The American League took down the National League in the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game for a seventh consecutive year as they held on for a 4-3 victory at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
The Los Angeles Dodgers sent five players to the Midsummer Classic, though the organization as a whole didn’t have the best showing. Hyun-Jin Ryu got the nod on the mound for the NL and got things off to a good start by tossing a scoreless first inning.
Clayton Kershaw took over in the second though and gave up a run after allowing an infield single to Alex Bregman and RBI double to Michael Brantley. The AL never trailed after that, so Kershaw took his second career MLB All-Star Game loss.
Walker Buehler was the third Dodgers pitcher to appear, entering in the fifth inning, and he too gave up a run. Gary Sanchez led off with a double and later scored on an RBI infield single by Jorge Polanco.
At the plate, the Dodgers position players did not fare much better as Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy combined to go 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Muncy did show off some leather though, making an outstanding defensive play at second base to rob Carlos Santana.
Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso made a nice stretch and scoop to complete the play.
There were two home runs hit on the night, with the first coming in the sixth inning off the bat of Charlie Blackmon to cut the NL’s deficit to 2-1 at the time.
Joey Gallo added some insurance for his AL team with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh to extend their lead to 4-1.
The NL made a bit of a comeback when Alonso hit a two-run single off Brad Hand in the top of the eighth, but Aroldis Chapman shut down the door in the ninth by striking out the side to complete the 4-3 victory.
