ST. LOUIS — The Midsummer Classic isn’t just for sluggers after all. In a tight ballgame Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford pulled back a home run with a leaping grab, keeping the game tied for the American League an inning before Detroit’s Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning of a 4-3 All-Star win for the AL. The junior circuit is now 12-0-1, dating back to its last All-Star defeat in Philadelphia in 1996 — the longest unbeaten steak in All-Star history — and won its seventh straight since the Midsummer Classic has been used to determine home-field advantage for the World Series.
All the talk after the game was Crawford’s robbery of Colorado’s Brad Hawpe.
“I was over the wall. It would have been a home run,” explained Crawford, who named the All-Star Game MVP. “Feels good. Feels great to help the team win.
“It's got to be the top (defensive) play (of my career), I don't think I've ever robbed a home run before, so I picked a good time to do it tonight. It's definitely probably my best catch I've ever made.”
New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth to close the door for an All-Star record fourth time. He pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.
“We came here on a mission and the mission was accomplished,” said Rivera, who broke Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley’s All-Star mark for saves.
Rivera ensured that the AL would once again have home-field advantage in the Fall Classic — something his club may get a chance to take advantage of this October.
Even Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon had it on his mind. “It is so important to get home-field advantage in the World Series,” said Maddon, whose Rays lost to Philadelphia in the World Series last October. “So there was a lot on the line there today.”
Crawford became the first non-pitcher to win the MVP with no RBIs and no runs. He entered with a pinch single in the fifth, but it was his snare of Hawpe’s leadoff drive in the seventh off winner Jonathan Papelbon that clinched his MVP honors.
Hawpe and the rest of the NL locker room was stunned. “I still don’t think there’s a good answer for it,” he said.
Granderson’s one-out triple in the eighth against Heath Bell landed off the bottom of the left-field wall. Bell, the loser, intentionally walked Cleveland’s Victor Martinez, and Baltimore’s Adam Jones followed with a fly to deep sacrifice right that brought Granderson home.
AL pitchers retired 18 consecutive batters before Adrian Gonzalez’ two-out walk in the eighth against Minnesota closer Joe Nathan. Los Angeles Dodger second baseman Orlando Hudson singled and, with pinch-hitter Ryan Howard at the plate, stole second before Howard struck out on a pitch in the dirt.
The AL scored twice in the first against reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum after hometown hero Albert Pujols allowed Mark Teixeira’s one-out bouncer with two on to bounce away. Yankee captain Derek Jeter came around from second on the error, and Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton hit a two-out RBI grounder.
The NL went ahead 3-2 in the second against AL starter Roy Halladay on a two-out RBI single off the bat of St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina. Philadelphia center fielder Shane Victorino scored from second on a throwing error from Hamilton. Milwaukee bopper Prince Fielder plated Molina for the lead with an opposite-field double.
But the AL battled back. Minnesota catcher and the league’s leading hitter, Joe Mauer, tied it in the fifth with a two-out RBI double off L.A. Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley.
“They have some pitching,” NL manager Charlie Manuel said. “The whole game was centered around pitching and we had a tough inning the first inning, but after that it was definitely a pitcher's game, and they have some horses and the back end of the bullpen is good. I felt like our guys did a super job, too.
“They executed when they had to and they made the big play when they got a hit.”
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