The National League broke a nine-year losing streak in the All-Star Game, rallying in the eighth inning to defeat the American League 3-2 in Seattle.
Colorado Rockies’ catcher Elias Diaz turned the game around with a two-run home run off Baltimore Orioles’ reliever Felix Bautista after Philadelphia Phillies’ outfielder Nick Castellanos started the rally with a walk.
Here are the Top Takeaways from the game:
1) The home run by Diaz earned him MVP honors and made for a nice story. The veteran catcher was making his first All-Star appearance at age 32, eight years after debuting for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015.
Diaz is hitting .277 with nine home runs and a .763 OPS with the Rockies this season.
Another Diaz, Yandy with the Tampa Bay Rays, hit the only other home run in the game, against Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second inning to give the AL a 1-0 lead.
Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel made the bottom of the ninth dramatic, walking two hitters with two outs, but struck out Jose Ramirez swinging at a high fastball to end the game.
2) With Aaron Judge injured, Pete Alonso was the only position player from either the Mets or the Yankees at the game.
He got two at-bats late in the game and struck out swinging both times, against the Detroit Tigers’ Michael Lorenzen and the Minnesota Twins’ Pablo Lopez.
The only other Met on the team, Kodai Sengadid not pitch in the game.
3) Shohei Ohtani was surely prepared to be the center of media attention in Seattle, with all of the speculation surrounding his impending free agency, but he couldn’t have expected to be serenaded by the local fans as he came to bat in the first inning.
“Come To Seattle, Come To Seattle,” the Mariners fans chanted.
Coincidentally, two LA Dodgers’ players, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, were mic’d up for FOX at the time as they played defense in right field and at first base. With the Dodgers expected to be one of the favorites to land the Japanese superstar, the players were asked if they wanted to make their own case for Ohtani to join them.
“I think that would be considered tampering,” Betts said with a chuckle.
“I think we can say all 30 teams would want him,” added Freeman.
Ohtani did not pitch in the game, due to a blister. As DH, he struck out and walked in his two times up. After he was out of the game he told reporters he heard the fans’ chant.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” he said. “But I was trying to focus on my at-bat.”
4) Gerrit Cole had a rather adventurous first inning as the AL Starter. He gave up three hard-hit balls, two of them with exit velocities over 100mph, yet emerged unscathed with three straight outs.
Leadoff hitter Ronald Acuna Jr. drove one at 100.2mph to the right-field wall that Texas Rangers outfieldr Aroldis Garcia jumped to catch, then Freddie Freeman hit one at 99.7mph to the left field wall that Tampa Bay Rays outfieldr Randy Arozarena also ran down with a leaping grab.
Neither ball would have been a home run but both made for difficult catches.
Finally, Betts hit the hardest ball of the inning, a ground ball at 101.2mph off the bat, at second baseman Marcus Semien for the third out.
5) Luis Arraez, the MLB leader in batting average in the first half at .383, did his thing during the game, going 2-for-2, with singles on the first pitch he saw in each at-bat.
The Miami Marlins second baseman was asked during the game by FOX’s Tom Verducci how he would describe his style of hitting.
“Like Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, Ichiro Suzuki,he said. “Those guys hit the ball to left field, through the middle, they put the ball in play. That’s me right there. I just try to put the ball in play, get my hits.”
He was asked if he thought it would be possible to hit .400.
“It’s hard,” he said. “I just want to get a hit every day, get on base, help my team win. Let’s see what happens.”
6) Mets fans could have been excused if they took a middle-innings break from watching the game, or about the time the entire infield was made up of Atlanta Braves players.
With Matt Olson at first baseOzzie Albies at second, Orlando Arcia at shortstop, Austin Riley at third bases, and Sean Murphy catching, the team with the best record in baseball was well represented.
The Braves had eight players chosen for the All-Star team in all, including Acuna Jr., and pitchers Bryce Elder and Spencer Strider. It was the most for a team since the Texas Rangers had eight in 2012.
Riley had the most impact of the Braves, making two nice plays at third base, turning a line drive from Brent Rooker into a double play, and doubling off Whit Merrifield at first base in the eighth inning to protect the NL’s 3-2 lead.