WASHINGTON (AFP) – Joey Gallo smacked a solo home run Tuesday and the American League won its seventh consecutive Major League Baseball All-Star Game, defeating the National League, 4-3, at Cleveland, Ohio.
Japanese right-handed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees was the winning pitcher, the first Yankee All-Star winning pitcher since 1948, as the American League improved its edge in the overall rivalry to 45-43 with two drawn.
Tanaka threw a shutout inning with one strikeout to collect the decision.
Yankees relief ace Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth to get the save for the AL while Los Angeles Dodgers star lefty Clayton Kershaw suffered his second All-Star loss after 2015.
The American League has won 19 of the past 23 All-Star Games.
Cleveland right-handed pitcher Shane Bieber, who struck out the side in the fifth in his first All-Star nod, was named the Most Valuable Player. The home-club hero received the biggest cheers of the night for his work on the mound.
“That was incredible,” he said. “Couldn’t feel my feet or the rest of my body for that matter. I just tried to take it all in and cherish the moment.”
Lefthander Ryu Hyun-jin of the Dodgers, the first South Korean starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, and Houston’s Justin Verlander, the oldest starting pitcher in the All-Star Game since 2006 at age 36, each pitched a scoreless first inning.
The American League opened the scoring in the second inning when Houston’s Alex Bregman hit an infield single and scored on a two-out double by Astros teammate Michael Brantley, a former Cleveland standout who drew loud applause for his heroics.
