*Photo from The Journal*
Death, taxes, the AL coming out on top in the summer. Juan Soto drove in a pair of runs, Jarren Duran homered, and the AL All Stars defeated the NL 5-3 in this year's All Star game Tuesday night in Arlington.
After the NL snuck in a win last year, the AL returned to its winning ways in the All Star game, winning for the 10th time in 11 games and 17th out of 21. Finishing in two hours and 28 minutes, it was also the quickest midsummer classic since 1988, with that one taking two hours and 26 minutes.
The night ended well for Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, the bench boss of the AL squad. By securing the win in the All Star game, he becomes the first manager to win a World Series and an All Star game as a manager in both the AL and NL. Bochy and Tony La Russa are the only managers to win an All Star game for both the AL and NL.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes had a night to remember as well. Just a year after being drafted first overall from LSU in the draft, Skenes started the game for the NL as he continues to take baseball by storm. He's the first number one draft pick to play in the All Star game a year after being drafted.
Skenes said of his past year and change "Obviously, I’ve done a lot over the last 13 months. I think LSU as a whole does a good job of preparing us for big moments. There’s not a whole lot else you can do to prepare for moments like this other than to pitch in moments like this. That was big."
After a scoreless first two innings, Shohei Ohtani gave the NL the lead in the 3rd in a big way. He hit a towering 3 run home run to right field off Tanner Houck of the Boston Red Sox to make it a 3-0 lead for the NL. In the bottom of the 3rd, Soto got the AL on the board and within a run thanks to a two run double to center field.
Later in the inning, David Fry of the Cleveland Guardians scored Soto to tie the game, hitting an RBI single to left field after entering as a pinch hitter in the DH spot. With the game tied in the 5th inning, Boston's Jarren Duran put the AL ahead for good, hitting a two run home run to right field to make it a 5-3 score.
That home run was enough for Duran to win MVP of the game, winning the trophy named after Red Sox legend Ted Williams. The home run in his first All Star game at bat made him the 5th Red Sox player to win MVP of the game and first since outfielder JD Drew in 2008.
Duran said after the game "It's kind of hard to put into words. But honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about my family and being able to go see them after the game. But I'm just thankful that I was able to do that and help the AL team win."
Houck, who worked the 3rd inning, was the only AL pitcher to allow the NL to score. Corbin Burnes of the Baltimore Orioles started the game and kept the NL off the board to start, as did Tarik Skubal in the second. After Houck pitched the 3rd, all of Garrett Crochet, Mason Miller, Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Kirby Yates, and Emmanuel Clase held the NL scoreless, with Clase getting the save.
Logan Webb gave up 3 runs in the 3rd for the NL and Hunter Greene allowed the Duran homer in the 5th. Skenes and Max Fried worked the first two innings, with Shota Imanaga working a clean 4th. Cristopher Sanchez, Reynaldo Lopez, Robert Suarez, Matt Strahm, Tanner Scott, and Jeff Hoffman held the AL scoreless after Greene left.
The All Star break now continues without any action for a few days. The regular season resumes with a 14 game slate on Friday, with only the Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers not playing until Saturday.
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