Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is upon us, back after a pandemic-forced hiatus in 2020. The 91st Midsummer Classic, hosted by the Colorado Rockies and Coors Field, gets underway on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Summary
Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is upon us, back after a pandemic-forced hiatus in 2020. The 91st Midsummer Classic, hosted by the Colorado Rockies and Coors Field, gets underway on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on Fox.
Shohei Ohtani, appearing in his first All-Star Game, is the starting pitcher for the American League while Max Scherzer, an eight-time All-Star, gets the nod for the National League.
The Athletic has seven reporters — Jayson Stark, Brittany Ghiroli, Eno Sarris, Nick Groke, Fabian Ardaya, C. Trent Rosecrans and Andy McCullough — on site to bring you the latest from the game's biggest stars.
Get ready for the action with our recommended reading, and check out the rosters and starters for both leagues below.
Make your reads
- Let’s just enjoy the MLB All-Star Game without dwelling on who is missing (Ken Rosenthal)
- What’s it like on the other end of a Shohei Ohtani homer? Let’s ask pitchers: ‘It’s kind of mind-blowing’ (Stephen J. Nesbitt)
- Fox’s MLB All-Star Game broadcast will highlight Shohei Ohtani and the rising generation of baseball talent (Richard Deitsch)
- The Athletic’s 2021 All-Star Game food and beer guide (Nick Groke and Eno Sarris)
- Tuesday Trivia: Can you recall these great moments from All-Star Game history? (Andrew Baggarly)
- For Nelson Cruz and other All-Star veterans, showcase offers opportunity to leave impression on younger players (Britt Ghiroli)
- The adjustments that made the All-Stars into who they are today (Britt Ghiroli and Eno Sarris)
(Photo of Shohei Ohtani, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr.: Matt Dirksen / Colorado Rockies / Getty Images)
The American League wins its 8th consecutive All-Star Game, 5-2
Even through a humdrum game, the sold-out All-Star Game crowd at Coors Field was a live wire.
Perhaps fans were eager to see baseball's showcase after the game was canceled a year ago during a pandemic. Or maybe they came to Denver from another city to see a game for the first time since 2019. Or maybe a parade of young stars, topped by the game's MVP, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, drummed up the excitement for baseball's new and next generation.
Whatever the reason, between Sunday's draft, Monday's derby and Tuesday's game, baseball bounced back in a big way.
The American League wins its 8th consecutive All-Star Game, 5-2. Liam Hendriks was credited with the save and Shohei Ohtani, the week's biggest attraction, gets the win.
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Of Machado: 'If I was on the other side, I'd boo him, too — He's so dang good'
Padres closer Mark Melancon was along the first-base line for the pregame roster introductions, standing next to his teammate, Manny Machado. He was certainly near enough to absorb some of the thundering boos that fell down upon Machado.
"If I was on the other side, I'd boo him, too," Melancon said. "He's so dang good."
Jared Walsh's sliding grab squashes an NL threat
Nice sliding grab by Walsh, who was drafted as a first baseman who could also pitch, ends the NL threat in the bottom of the eighth. Is that an Ohtani-ian skillset?
Jayson Stark: So the Angels DH (that Ohtani guy) threw a 100-mph pitch and their first baseman made the play of the game at a position he'd never played. That's about right.
Fabian Ardaya: Walsh was actually the Angels' everyday right fielder for a bit before Albert Pujols’ release this year. Oh, and he’s a former two-way player, too! That makes three guys in this game who have done both in some fashion (Walsh, Ohtani, Jake Cronenworth).
Arenado: 'I'm trying to push for the second half and make a run to the playoffs'
In a two-week span, Nolan Arenado heard several standing ovations at his former home park in Colorado. And he said he still misses the summer sunsets behind left field.
But his focus will quickly flip to more pressing concerns with the Cardinals.
"I won't be getting any standing ovations anywhere else anymore," he said. "I'm trying to push for the second half and make a run to the playoffs."
Eduardo Escobar, All-Star
Earlier this month when Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo announced to the clubhouse that Eduardo Escobar was an All-Star, the Diamondbacks infielder was uncharacteristically subdued. “It was almost a different expression than I'd ever seen on Eddie, said first baseman Christian Walker. "Happy for himself and proud and still grateful — not in a weird, co*cky way or a selfish way. Almost relieved.”
For years, Escobar had been close to such a nod, but now he's made it. Tonight, he's representing the NL team off the bench. Arizona has had a miserable season, but the Diamondbacks are overjoyed for him. He is their favorite teammate — funny, quirky, loud, joyful, caring — and they wanted it for him every bit as much as he wanted it for himself.
Dave Roberts calls on Reggie Smith
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had Reggie Smith, a special coach for the game, go out to make a pitching change. Nice moment. Roberts has said he considers Smith to be a mentor and wanted to have him involved in the event.
