per hour, but Kimbrel's command is a little off, and he walks a patient Paul Konerko. Kendrick did his best to work the count, fouling off a couple of pitches, but he grounds out to end the inning. Six outs left for the Americans.
Bottom 7th
Michael Cuddyer at first, Michael Young at third, with Brandon League pitching. Button up your damn shirt, League. Naturally, he gives up a single to Hunter Pence. Strikeout by Castro, but speedy Pence goes to third on a passed ball. League throws very hard -- close to a 100, pitch after pitch. And Pablo Sandoval goes inside out fora ground rule double down the left-field line, Hunter Pence scoring easily. Not a bad spot to pinch hit Gaby Sanchez in this spot: Swing away, big guy! But he flies out. NL 5, AL 1.
Top 8th
Johnny Ventures (1950s pop idol?) is on to pitch in the 8th, Howie Kendrick and Jocaby Ellsbury make sure they catch their late flights out of town, and Heath Bell does the Fat Man Sprint-and-Slide in from the bullpen. That was not really very cool at all. Peralta pops out, and Heath Bell gets his 20 seconds on SportCenter. NL 5, AL 1.
Bottom 8th
Ogando is on to pitch for the AL, but the game has the feel of being over. One out, two outs. Jay Bruce pinch hits, and Gio Gonzalez comes in to pitch to him. It's some hot lefty-on-lefty action, people. Look at us managing the game people! And Bruce strikes out. Epic. Half inning to go. NL 5, AL 1.
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| "How many outs we need, Skip?" |
Some more substitutions have been made, but it's getting late, and from what I can tell another one of those Pirate all-stars, Joel Handrahan, is in to close out the game. Or is he? My beard is getting itchy, and that usually means something. Hanrahan strikes out Michael Young, who looks miffed that he whiffed. Hanrahan is actually throwing about 100 miles an hour at the top end. They must like him in Pennsylvania with that chin fringe. But Castro and Bruce collaborate on an error, and puckish Carlos Quentin is on. Here comes the AL. Will Matt Joyce of the Tampa Bay Not-the-Devil Rays be able to keep things rolling? Joyce singles to right, and Jay Bruce uncorks a mighty throw home to nobody. Runners at second and third with two out. It's time for Bochy to bring on The Beard! One pitch, fly ball to shallow right. A few more, and it's a ground out to the shortstop. Final score: National League 5, American League 1.
Looks like the obvious was true here. The National League's pitching depth was the difference, with Prince Fielder making up for his weak showing in the Home Run Derby by smacking a three-run homer that was the deciding hit in the game. Didn't go too late for me, and it looks like nobody was seriously hurt. I learned that I have a lot of movies to go see this summer, but I won't go to Friends with Benefits, no matter how many times JT asks. Home field advantage for the National League in the World Series; I'll be watching that.
Check out my baseball (and other sports) blog, Barcalounge Skipper.
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