By Stephen Hawkins
ARLINGTON, Texas – Speedy Jarren Duran describes himself as a player who keeps his head down, works hard and never thinks he's higher than anyone else.
Duran caused a stir at his first All-Star game. hit a decisive two-run homer for the American League and awarded the MVP trophy named after Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams.
“It's an honor. Who else would I want to follow in other than a guy like that, who is not only a great baseball player, but a great human being,” Duran said after becoming the fifth Red Sox player to be named All-Star Game MVP. “This guy was great and I'm honored to accept his award.”
The decisive home run got here within the fifth inning on Tuesday night when the AL beat the National League 5-3 for its tenth win within the last 11 All-Star games.
Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes became the primary NL player to throw a hitless pitch, reaching 100 miles per hour twice, and Shohei Ohtani also hit a three-run home run in Texas to take a 3-0 lead within the third inning.
Juan Soto hit a two-run double and tied the sport on a single by David Fry within the AL's third inning. Duran hit a house run against Cincinnati's Hunter Greene.
“It's a surreal moment. I'm just grateful to be here,” said Duran, who was one among 39 first-time All-Stars this 12 months.
Oakland right-hander Mason Miller earned the win after throwing a 103.6 mph pitch, the fastest within the All-Star Game since records began in 2008. Cleveland hard-throwing closer Emmanuel Clase struck out two players and saved them within the ninth inning.
The 22-year-old Skenes, who has pitched just 11 major league games since being chosen No. 1 within the draft last July, became the primary rookie starter since 1995 and had the fewest games of any player to make an All-Star team. The right-hander threw a hitless first, with a two-out walk for Soto, before his Yankees teammate Aaron Judge turned a groundball right into a forceout on the following pitch.
Skenes threw 11 of 16 pitches as strikes, including seven fastballs as much as 100.1 mph.
“Honestly, I wish I had a few more shots today to do that,” said Skenes, who has a superb mixture of shots along with the difficult ones. “It's cool to bring attention to the game.”
Ohtani, who hit 29 home runs in the primary season of his record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, pulled a 400-foot shot to the appropriate by Tanner Houck. That got here after the Boston right-hander allowed singles to the primary two batters he faced: No. 9 batter Jurickson Profar and leadoff hitter Ketel Marte.
“I didn't really hit well in the All-Star Game, so I'm just relieved to get the ball in play,” Ohtani said. “I just focused on being at-bat consistently like I was in the regular season.”
When Ohtani faced Miller within the fifth inning, he hit an 89.2 mph slider well inside and out of doors the strike zone. That got here after twice hitting fastballs over 100 mph.
With his first All-Star home run, Ohtani became the primary Dodger player to hit a house run within the Midsummer Classic since Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza in 1996. Eleven days after his thirtieth birthday, Ohtani was an All-Star for the fourth time – his first time within the NL.
Baltimore's Anthony Santander, who had replaced Soto in right field, had a two-out single within the fifth inning before Duran hit a 413-foot home run to right-center field after replacing Judge in center field. Duran took a 95.9 mph fastball before hitting a deep ball with an 86 mph splitter.
“I knew he was throwing really hard, so I was just praying that he would throw me a fastball on the first pitch so I could see how hard it was. After that, I was hoping to get a pitch up,” Duran said. “He happened to leave a pitch up. I happened to be able to get a good swing on it.”
The last Red Sox player to be named All-Star MVP was JD Drew in 2008, following Pedro Martinez in 1999, Roger Clemens in 1986 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970.
Duran was voted an All-Star by his peers after becoming the primary AL player to enter the break with a minimum of 100 hits, 10 triples, 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
The AL has a 48-44-2 record within the All-Star Game and had won nine games in a row before the National League's 3-2 victory in Seattle last 12 months.
AL starter Corbin Burnes of the Orioles arrived in Texas on the morning of the sport after spending time at home together with his newborn twin daughters. The right-hander, a former Saint Mary's College star, allowed a walk after which a two-out double to Bryce Harper before having his inning ended by a comeback from William Contreras, his catcher last season in Milwaukee.
After throwing the ball to first base with an underhand motion, Burnes had an enormous smile on his face as he jogged along and put his arm around Contreras on the baseline.
Fast game
With a playing time of two hours and 28 minutes, it was the shortest All-Star Game since 1988, a game the AL won 2-1 in Cincinnati that lasted just two minutes less.
Won in each leagues
Bruce Bochy of the host Rangers became the primary manager to win World Series titles and All-Star games in each leagues. Bochy now has a 2-3 record as an All-Star manager and led the NL to victory in 2011. He won the World Series 3 times with the NL's San Francisco Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and led the Rangers to their first championship last 12 months in his debut season.
Next
The MLB regular season series resumes Friday with 14 games scheduled. Milwaukee and Minnesota are the one teams not playing until Saturday. Philadelphia (62-34) has one of the best record in the key leagues and Cleveland (58-37) has an AL-best winning percentage of .611, although Baltimore and the New York Yankees even have 58 wins.
Originally published:
image credit : www.mercurynews.com