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The Coors Field humidor is back in business
Here's a live look at the Coors Field humidor down in the basem*nt next to the laundry room by the home clubhouse. It is plugged in and back in full working mode tonight after last night's Home Run Derby, which featured balls that did not meet their fate inside this cabinet.
Soto's plate discipline pays off
Juan Soto, who took many pitches last night in the home run derby, shows off his plate discipline with a walk in the bottom of the sixth. The 22-year-old takes pride in working at-bats and gets more upset chasing pitches than striking out.
Xander Bogaerts on the art of the in-game interview:
Bogaerts was a good sport about his in-game interview. “I told (Rafael) Devers, I had someone talking in my ear while hitting,” he said. “That’s not something I want to do more often.”
Catcher Mike Zunino joins Realmuto with a home run
Both leagues' catchers HR in an All-Star Game:
1969: Johnny Bench, Bill Freehan
1997: Javy Lopez, Sandy Alomar Jr.
2021: J.T. Realmuto, Mike Zunino
Eno Sarris: Five balls were hit harder tonight than Zunino's 106.6 mph homer there — angle matters! And the big boy got that in the air, 31 degrees, just around the perfect spot for homers, which peak between 28 and 30 degrees.
That's a message Brandon Crawford got in the offseason after 2019. He worked hard with the new coaches to design a bat path that would lift the ball better, and has had the two best barrel seasons in his career the last two years. But exit velocity matters! He hit his ball 63.6 mph in the sixth inning for a pop-out.
J.T. Realmuto mashes a 430-foot homer in the bottom of the fifth
Phillies catchers to HR in an All-Star Game:
J.T. Realmuto, tonight
That's all, folks.
Nick Groke: Realmuto finally put a run on the board for the National League, plopping a homer to the 'pens in right-center field in the fifth, a 430-foot shot. Unlike Monday's rambunctious Home Run Derby, this All-Star Game has played out more subdued, some kind of pitchers' showcase. Somebody needs to let Coors Field out of its cage. Let's get ripped, play a marathon. Four more innings left to go wild.
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A gentle boo
Poor J.D. Martinez. He got booed, albeit gently, because he replaced Ohtani as the American League’s DH. Unlike last night, at least, the crowd did not rush for the exits upon Ohtani’s departure.
A less-gentle boo
Fabian Ardaya: Max Muncy called getting booed “fun.” Said he and his Dodgers teammates were joking in the dugout wondering if they’d get booed, but they soaked in the moment. Added it was nice to see the fans recognize Nolan Arenado, even if he added that he was glad he didn’t have to face him as often anymore.
Germán Márquez goes 1-2-3, looks right at home
That’s a nice moment for Márquez. He finished up a 1-2-3 inning by striking out Salvador Perez. The Coors Field faithful gave him an ovation. Marquez doffed his cap. It was a wholesome sight.
An update from the official scorer
FYI, because of exhibition rules, starting pitchers do not have to go five innings to qualify for the win. Because the American League scored in the top of the second, if the AL holds on to this lead and wins, Shohei Ohtani would get the win. (This is the benefit of sitting next to the official scorer.)
Orioles' Cedric Mullins knows how to surprise
Mullins, who made the AL team as a reserve, said he found out he was starting Thursday and had to keep it a secret. His family is here and staying in the same hotel. When lineups were announced yesterday he heard a scream a few doors down: it was his mom reacting to the news.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. goes yard for first home run of the game
Guerrero must not have gotten the memo: The Home Run Derby was last night. That tater was mashed.
Fabian Ardaya: By the time that home run lands, Vladimir Guerrero III will be playing in his first All-Star Game.
Nick Groke: Even at Coors Field, that is not a normal home run. Guerrero crushed that ball off Corbin Burnes to the back row of the bleacher seats in left-center field. He nearly reached the concourse. Fernando Tatis Jr. was thunderstruck at shortstop with his hands on his head, expecting falling debris or something.
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Pitching progress report
Three of the four pitchers who appeared in the first two innings were on the Jacob deGrom-type plan, each of them going one inning on a hard pitch limit before leaving with zeroed-out ERAs. Shohei Ohtani, Max Scherzer and Lance Lynn bowled over their halfs. Only Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes has allowed a run so far, and he's back out for the third.
'Nobody else like me, that's why it works'
"How many fastballs do you throw?" I asked Lance Lynn. "At least four, right?"
"Yeah, two-seam, true sinker, four-seam, cutter ... and every once in a while, I throw a nice and easy one."
Something tells me he won't throw the nice and easy one today, but all those fastballs make him unique.
"Nobody else like me, that's why it works," he said.
Fraz and Maz in Pirates' ASG history
Re-upping this fun fact: Adam Frazier joins Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski as the only Pirates second basem*n to start an All-Star Game. Frazier was scouted and signed out of Mississippi State by Mazeroski’s son, Darren. The day he spoke with Darren for the first time, Frazier phoned his dad afterward to tell him about meeting his first scout — Maz’s son!
“Adam was excited,” his dad recalled. “Who wouldn’t be?”
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