Elias Diaz MVP as NL ends All-Star Game losing skid; all 4 Diamondbacks see action
National League wins first All-Star Game since 2012
Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel walked a bit of a high wire in the ninth inning, walking two batters with two outs, but struck out Cleveland's Jose Ramirez on a high fastball to clinch the National League's 3-2 win in the 93rd MLB All-Star Game at Seattle's T-Mobile Park.
Elias Diaz of the Rockies was named the game's MVP for his two-run home run in the eighth inning off Felix Bautista of the Orioles that provided the NL's winning runs and the league's first win since 2012.
Kimbrel earned the save for the NL. The win went to the Giants' Camilo Doval, and Bautista took the loss.
How the Diamondbacks did in the All-Star Game
All four Diamondbacks on All-Star rosters made it into the game. Here's how they fared:
Zac Gallen: The NL's starting pitcher worked the first inning, striking out one and allowing a single to Randy Arozarena, who was then thrown out trying to steal second base.
Corbin Carroll: The rookie who grew up in Seattle started in left field and batted eighth. He had two at-bats, grounding out to first in the second inning, and striking out in the fifth.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: Replaced Carroll in left field and in the seventh was credited with an infield single on a ball AL catcher Adley Rutschman of the Orioles threw low to first. He also struck out to end the eighth.
Geraldo Perdomo: Replaced shortstop Orlando Arcia in the bottom of the sixth, batting ninth. He walked in the seventh right after Gurriel's hit, and flew out to right in the ninth.
Elias Diaz hits two-run homer to give NL lead
Forget the tie, Elias Diaz wants the win.
In his first All-Star Game at-bat, the Colorado Rockies catcher blasted a dinger 360 feet off the Orioles' Felix Bautista in the eighth inning to give the National League its first lead of the game, 3-2, and possibly end a losing streak against the AL, which has won every All-Star Game since 2012.
—USA Today
Diamondbacks try to spark NL rally in 7th
With one out in the seventh, a pair of Diamondbacks jump-started a possible rally for the National League.
In his first career All-Star Game at-bat, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. nearly tied the game for the NL with a home run down the left-field line, but video replay showed that it was just foul. After a pitching change, Gurriel made contact again, what amounted to a swinging bunt. AL catcher Adley Rutschman threw in the dirt at first base, and Gurriel reached on what was scored a single.
Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo followed by walking, and the NL was set up with two on and one out. But Juan Soto popped out to third, and Pete Alonso struck out, ending the threat.
AL retakes the lead
The American League offense was pretty stagnant after scoring in the second inning, but that all changed in the sixth inning.
Salvador Perez hit a single and was followed by Brent Rooker's double to right field to get runners on second and third. Bo Bichette then took advantage of the runners, hitting a deep flyball out to right field to bring Perez in and give the AL a 2-1 lead.
The NL now has three innings to take the lead or tie it and force a home run derby tiebreaker.
The game was tied in the fourth when the best hitter in baseball showed just how good he is.
After J.D. Martinez opened up the top of the inning with a double, MLB's batting leader Luis Arraez knocked a single to right field to bring Martinez in and tie the game up at 1-1. It was Arraez's second hit of the game after he singled in the top of the second inning.
Arraez, of the Marlins, is hitting .384 at the All-Star break with a .434 on-base percentage, also tops in the majors, and a .905 OPS.
—USA Today
Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll mic'd up for Fox
In the bottom of the second inning the Fox broadcasters chatted with Diamondbacks rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll, who was voted into the All-Star Game as a starter. Carroll grew up in Seattle and was talking about his favorite spot to watch Mariners games at the ballpark when he was interrupted by a missile of a homer by the Rays' Yandy Diaz for a 1-0 AL lead.
Fox's John Smoltz asked Carroll about the great start the Diamondbacks are off to, leading the NL West at the break.
"You just saw a big reason right there with (NL starting pitcher) Zac Gallen why we're having (a big season), him and Merrill Kelly are a great 1-2 punch all year," Carroll said. "And the lineup's just finding ways to get things done. We have guys who can hit it out of the park, Christian Walker, Ketel Marte, and we got some guys that can play some small ball, and it just adds up to a fun team."
Diamondbacks' Gallen has Ohtani's number
Zac Gallen, starting pitcher for the National League, faced his first big test with the Angels' Shohei Ohtani batting second as the NL DH. But Gallen, who struck out the leading AL MVP candidate twice in a July 2 matchup in Anaheim on July 2, got him again on a full-count knuckle curve.
The Rays' Randy Arozarena followed with a single to left for the game's first hit, but was promptly thrown out trying to steal second base by Sean Murphy of the Braves.
Flashy defense was the story of the All-Star Game's first inning, and the Yankees' Gerrit Cole, starting pitcher for the American League, owes at least a tip of his cap to his corner outfielders, Adolis Garcia of the Rangers and Arozarena.
The Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. led off the first inning with a drive to deep right field, where Garcia, battling the late-afternoon sun, somehow made a circus catch. The next batter, Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers, smacked a fly deep to left field, and Arozarena made his own special catch. Two hitters, two special plays to get this All-Star Game off and running.
Carroll, starting in his first All-Star Game, came up in the second with two on and two out, but grounded sharply to first base.
Commissioner talks about pitch clock, Pete Rose ban
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred met with the Baseball Writers Association of America prior to the All-Star Game and covered several hot topics. Here's a summary compiled from the Associated Press:
—Pitch clock tweaks: Manfred said he will consider increasing time on the pitch clock for the postseason but is reluctant to adjust an innovation the sport considers a great success. In the first season of the clock, the average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 38 minutes, on track to be the fastest since 1984. It is down from 3:04 last year and 3:09 in 2021, the last season before PitchCom was introduced.
“We’re going to continue to talk to the players,” Manfred said. “I think you ought to play the postseason the way you play the regular season. There’s exceptions. I’m open-minded on that topic.”
The clock is set at 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners. There also are restrictions on defensive shifts and limits on pitcher disengagements.
“I don’t believe there’s any player, nor do I believe there are too many folks that want to have a new rule dramatically affect a game in a pennant chase or in the playoffs,” union head Tony Clark told the BBWAA. “Players believe and we’ve been pretty consistent with this, that there are some adjustments that could be beneficial in the grand scheme of things so that we’re not having a conversation about a new rule and instead focused in on the game being played.”
—Pete Rose ban: The commissioner said he has no intention of altering Pete Rose’s lifetime ban from baseball, and said the sport’s commercial deals with gambling companies have no impact on the status of the career hits leader.
Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation for Major League Baseball by lawyer John Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.
Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s application. Manfred succeeded Selig in 2015 and rejected Rose’s application.
“We’ve always approached the issue of gambling from the proposition that players and other people who are in a position to influence the outcome of the game are going to be subject to a different set of rules than everyone else in the world,” Manfred said. “Pete Rose violated what is sort of rule one in baseball, and the consequences of that are clear in the rule, and we’ve continued to abide by our own rules. It’s just the rules are different for players. It’s part of the responsibility that comes with the privilege of being a major league player.”
—New baseballs? Pristine white baseballs that would not require pre-game rubbing up my umpires are under consideration by Major League Baseball as a way to solve the issue of pitchers using sticky substances for better grip. “We continue to work with the people at Dow Chemical on developing a tacky ball,” Manfred said. “It would literally eliminate all — well, not all — but many of the variables in the current process. It would come out of a sealed foil pouch at the ballpark. No individual mudding.”
MLB executive vice president Morgan Sword said the balls were tested in the first half of this season in the Double-A Southern League. The balls would retain colored stitches.
—Robot umpires? A challenge system allowing appeals to a computer appears to be MLB's preference over a sole robot umpire. Baseball is testing the Automated Ball-Strike System at Triple-A this year. The computer makes determinations for half the games and in the other half, batters, pitchers and catchers can challenge human calls to the robot. The challenge system was used at T-Mobile Park for Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game. The human umpire was upheld on three of four calls.
“The people’s reaction to it was really positive, really positive," Manfred said. "The challenge system in terms of the reaction in the minor leagues, people are more comfortable with the challenge system than the full ABS.”
White Sox slugger Robert out of All-Star Game
Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox will not play in the All-Star Game after feeling tightness in his right calf during the Home Run Derby.
The White Sox said that Robert underwent an MRI in Seattle and is listed as day-to-day. The team said Robert felt the tightness in the calf during the opening round of the derby, and will not play in the All-Star Game as a precaution. Robert will be evaluated before the White Sox restart the season on Friday in Atlanta.
Robert was the No. 1 seed in the Home Run Derby and beat Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman 28-27 in the opening round. Robert lost to Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena in the semifinals 35-22.
This was Robert’s first All-Star Game selection. He is hitting .271 with 26 homers and 51 RBIs this season for the White Sox.
—Associated Press
Who is the highest-paid baseball All-Star?
Baseball player salaries were a big topic of conversation in Seattle before the All-Star Game.
Item one: What staggering amount of money is two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani going to rake in as a free agent after this season?
Speculation has the Angels' star from Japan reaching as high as $600 million for 12 years, which would dwarf the the $426.5 million, 12-year deal signed by the Angels' Mike Trout or the $360 million deal signed last offseason by Aaron Judge of the Yankees.
Item two: So in this galaxy of 2023 All-Stars, who is the highest paid player on the field?
That's a key distinction to make, because the two highest-paid All-Stars are missing the game because on injury: The Judge ($40 million) and Trout ($37,116,667).
Per USA Today, that leaves Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, the AL's starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, at the top of the salary list, $36 million.
By comparison, his NL starting-pitcher counterpart, Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks, is pulling down $5.6 million this season.
What's with those uniforms the All-Stars are wearing?
For the third consecutive year, the All-Stars are not wearing their own team uniforms in the game, but a special kit, to borrow a soccer term, designed for the game and the host city.
As USA Today's Gabe Lacques described them, this year’s gear features teal for the home American League team and navy for the visiting National, immediately conjuring images of both the host Mariners and the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Players seem to be divided on the issue. On the one hand, "It’s cool to view it as a united team – our team against their team," said Philadelphia Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel, a nine-time All-Star.
The other view? "When you take your uniform away, it kind of takes away from the identity," said Devin Williams, the Milwaukee Brewers' closer. "Who you are, who you play for. You spend all year, for me, playing for the Brewers. And I'm representing the Brewers."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NL ends losing streak in All-Star Game; all 4 Diamondbacks see action
