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Gonzalez help NL break All-Star skid
   

07/13/10

   

NAHEIM - The National Pastime's Midsummer Classic no longer is the exclusive property of the American League.
With Braves catcher Brian McCann -- who was named the game's MVP -- delivering the big blow, the National League came from behind to bop the AL, 3-1, on Tuesday night in front of 45,408 at Angel Stadium. This is the first happy ending for the NL in an All-Star Game since 1996, ending a run of seven consecutive AL wins and 12 of 13, interrupted by a draw in 2002.

McCann's three-run double into the right-field corner off White Sox southpaw Matt Thornton came after singles by Scott Rolen and Matt Holliday had ignited the seventh-inning rally against the Yankees' Phil Hughes.
Thornton was close to escaping when he retired pinch-hitter Chris Young on a popup, but McCann turned on an 0-1 fastball, caught speeding at 98 mph, to drive in Rolen, Holliday and Marlon Byrd., who'd kept the inning alive with a full-count walk. Andrew Bailey of the Athletics struck out Brandon Phillips to leave two runners stranded.
The Cardinals' Adam Wainwright snuffed a two-on threat in the seventh when he struck out hometown favorite Torii Hunter after retiring Vernon Wells on a forceout. John Buck had doubled with one away off Holliday's glove in left.
The AL seized the lead in the fifth inning without benefit of a hit.
Dodgers lefty Hong-Chih Kuo, the first Taiwan native to appear in the All-Star Game, lost leadoff man Evan Longoria leading off, and it cost the NL. Longoria, behind 0-2 in the count, worked a walk, then Kuo lobbed Joe Mauer's roller down the third-base line 15 feet over first baseman Adrian Gonzalez's head, the two-base error putting two men in scoring position.
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Robinson Cano lofted a sacrifice fly to left, cashing in Longoria. Kuo got Carl Crawford on a force, then Heath Bell sprinted in from the bullpen to retire Hunter on a fly ball deep into the right-field corner to end the inning.
AL starter David Price set the tone quickly by pumping nothing but premium gas, 96 mph to 100 mph, in setting down the NL in the first two innings, with just one infield hit, by David Wright. Ichiro Suzuki ended the first with a superb running catch in right center on an Albert Pujols drive. Price, the Rays' young ace, threw one offspeed pitch, a changeup and 22 fastballs.
Ubaldo Jimenez of the NL was matching Price, heater for heater, in his two innings. The Rockies' right-hander pitched out of a first-inning jam following Derek Jeter's walk and a single to right by Miguel Cabrera that sent the Yankees' shortstop to third with one away. Josh Hamilton grounded sharply back to Jimenez, who hit shortstop Hanley Ramirez in stride to turn a double play, quelling the threat.
Longoria's one-out double, a shot to left, wasn't cashed in by the AL in the second when Jimenez retired Mauer and Cano.
Two more lefties, Andy Pettitte and Cliff Lee, followed Price to the mound and kept the NL silent. Pettitte struck out two while yielding a two-out single to Yadier Molina, and Lee dispatched the NL quickly in the fourth.
The Marlins' Josh Johnson, consistently throwing 97 mph to 98 mph, worked two perfect innings behind Jimenez.
The NL had a threat in the fifth against Justin Verlander, but the Detroit hurler shut it down with more pure heat. After Wright led off with a single and stole second, Andre Ethier smoked a single to right. Hamilton, having moved over from center, kept Wright anchored at third with a bullet to home. Verlander struck out Corey Hart and retired pinch-hitter McCann on a drive that sent Hamilton to the edge of the track in right.
Jeter and Hamilton delivered singles in the sixth against Roy Halladay, but the AL was frustrated when Elvis Andrus was caught stealing and Matt Capps struck out pinch-hitter David Ortiz.
Capps, in his All-Star Game debut, claimed the victory. Hughes, from Foothill High School about 10 minutes away from Angel Stadium, absorbed the loss in his first All-Star appearance. The Giants' Brian Wilson shut down the AL in the eighth, and Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers finished the job. The AL expired in the ninth with Alex Rodriguez left on the bench when Ortiz, after a single, was forced at second on a blooper to right by Buck and Kinsler flied to Young in right center.
A moment of silence was observed before the game in the memory of Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, who died on Tuesday, nine days after turning 80.
Adrian Gonzalez