|
ESPN.com: Baseball | [Print without images] |
 |
The 2024 MLB All-Star Game from Arlington, Texas, is a wrap -- and, yup, the American League is back on top. The Junior Circuit's 5-3 win marked its 10th victory in 11 years.
After the National League snapped an epic nine-game skid last year, it looked like it might put together back-to-back victories. A standout performance from Pittsburgh Pirates rookie starting pitcher Paul Skenes and a three-run home run off the bat of Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani put the Senior Circuit ahead early.
But the Junior Circuit stormed back with five unanswered runs, highlighted by a two-run double by New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto -- who came around to score the tying run on a pinch-hit single by the Cleveland Guardians' David Fry -- and a two-run, go-ahead home run by Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, who was named the game's MVP.
From in-game analysis to our favorite moments from baseball's most star-studded night, here's how the Midsummer Classic went down.
Jorge Castillo: The All-Star Game isn't just about the sport's superstars, the perennial participants who become household names. It's also about the guys who grind and grind until they suddenly find themselves on that stage. David Fry is one of those guys. The Cleveland Guardians' designated hitter/catcher/utility man made his major league debut last May at age 27. He slashed .238/.319/.416 with four home runs in 57 games -- nothing that screamed a breakout was coming. But Fry, now 28, was one of baseball's biggest first-half surprises, riding a blistering first two months to an unlikely All-Star Game nod. Fry was in the middle of the American League's comeback in the third inning, delivering a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-out RBI single off San Francisco Giants right-hander Logan Webb. Fry might never make an All-Star Game again. But he had his moment Tuesday.
Alden Gonzalez: No single moment from him stood out -- just Juan Soto's overall vibe. There was staring down Paul Skenes and later drawing a walk to make good on his prediction of reaching base against the electrifying rookie. There was his bullet throw to second base from the right-field corner and trolling Jurickson Profar for not trying to stretch a double. And of course there was getting a double himself after NL center fielder Teoscar Hernández was too slow to scoop up his base hit up the middle. Nobody is more in on the theatrics than Juan Soto. The game needs more players like him.
Jesse Rogers: Shohei Ohtani's home run off Tanner Houck was a thing of beauty, making Mason Miller's strikeout of him in his next at-bat in the fifth inning even more impressive. Miller has burst onto the All-Star scene with a dominant first half, firing 299 pitches of 100 mph or more. Add two more triple-digit offerings during Ohtani's at-bat -- mixed between two sliders -- and it was the young pitcher who got the "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd when Ohtani swung and missed on the righty's fourth pitch. Miller -- who also threw a Midsummer Classic-record 103.6 mph pitch to Trea Turner -- would be fun to watch in October, if he can get out of Oakland.
not supported