ARLINGTON, Texas—Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox, the All-Star Game most valuable player, hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run in the fifth inning Tuesday night and the American League beat the National League 5–3 for its 10th win in the past 11 All-Star Games.
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skenes pitched a hitless first inning for the National League, hitting 100 mph multiple times, and Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer in the third for a 3–0 lead.
Juan Soto smacked a two-run double and scored on David Fry’s single to tie the score against San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb in the third, and Duran went deep off Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene.
Duran is the fifth Boston player to be an All-Star MVP, the first since J.D. Drew in 2008. The others were Pedro Martinez in 1999, Roger Clemens in 1986, and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970.
“It’s a surreal moment. So, I’m just thankful to be here,” said Duran, who was one of 39 first-time All-Stars this year.
Oakland rookie right-hander Mason Miller got the win after throwing a 103.6 mph pitch, the fastest in the All-Star Game since tracking began in 2008. Hard-throwing Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase struck out two in the ninth for the save.
The 22-year-old Skenes, who has pitched only 11 big-league games since being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft last July, became the first rookie starter since 1995 and had the fewest games played for any player to make an All-Star team. The right-hander issued a two-out walk to Soto before his Yankees teammate Aaron Judge grounded into a fielder’s choice on the next pitch.
Skenes threw 11 of 16 pitches for strikes.
Ohtani, who has gone deep 29 times in the first season of his record 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, pulled a 400-foot drive to right field off Tanner Houck. That came after the Boston right-hander allowed singles to the first two batters he faced, No. 9 batter Jurickson Profar and leadoff man Ketel Marte.
“I haven’t really hit well in the All-Star Game, so I’m just relieved that I put the ball in play,” Ohtani said. “I just focused on having a regular at-bat, as if I was in the regular season.”
When Ohtani went against Miller in the fifth, he struck out on an 89.2 mph slider well inside and out of the strike zone. That was after twice taking strikes on fastballs of more than 100 mph.
Ohtani’s first All-Star homer made him the first Dodgers player to go deep in the Midsummer Classic since Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza off Cleveland’s Charles Nagy in 1996 at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. Eleven days after his 30th birthday, Ohtani was an All-Star for the fourth time—his first with the National League.
Baltimore’s Anthony Santander, after taking over for Soto in right field, had a two-out single in the fifth ahead of Duran’s 413-foot homer to right-center. Duran had replaced Judge in center field.
The American League has a 48–44–2 record in All-Star Games and had won nine in a row before the National League’s 3–2 victory last year in Seattle.
American League starter Corbin Burnes arrived in Texas the morning of the game after spending time at home with his newborn twin daughters. The Baltimore right-hander allowed a walk and then a two-out double to Bryce Harper before getting out of his inning on a comebacker by William Contreras, his catcher last season in Milwaukee.
After his underhand toss of the ball to first base, Burnes had a big smile on his face when he kept jogging and wrapped his arm around Contreras on the baseline.
Played in 2 hours, 28 minutes, it was the shortest All-Star Game since 1988, a game that the American League won 2–1 in Cincinnati that took only two minutes less.
Bruce Bochy of the host Rangers became the first manager to win World Series titles and All-Star Games in both leagues. Bochy is now 2–3 as an All-Star manager, leading the National League to a win in 2011. He won the World Series three times with the National League’s San Francisco Giants, in 2010, 2012 and 2014, then led the Rangers to their first championship in his debut season with them last year.
The regular series resumes Friday, with 14 games scheduled. Milwaukee and Minnesota are the only teams that won’t play until Saturday.
Philadelphia (62–34) has the best record in the major leagues, while Cleveland (58–37) has an American League-best .611 winning percentage, though Baltimore and the New York Yankees also have 58 wins. San Diego (50–49) is set to become the first team to play its 100th game, at Cleveland on Friday night.
