What a night in Atlanta! For the first time in All-Star Game history, a Home Run Derby-style swing-off determined the winner — and it was the National League that came out on top 4-3 in the swing-off thanks to Philadelphia Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber hitting three home runs to give the Senior Circuit its second win in 12 years.
The format of the tiebreaker was that three players from each team would get three swings each, and the team with the most home runs at the end would win the All-Star Game. Well, the NL needed only two players to get there.
The AL got on the board first with two home runs from Athletics DH Brent Rooker. Miami Marlins left fielder Kyle Stowers added one for the NL, before Seattle Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena padded the AL’s lead with one home run. Schwarber stepped up with the NL down 3-1 and proceeded to hit three blasts to give the NL the lead and the eventual win, as the Junior Circuit’s final hitter, Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda, was unable to hit one.
Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes started the NL off right on the mound with a 1-2-3 first inning, including two strikeouts. Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte then got the scoring started in the bottom of the first with a two-RBI double off of Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal before the AL was even able to secure its first out — and the Junior Circuit was never able to fully dig itself out of that early hole after that.
Nobody would score again until the sixth inning, when New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso hit a three-run blast and Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll followed up with another home run a few batters later. The AL answered with four runs of its own in the seventh, including another three-run home run from Rooker. The game seemed to be over, but then in the top of the ninth inning, Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. hit an RBI double and then scored the tying run himself off an infield single from Carroll. The NL was unable to score in the bottom of the ninth, leading to the tiebreaker event.
From in-game analysis to our favorite moments from baseball’s most star-studded night, here’s how the Midsummer Classic went down.
Takeaways and favorite moments
Jesse Rogers: Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker was nervous. Not because he was on MLB’s center stage, but because he was playing left field for the first time in four years and didn’t want to let his pitcher down. That’s the respect Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Clayton Kershaw brings when he steps on the mound, as he did Tuesday — perhaps for the final time in a Midsummer Classic. Kershaw took the ball in the top of the second inning, earning two outs before manager Dave Roberts pulled him to an appreciative crowd. His last pitch was a called strike three on Vladimir Guerrero Jr., fitting for the newest member of the 3,000-K club.
Oh, and, of course, a ball came to Tucker in left field on Kershaw’s first pitch of the inning to AL catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh sliced one toward the left-field line where Tucker made a sliding catch. It was a sigh of relief for him and the first of two outs for Kershaw, one of the great pitchers of his era. It’s almost assuredly the last time we’ll see Kershaw in an All-Star Game.
David Schoenfield: A younger version of myself, back when I was a kid rooting for the American League to beat the evil National League, would have absolutely loved this game. What a comeback for the AL even if they did end up losing in the end. Down 6-0, the AL showed all the grit and guts of Pete Rose in his prime and rallied to tie the score. Does it matter? No. Was it fun? Sure, even if it doesn’t erase my memory of the late, great Dave Parker throwing out Jim Rice and Brian Downing on the bases in the 1979 All-Star Game in Seattle. But somewhere, there is a kid who will remember Rooker’s three-run homer or Witt’s double down the right-field line or Steven Kwan hustling down the first-base line to beat out an infield dribbler that tied the score in the ninth inning. Somewhere, maybe a kid fell in love with baseball tonight.
Jorge Castillo: Major League Baseball’s tribute to the late Hank Aaron alone was worth the price of admission. The lighting, the footage, the narration, the firework representing Aaron’s 715th home run to left field … it was all incredibly well done and touching, with Aaron’s wife Billye looking on. Kudos to MLB for putting that together and pulling it off.
Jeff Passan: Jacob Misiorowski threw a 98.1 mph slider at the All-Star Game on Tuesday night. Both dugouts filled with laughter at the preposterousness of it. Misiorowski’s teammate with the Milwaukee Brewers, Trevor Megill, summed up the pitch with three simple words: “Oh my god.” Of all people, he should have understood that the rookie right-hander was capable of such things, but then Misiorowski’s capacity to amaze and entertain is boundless.
The 23-year-old rookie was the unexpected story of All-Star week, the center of attention in a game featuring Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. He has started five games and thrown 25.2 innings in the major leagues. No player had ever been named an All-Star with such little experience. And yet Misiorowski’s eighth inning — 18 pitches, nine fastballs over 100 mph with the hardest at 102.3, one hit allowed to Aranda, no runs — made Skenes’ stuff look tame by comparison. Misiorowski didn’t just look good. He looked every bit an All-Star.
Relive all the action from the All-Star Game
Pre-All Star Game predictions
Who will win the All-Star Game and by what score?
Jorge Castillo: The National League 5-2. The NL has the better lineup and will win the game for just the second time since 2012, when Melky Cabrera won MVP honors in Kansas City.
Jeff Passan: The National League will win 3-1. The NL has a far superior lineup to the AL, and in an All-Star Game where pitchers are unlikely to throw more than one inning each, the ability to pile up baserunners seeing a pitcher for the first time is paramount. The NL is more equipped to do that than the AL.
Who is your All-Star Game MVP pick?
Jesse Rogers: Cal Raleigh. I mean, he’s going to homer … that’s a given. He might even hit two. The “Big Dumper” is going to dump a blast into the right-field stands, putting another exclamation mark on an already incredible season. He won the HR Derby, and he’ll win All-Star Game MVP.
Alden Gonzalez: Pete Crow-Armstrong. He’ll have the most productive offensive night among the NL starters and, at some point, make an incredible catch in center field. Crow-Armstrong is 95 games into his age-23 season and has already accumulated 4.9 FanGraphs wins above replacement. He has become a star right before our eyes — and he seems to love the lights more than most.
What’s the matchup you are most excited to see?
Rogers: Let’s start the bottom of the first inning off with a bang, as Tarik Skubal, the starting pitcher for the AL, will face Shohei Ohtani, who is just 1-for-9 off the left-hander. Does the reigning AL Cy Young winner get an early strikeout of the reigning NL MVP, or does Ohtani finally get to Skubal? Not many matchups are guaranteed in the All-Star Game, but this one is — and it’s about as good as it gets.
Castillo: Jacob Misiorowski against anybody. The rookie right-hander’s inclusion after just five career starts produced a stir across the majors, and all eyes will be on him once he takes the mound. When he does, his 103 mph fastball should certainly play in his one inning. He’s as tough of a matchup as any pitcher in this game.
Who is the one All-Star fans will know much better after Tuesday night’s game?
Gonzalez: The San Diego Padres ended up sending three relievers to the All-Star Game, but there was one clear bullpen representative from the outset: Adrian Morejon. The 26-year-old left-hander doesn’t get much notoriety, but he has been utterly dominant, posting a 1.85 ERA and an expected slugging percentage of .263. He doesn’t strike hitters out at the absurd rates of some of today’s most dominant pitchers, but he gets outs. And he’ll probably get three big ones toward the end of the night.
Passan: Perhaps they already know Misiorowski because his fastball sits at 100 mph and his slider is in the mid-90s, but this is the sort of showcase built for him. One inning, let it eat and show that even though his career is only five starts deep, this will be the first of many All-Star appearances for the 23-year-old.