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Show DAILY Thursday, July 17, 2008 HERALD B3 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Drew vs. Wright: The matchup that might have been Ronald Blum ASSOCIATED "I NEW YORK Marquee starters were long gone. So were nearly all the other pitchers. His bullpen empty, National League manager Clint Hurdle approached David Wright and asked whether he had the right stuff to take the mound and close out the game. Did the New York Mets third baseman think chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon or general manager Omar Minaya would stuff here and there. I don't know if I would have got anybody out." For Francona, this took on the stress of a game that counts in the standings. "I told Jim Leyland, 'I'll quit cursing, I'll quit chewing,"' he said, referring to the Detroit manager who was part of his coaching staff. "I lied." e The NL was given a pep talk by Hall of Fam-e- r Ernie Banks, whose motto All-St- mind? "Don't worry," Wright remembered saying. "They're probably sleeping by now. Nobody will know." What began Tuesday night as a matchup between Ben Sheets and Cliff Lee nearly ended Wednesday with Wright pitching for the NL and Boston Red Sox right fielder J.D. Drew toeing the rubber for the American League. Just as that possibility was becoming very real, Justin Morneau slid home just in time on Michael Young's sacrifice fly in the 15th inning, giving the AL a 3 victory that extended its unbeaten streak to 12. Minaya was happy it didn't come down to Wright's pitching prowess. "I would have a problem with one of our position players pitching in an All-Stgame, there's no doubt," he said. Yankee Stadium, hosting its final gamje, was the stage for a marathon that ended at 1:37 a.m. Given the tjfeket ini the low5 prices er deck, $150 in the Bleachers fans deserved something extra. They got it. "Anyone who needed proof that Yankee Stadium is the grandest stage in baseball got it last night," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement. "The 2008 All-Stgame was one of the greatest experiences in my life and in franchise history." Many of the 49 Hall of e Famers honored during pageantry likely were 4-- All-St- $525-$72- pre-gam- pre-gam- is: "Let's play two!" And they 2-- All-St- y 6-- 0 All-St- d All-St- 104-pitc- -- 40-37- Graves Cutchen RBI infield single and a fielder's choice RBI by Mike Hessman. A.J. ElThe IL sent Blaine Neal to LOUISVILLE, Ky. double to cap a close it out. Neal, one of six lis hit a two-ru- n ninth-innin-g rally by the Pacific players in the game who will Coast League and it held off play for Team USA in the Summer Olympics next month, has the International League 5 converted 23 of 25 save opporin the Triple-game this year for the Toledo tunities Wednesday night. Mud Hens. For most of the night the He didn't come close against PCL hitters hardly seemed the PCL's top hitters. Nick inspired playing a few blocks Stavinoha led off with a hit, away from the home of the then scored three batters later Louisville Slugger. The PCL on a single by Jamie D'Antona. managed three hits and apA single by Matt Brown tied off balance through peared the game, and Matt Saccoman-- . eight innings. no gave the PCL the lead on a The IL wasn't much better as the teams combined for an single up the middle. record 23 strikeouts. By the time Ellis, a catcher for the Las Vegas 51s playing Still, the IL seemed to have an hour from his hometown of things in control after platLexington, Ky., hit his double ing two runs in the bottom of to center, it appeared to be the seventh behind Eric Mc- 6-- AU-St- All-St- ar v; t :. -- . A Game All-St- ar more than enough for the PCL. Yet the IL rallied for three in t I i the bottom of the ninth, includtwo-ru- n Chris homer a by ing Carter. But Luis Pena, who earned the win, got Jonathan Van Every to fly out to right to end it. Neal gave up six runs, five earned, four hits, a walk and a strikeout while recording just one out and taking the loss. The appearance marked the first time all year Neal gave up more than two hits in a game all season. McCutchen, named the IL player of the game, finished ' with two hits and Joe Thurston " .. added three for the IL. Brown, the PCL player of the ED REINKEAssociated Press game, had two hits and an RBI. e Rochester Red Wings' Darnell McDonald, right, steals second base The win snapped a losing streak by the PCL in front of Colorado Springs' Christian Colonel at the Triple-to its rival league to the east. game in Louisville, Ky., on Wednesday. f&&v: - All-St- Continued from Bl signaling the previously irrelevant Rays must be doing something right. Purged of the Devil, Tampa Bay is just a half game behind Boston and 5 Vi ahead of the Yankees. The Rays also have -- Award winner and add him to your pitching staff, you're in great shape." Braun and the Brewers will g have to leap over wild St. Louis to reach the postseason, and the surprising Cardinals were 4 Vi games Chiback of Central-leadincard-leadin- g cago. Back again after decades of heartache, Cubs fans are the prospects to acquire another bat before the July 31 hoping this is the year their beloved team wins its first World trade deadline. Series title since 1908. Chicago But the AL East race could rolled to a 2 record at a , come down to the arms, with New York hoping to get rollicking Wrigley Field in the Phil first half and acquired rightinjured Chien-Min- g hander Rich Harden from Oakand Wang Hughes land before the break. back in time for