06-11-2019, 02:41 AM
MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Matheny had quite the choice for the National Leagues All-Star starter. Custom Miami Dolphins Jerseys . There was his own Adam Wainwright, the St. Louis Cardinals ace with a 12-4 record and a 1.83 ERA. And there was the Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, 11-2 with a 1.78 ERA and fresh off a 41-inning scoreless streak that ended last week. He chose Wainwright, who will start Tuesday night at Target Field against the Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez. "Its going to be great catching them," said Milwaukees Jonathan Lucroy, the NL starter behind the plate. "A lot more fun than facing them." When baseballs elite met at Citi Field last year, NL batters managed just three hits in a 3-0 loss. A year earlier in Kansas City, the AL had just six hits in an 8-0 defeat. Never before had consecutive All-Star games ended in shutouts. "Guys are throwing harder. Guys have more pitches," said Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley, making his sixth All-Star appearance and first since 2010. The big league batting average is at a 42-year low. Strikeouts are at an all-time high. Wainwright and Kershaw are on track to become the first pair of qualifying pitchers in one league with a sub-2.00 ERA since the Mets Dwight Gooden and the Cardinals John Tudor in 1985 -- the last time Minnesota hosted the All-Stars. "Aside from having the ability to win two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, I think this has to be one of the highlights of my baseball career to this point," Wainwright said. "One of the coolest things I can say I did is to start a big league All-Star game." Kershaw understood Mathenys decision. "If Im him, Im probably going to pick Adam, too. Its his guy and he had the best half," Kershaw said. Hernandez, the first Venezuela pitcher to start for the All-Stars, also has sterling credentials: an 11-2 record with a 2.12 ERA. He described his task pretty simply: "Just throw zeroes out there and get my team to win. Thats all I got to do," he said. Back in the great pitching era of the 1960s, the game was different. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal expected to finish what they started. Now, flame-throwers come out of the bullpen in the middle of games. "Youre not getting three, four at-bats off of the starter unless youre in trouble and youre losing the game," said Baltimores Matt Wieters, elected as a starting catcher but sidelined following elbow surgery. "I think for a while it was trying to get the starter out of the game so you can get to that fifth, sixth, seventh-inning guy. And now those fifth, sixth, seventh-inning guys are throwing upper 90s with a good breaking ball." In addition to pitchers, the spotlight will be on New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter. The shortstop, who turned 40 last month, is playing his final season and was selected for his 14th All-Star game. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera got an emotional sendoff last year, the All-Stars giving him a solo bow. When Rivera entered in the eighth inning all other players left him the field to himself. Cal Ripken Jr. was given a tribute at the start of the 2001 game at Seattles Safeco Field when Alex Rodriguez told Ripken just before the first pitch to switch positions and move from third base to shortstop, where the Baltimore star spent most of his career. The 40-year-old Ripken then homered in the third inning. And two years ago, Atlantas Chipper Jones was feted with a standing ovation at Kauffman Stadium when he pinch hit in the sixth inning and singled. What will Jeters All-Star finale be like? "I dont go into things with expectations," he said. "Im looking forward to playing the game. Ive pretty much stopped it right there." The game is being played in Minneapolis for the third time, following the NLs 6-5 win at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965 and a dull 6-1 NL victory indoors at the Metrodome in 1985. Oakland, a big league-best 59-36 at the break, has seven All-Stars for the first time since 1975. It got another win on Monday night when Yoenis Cespedes beat Cincinnatis Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round to become the first repeat champion of the Home Run Derby since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998 and 99. The Athletics have some incentive for an AL victory in the All-Star game; since 2003, the winners league gets to start the World Series at home, and 23 of the last 28 titles were won by teams scheduled to host four of a possible seven games. "I dont think you can ever underestimate the home-field advantage in a post-season," said AL manager John Farrell, who led Boston to a six-game win over St. Louis last year. "To have that final game potentially in your home ballpark, that goes a long way to affecting the outcome." Mark Clayton Jersey . He just didnt expect them to be this good. Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead No. 6 Villanova to a dominating 77-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday, preserving the Wildcats hopes of a No. Mark Duper Jersey . According to various reports, the striker is about to sign a five-and-a-half year extension with Manchester United worth a reported 300,000 pounds a week that would see him at Old Trafford until 2019. http://www.authenticdolphinspro.com/ . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina.ARLINGTON, Texas -- A.J. Pierzynski and Mike Napoli had run-producing hits in the first inning against their former team and the Boston Red Sox got above .500 for the first time since three games into the season with a series-clinching 5-2 victory at Texas on Sunday. Napoli put the Red Sox ahead to stay with an RBI double, two batters before Pierzynskis two-run single. Both went to Boston as free agents after being in Texas -- Pierzynski was the Rangers primary catcher last season, and Napoli was there the previous two years. John Lackey (5-2) struck out nine while allowing two runs over seven innings. The big right-hander threw 75 of 105 pitches for strikes without any walks. Rangers lefty Robbie Ross (1-4) made it through 6 2-3 innings and a career-high 112 pitches, settling down after being down 4-0 after two innings. Koji Uehara, who also went from Texas to Boston in 2013, worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save straight save. The Red Sox (19-18) won the last two games in the series after being held to one hit by Yu Darvish Friday night. They have won six of their last eight games, and have a winning record for the first time since winning two of three in the season-opening series at Baltimore. Shin-Soo Choo homered for the Rangers, who have lost 10 of 14 overall and dropped seven of their last nine home games. Dustin Pedroias two-out solo homer in the seventh chased Ross, and was the first Red Sox hit since Jonny Gomes one-out single in the third. Ross faced the minimum 13 batters between that, with only one runner reaching on an error being wiped out on a double play grounder. Dan Marino Jersey. . It was the second homer for Pedroia, who led off the game with a double before Napoli drove him home. Lackey, a Texas native, made his 20th road start against the Rangers, surpassing Seattles Felix Hernandez for the most. Lackey is 14-15 overall with a 5.71 ERA in his career against Texas -- those are his most losses and highest ERA against any AL team. Choos fourth homer was an opposite-field shot to left-centre in the fourth to make it 4-1. Mitch Moreland had an RBI double in the seventh before Lackey struck out his final two batters with two runners on base. Notes: Boston is 10-4 against left-handed starters. ... This is the earliest Boston and Texas have completed a season series, which the Red Sox won 4-2. The Rangers had won the series each of the previous five seasons. .... Texas is 31-18 vs. Boston since 2009, still the best record by any Red Sox opponent in that span. ... Red Sox 3B Will Middlebrooks was scratched with soreness in his right hand after being hit by a pitch Saturday night. The Red Sox said it was a precautionary move and expect him to be available for their next game Tuesday. ... Napoli has reached base in 31 consecutive games. ... Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre, shifted toward shortstop, made a back-handed scoop catch after running a long way for David Ortizs popup near the foul line to end the second. ... Boston is off Monday, its third of four scheduled off days in a 22-day span. 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