AL Central Shines as American League Wins 9th Straight Summer Classic

The National League was so close to breaking the All-Star Game open in the 1st inning – effectively ending the 92nd Summer Classic before it even began.

Tampa Bay Rays starter Shane McClanahan got the nod in his first ever All-Star Game appearance and almost didn’t make it out of the first inning.

The lanky lefty was not missing any bats in his ASG debut – allowing the first 5 hitters of the game to barrel up the baseball.

Ronald Acuna – smack. Mookie Betts – smack. Manny Machado – smack. Goldy – smack. Even Trea Turner – smack. Each of the first 5 batters for the National League recorded exit velos of 90 MPH or greater.

How did this not result in disaster for the young McClanahan and his American League squad? Certainly a start like this would turn a great exhibition into a laugher very early.

It was the AL Central who stepped in to save the day. The 3rd hitter – Manny Machado – absolutely crushed a low line drive back up the middle at 105.1 MPH. This was the 5th-hardest hit ball of the entire All-Star game.

The Guardians Andres Gimenez and the White Sox Tim Anderson were able to alchemize this bullet into 2 outs – totally changing the narrative of McClanahan’s entire start.

Poetry in motion. I’ve watched this highlight on loop dozens of times. I can’t get enough.

Were it not for this heroic play, AL manager Dusty Baker (from the Astros) may have had to pull McClanahan in the first inning. He wasn’t missing any bats. The very next batter, in fact – Paul Goldschmidt – launched a home run at 108.6 MPH – the 2nd-hardest hit ball of the evening.

The National League was held to just 2 runs in the 1st inning – a meager total considering how hard they were hitting the ball. Were it not for the contributions by the middle infielders for the AL Central, this game could have easily turned into a West Coast snoozefest by the 2nd inning.

The AL Central Drives in One-Third of the Runs and the Game Winner

This All-Star Game was pretty boring if you’re a fan of big hits. They were few and extremely far between. Runs were only scored in 2 of the game’s 18 half innings.

The NL plated 2 in the bottom of the 1st and the AL responded with 3 in the top of the 4th … and that was it.

First, Giancarlo Stanton earned MVP honors for the game with a 2-run game-tying jack clocked off the bat at an astounding 111.7 MPH – the hardest-hit All-Star Game ball in the Statcast era (which is since 2015).

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton then somehow got on top of a pitch at his shoulders and tomahawked one out to deep left just 4 pitches later.

This Byron Buxton blast in the 4th inning wound up being the game winner for the American League as the 3-2 score held.

Are you convinced yet that the AL Central played an integral role in the win? Their defense saved who knows how many runs in the 1st and then their bat generated one-third of the total offense and the game winner in the 4th.

Is Emmanuel Clase the new Mariano Rivera?

American League manager Dusty Baker saved Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase for the 9th inning … and now we know why. For years and years it was Mariano who would trot out to “Enter Sandman” and nail down the ASG. Consider Tuesday night the changing of the guard.

It took the Dominican-born flamethrower just 10 pitches to strike out the side of Garrett Cooper, Kyle Schwarber, and Jake Cronenworth – 3 hitters with a combined 45 homers and 147 RBIs on the year.

 

Sheesh.

10 pitches, 9 strikes for @CleGuardians reliever Emmanuel Clase as he gets the save for the AL! pic.twitter.com/Md316uWCKg

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 20, 2022

Think Clase wanted this one? The emotion shown by Clase in the 9th inning was a refreshing change of pace in a rather dull All-Star game.

Clase Was not the Only AL Central Reliever Balling Out in SoCal

Clase was hardly the only AL Central reliever wearing his emotion on his designer sleeves. White Sox closer Liam Hendriks was mic’d up and extremely entertaining during a scoreless 8th inning.

Here he is pleading with Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez to not throw the ball away after the rookie caught the 3rd out of the 8th in right-center field. Hendriks then proceeded to squat down like a catcher right in the middle of the infield to wait for J-Rod to toss him the ball.

The Central drove in one-third of the American League’s runs (the game-winner as it turned out) and nailed down the final 2 innings of the ballgame. A solid night of work from the league’s worst division on paper.

Paying Respect to the Big Fella – Miguel Cabrera

Many did not even realize Miguel Cabrera made an appearance in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. The 39-year-old Venezuelan-born Cabrera was the recipient of the “Legends Selection” for the American League this year – a way for the league and fans to honor the old guard who are past their athletic prime.

AL Manager Dusty Baker got Miggy into the game with a quick, pinch-hit opportunity to lead off the top of the 5th inning against Luis Castillo of the Reds.

Unfortunately, this is precisely when the Fox broadcast was experimenting with a (extremely stupid) segment where David Ortiz visits the dugouts and annoys the players as they try to enjoy the game.

The camera barely switched over in time to capture Cabrera’s groundout. About 4 seconds of screen time is all the legend received. Then it was over. His name never mentioned again for the remainder of the broadcast.

To quote the great Rod Allen, “I see you, Miggy” – even if Fox doesn’t seem to.