another run "Names don't win baseball in the final season at Yankee Stadium. games for you, production does," manager Lou Piniella "As well as we're going to said. "I'll tell you this, we're gois well team how our is pitch going to do," Red Sox captain ing to have our hands full the rest of the summer. You look Jason Varitek said. at the teams in our division hot is a as always, Pitching, and all of them have winning commodity. The Milwaukee Brewers and records at home." Piniella helped skipper the Chicago Cubs acted quickly to injuries secure two of the best arms on Cubs through first-hato ace Carlos Zambrano and the trade market, setting up outfielder Alfonso a compelling finish in the sudSoriano, who could be back in denly strong NL Central. The Chicago's potent lineup soon. Brewers sent four prospects "We're confident, but we're to the Indians for not arrogant," second baseman CC Sabathia, sending a jolt Mark DeRosa said. "Just a through a franchise seeking bunch of guys having fun." its first postseason berth since M0RRY OASHAssociated Press 1982. They're also having a lot of on the South side of Chicafun "I like our chances," slugCC throvfc Sabathia during Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher the White Sox were "Whenwhere said. Braun go, Cincinnati the ger Ryan the fifth inningofa baseball game against in first after losing 90 games a can get a Cy Young ever you Milwaukee. in on non-waiv- 37-1- right-hande- 1 y Reds My If '" two-gam- Second half lf All-St- "3ti...,M YANKEE STADIUM FAREWELL Ug-gl- 7-- ASSOCIATED PRESS A Colorado's Matt Holliday and Drew homered. Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada made a great falling throw on a Slow grounder to deny the AL a win in the 10th after a pair of ugly errors by Dan who made a record three botches in all. The AL left the potential winning run at third base in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings. Uggla twice stranded what would have been the run on third. In the go-ahe- v On Baseball booed when presented with his trophy. The teams set records for strikeouts (34), runners left on base (28) and players (63). Young's fly came on the 453rd pitch. The pinstriped crowd got to boo Boston's Jonathan Papelbon and the Mets' Billy Wagner. The fans showed their love for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and captain Derek Jeter. nearly did, matching the NL's 1 win at Anaheim in 1967 for the longest game. By the 13th inning, MLB dispatched senior vice president Joe Garagiola Jr. to remind the managers that the game would be played until there was a winner. "I was doing Chinese arithmetic from the sixth inning 1 1th, on," Hurdle said. "I felt like Pittsburgh center fielder I was in It class. McLouth made a perfect Nate got algebra wild." throw to nail Navarro at the The AL improved to plate on Young's single, with since the game began Dodgers catcher Russell MarKATHY WILLENSAssociated Press adtin applying the tag. determining home-fiel- d Boston Red Sox's J.D. Drew, right, celebrates his solo home run in vantage in the World Series Papelbon, mocked with since its 1996 loss the sixth inning with American League teammate, Minnesota and chants of "Mariano!" and in Philadelphia, And it even "Overrated!" gave up Adrian Twins' Justin Morneau, in the Major League Baseball All-Stended an old hex Game at Yankee Stadium in New York on Tuesday. sacrifice the AL Gonzalez's in extra innings had been fly in the eighth, but Wagner allowed Longoria's tying douagainst its older rival. NL. He maybe could have in bed by the final out. There ble in the bottom half. By the way, baseball's labor contract makes no proA sellout crowd of 55,632 would be no repeat of 2002's gone another inning. Scott advantie in MilwauKazmir entered in the 15th vision for home-fielhad come to honor the for the AL, two days after a kee, which caused commisballpark, home to tage if there isn't an h Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe sioner Bud Selig to expand outing for the Devil winner. Morneau started the winthe rosters. DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle. Rays. He had only an inning or so left. "The commissioner has ning rally with a leadoff single Steinbrenner delivered the "We were going to go on balls for the ceremonial first made it clear: He didn't care against Lidge, and the AL if it was 25 innings. The game hours, not pitches," AL manloaded the bases on Dioner pitches from a golf cart. And then the game went on Navarro's single and Drew's was being played to concluager Terry Francona said. walk. Hurdle had used every play- one-ou- t and on. sion," said Bob DuPuy, base"Yankee Stadium is tough, ball's chief operating officer. er on his roster except Giants Young lofted a fly to right, and Corey Hart's throw home I'm telling you," Rivera said. pitcher Tim Lincecum, who Wright guessed he hadn't "Didn't want it to end." was too sick to play. Francona bounced and was slightly to pitched since Little League. had used all 32 of his players "I would have made up the first base side of the plate. on his roster. Catcher Brian McCann gloved I Notes: The previous lonstuff on the mound," he said "The only thing I could the ball and tried a sweep tag, gest game by time was 1967, Wednesday through team spokesman Jay Horwitz. "In think to do was put (DH Evan) but Morneau sneaked his right which took 3:41. ... The NL foot in, barely ahead of the with runners was a way, I wish it would have Longoria in the game and in scoring position, the AL