MLB All-Star Game Update

The home-run derby theme got a one-day extension, but with a minimalist twist.

The American League won the Major League Baseball All-Star Game 2-1 in 10 innings Tuesday night, with two of three runs coming on homers.

Yadier Molina’s solo shot in the bottom of the sixth inning pulled the NL into a 1-1 tie, but 34-year-old Robinson Cano homered in the top of the 10th to give the AL its fifth straight ASG victory and 17th in the last 21. The all-time series is tied at 43-43-2.

There was definitely a New York Yankees theme running through the two days of baseball. Aaron Judge was the star of the Home Run Derby. Cano is a former Yankee. And he was named an All-Star due to Starlin Castro’s absence with an injury.

Cano drew some inspiration from a pregame ceremony in which MLB honored eight Latin American Hall of Famers and selected eight active players to catch ceremonial first pitches. Cano was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a throw from the former San Francisco Giants standout pitcher Juan Marichal.

The rest of the game, however, mirrored all of MLB’s shortcomings. Runs scored on homers or almost not all. There were 23 strikeouts. And the game time was 3 hours and 16 minutes, longer than an NFL game and with far less action.

Baseball’s regular-season resumes Friday and the All-Star Game becomes another memory. For Cano – and for Yankees fans – it will linger pleasantly in the mind.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman