National League All-Stars Clobber American League
The National League topped the American League for the 2nd straight year at the MLB All-Star game. The 5-1 victory gives the NL the home-field advantage in the 2011 World Series.
Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers blasted a 3-run home run against Texas Ranger pitcher C.J. Wilson in the 4th inning that doomed the AL. Wilson gave up hits to the first 3 batters he faced.
Other Rangers seeing action were Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and pitcher Alexi Ogando. Young and Beltre each got a hit in the game.
The American League took the lead in the fourth inning when Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run off Phillies’ ace Cliff Lee. It was the first home run in an All-Star game since 2008. Unfortunatly for the AL, it would not be the last.
The American League was handicapped as pitchers Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, Jon Lester, David Price and Mariano Rivera all decided not to play in the mid-summer classic. That left AL manager Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers with the next-best cast, and gave Ranger pitchers Wilson and Ogando a chance in the spotlight. Ogando shined for 2/3 inning while Wilson struggled at first. Washington recognized the great pitchers of the National League, “Pitching stops hitting, and I mean, those guys over there pitch very well. The arms he brought in and the stuff that they threw up there at that plate, I think we had two innings where we had an opportunity to maybe get some runs, but they constantly shut it down.” The American League was held to just 6 hits in the game.