tag. happened. It would have been pitch J.D.," Francona said. ... The Hall of Fame "It was a little deep for me," thrill for me to remember for "But we were still a little ways collected two souvenirs Hart said. the rest of my life." away from that." Drew was picked as the Drew has volunteered to Rivera's jersey and dirt from Phillies closer Brad Lidge, homer the pitcher's mound. ... The who had thrown about 100 MVP, with his two-ru- n pitch in an emergency for the NL leads the series Red Sox, but Francona has nev- in the seventh tying it at 2. warmup pitches in the bulloverall. er taken him up on the offer. Being from Boston, he was pen, pitched the 15th for the PCL rallies past IL in Triple-Will would have thrown some stuff up there," Drew said. "I got a little sneaky PRESS Tim Dahlberg year ago. "1 won't say I'm satisfied but I'm happy where we are for now." manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I'd rather be here right now in this position than be in another position." Guillen's team will be tested over the season's final months, trying to hold off the plucky Twins and Tigers. Minnesota traded ace n Jo-ha- Santana in the offseason but stayed in the race behind Joe Mauer steady and Justin Morneau, whose All-Sta- production will be closely watched as the Home Run Derby champ. Justin and Detroit are back on track after an awful start, Ver-land- winwith the ace five last his decisions ning before the break. e The Los Angeles Angels' lead over the Oakland Athletics in the AL West was the biggest lead in baseball at break, but there were close races in the NL East and West for very different reasons. The uneven Diamondbacks (4748) were leading the slumping West, followed by the mediocre Dodgers. "I knew we were going to be inexperienced, I knew we were going through trials of being inconsistent," Los Angeles second baseman Jeff Kent said. "But I'm grateful that Arizona's going through the same thing." right-hand- to be a tear behind sunglasses, something no one ever thought they would see at Yankee Stadium George Steinbrenner getting soft in his old age seemed almost as alien as New York fans cheering for Jonathan Papelbon to get out of a jam in the eighth inning. Most of them weren't, of course, even if it meant the National League getting the home-fiel- d advantage in the World Series. But the way the Yankees have been playing this year, that didn't matter much anyway to the crowd wearing pinstripes. What did matter was that Yankee Stadium got a fitting midseason farewell from the nation 85 years after it opened and less than a year before it is replaced by a new $ 1.3 billion palace next door. The 49 Hall of Famers on hand to celebrate what will likely be the last major event held there didn't look bad, either, and baseball resisted getting too sentimental in a classy pregame tribute to the stars of yesterday. The tone was just right, and even on television it was touching to watch Derek Jeter walk out and shake hands at shortstop with Ernie Banks. Actually, baseball's been doing a lot of things right this year, arguably the first time we can really believe testing for steroids and amphetamines is making a difference. Home runs may be down, but the players are cleaner, things are more believable, and the game's image has improved dramatically. Just the fact that 30 general managers have refused so far to succumb to the temptation of signing Barry Bonds says something about the new state of the game. In years past, someone would have taken a chance on the bloated slugger, but even the Yankees have been smart enough to lay off. The absence of Bonds isn't the only reason to celebrate the national pastime at midseason As evidenced by the youthful rosters, there are some rising stars and, if you can't find anything to like about Josh Hamilton's junkie-to- superstar story, how about the quieter elevation of players like Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Braun and Russell Martin to the top echelon With revenue sharing doing the job it was designed to do, there's competitive races everywhere to look forward to in the next few months. There are at least 18 teams that have some claim to being in contention, and that's not even counting clubs like Toronto and Baltimore, which have losing records but aren't completely out of it yet. Down in Florida, Tampa Bay yes, Tampa Bay is battling for the lead in the American League East, while the Marlins have a lineup that makes pitchers tremble when they think about facing it. The Twins keep finding new ways to win, the Tigers are showing signs of life, and the Mets and Phillies are finally The Boss appeared All-St- Those in contention show no signs of complacency, and the Yankees haven't even started any serious dealing yet. Just days after the Brewers went out and traded for CC Sabathia, the Cubs countered with Rich Harden, a trade that could help propel the Lovable Losers to their first World Series win in 100 years. On top of it all, we got a very Game entertaining that did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm for the rest of the season, even as it stretched on, inning after inning, and all but in Yankee Stathe dium had gotten on the No. 4 train and headed for home. By that time the American League pitching had worn perilously thin, so thin that Red Sox manager Terry Francona was considering taking J.D. Drew up on his offer to pitch It was either that, or bring in Whitey Ford for one last appearance, but by then Whitey probably was asleep. All-St- ar die-har- |