Once again, the American League earns home field advantage in the World Series and a young phenom is again the hero. The AL pulled off an impressive 6-3 victory Tuesday night and superstar Mike Trout became the first player in the history of the Midsummer Classic to earn back-to-back MVP honors. Think about that. Only (4) other players (Cal Ripken Jr, Gary Carter, Steve Garvey, and Willie Mays) have even won two All Star Game MVPs altogether. Pretty darn good company. Oh, and Mike Trout is still only 23 years old.
Trout didn’t waste any time either. Zack Greinke entered the contest having pitched an incredible 35.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Naturally, Trout led off the game by clubbing a 1-2 pitching over the RF wall for an oppo homerun to earn the AL an early lead.
While both teams created a few scoring opportunities, the game showcased plenty of power pitching, as the teams combined for 24 total strikeouts and just 13 total hits.
Diamond Dialogue
*Hitting for the Cycle “Trout Style”: In his first at bat in each of his first (4) All Start Games, Trout hit a single, double, triple, and homerun, progressively. This guy is special.
*Ironic Homerun: Trout led off the game with his homerun; the last player to do that was Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan 1977.
*The American League is 15-4 in the last 19 All Star Games. Maybe they’re tired of being called the Junior Circuit? Regardless of the reason, the AL has dominated the Midsummer Classic for two decades now.
*Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain (single, double) was the only player to record more than one hit in the game.
*Aroldis Chapman threw 15 pitches in the 9th inning and 14 of them registered 100 MPH or higher.
Recap of Pregame Predictions
*Game Prediction: I predicted a 5-3 American League victory and AL pulled off the 6-3 win. Not bad at all.
*MVP Prediction: I said Prince Fielder would be the MVP. The Prince (1/1, single, 2 RBI) was said by many to have won the MVP if Trout had not. What was I thinking? The All Star Game has clearly become the Mike Trout Show.
*Kipnis Prediction: I said he’d get only one middle-innings at bat and get a single to LF; he did get only one middle-innings at bat, but struck out against Jacob deGrom!
*Hometown Players: I predicted Todd Frazier would play deep into the game and get at least 3 at bats and that Aroldis Chapman would pitch the 9th inning and hit 103 MPH on the radar gun. Both of these things happened!
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