DENVER – The Latest on the All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Coors Field (all times local):
9:20 p.m.
Recommended Videos
Shohei Ohtani unleashed his 100 mph heat while pitching a perfect inning for the win in becoming baseball’s first two-way All-Star, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. rocked Coors Field with a 468-foot home run and the American League breezed 5-2 for its eighth straight victory.
Ohtani was 0 for 2 at the plate, grounding out twice as the AL's leadoff man and designated hitter. The Angels phenom pitched a 1-2-3 first inning on 14 pitches a night after competing in the Home Run Derby.
Mike Zunino of the Rays also connected for the AL, which has won 20 of the last 23 All-Star Games, not including a tie in 2002.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto homered for the National League, which had just seven hits at mile-high Coors.
Jared Walsh, Ohtani’s teammate on Los Angeles, got a save — with his glove. He made a sliding catch in left field on Kris Bryant’s tricky liner with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning.
___
8:30 p.m.
Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta went 3 for 3 in the seventh inning — three batters faced and three strikeouts.
Peralta and the NL trail the AL 5-2 after seven innings at the All-Star Game. Peralta struck out Adolis García on a slider, J.D. Martinez with a fastball and Matt Olson with another fastball.
Rays reliever Andrew Kittredge — a last-minute replacement on the AL roster — produced three straight groundball outs in the bottom half of the inning.
___
8:15 p.m.
First-time All-Star Mike Zunino of the Tampa Bay Rays homered off Mets right-hander Taijuan Walker in his first at-bat in the sixth. The right-handed hitter crushed one to the second deck in right field to put the American League ahead 5-1.
The 30-year-old Zunino has 19 home runs already this season, nearing his career high of 25. His power and defense behind the plate enabled him to be an All-Star despite a .198 batting average.
Rays manager Kevin Cash, skipper for the AL team, smiled wide on the bench watching Zunino round the bases.
Oakland ace Chris Bassitt got two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth before running into trouble. Manny Machado singled, advanced on an error, reached third on a walk and then scored on a passed ball to pull the NL within 5-2.
7:50 p.m.
Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in another run and the American League scored twice in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead in the All-Star Game at cavernous Coors Field.
Guerrero, who hit a 468-foot solo homer in the third inning, added a run-scoring groundout to second base to make it 3-0 in the top of the fifth.
Boston's Xander Bogaerts added a run-scoring single.
Both runs came off Miami lefty Trevor Rogers but they were unearned because of an error on Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford.
The NL got on the board in the bottom half when Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto went deep off left-hander Gregory Soto. Realmuto is the first Philadelphia player to homer in the All-Star Game since Mike Schmidt in 1981.
___
7:30 p.m.
German Márquez pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning for the NL, drawing loud cheers from Rockies fans at his home field. Rafael Devers and Marcus Semien grounded out, and Márquez struck out Salvador Pérez, who missed three straight sliders.
Márquez tipped his cap to the crowd while walking back to the dugout, then tapped his hat over his heart.
Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi retired former Rockies star Nolan Arenado on a groundout, and Freddie Freeman grounded a single through the infield shift and into right-center. Nick Castellanos grounded into an inning-ending double play.
___
7:15 p.m.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stood at home plate and admired his handiwork for an extra moment. It’s hard to blame him after crushing a slider from Corbin Burnes in the third inning that landed near the last row of seats in left field.
Like father, like son as he gave the American League a 2-0 lead after three innings in the All-Star Game. His dad homered off Brad Penny in 2006.
The 468-foot liner from the younger Guerrero was a no-doubter. Immediately after it was hit, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. put his glove on his head and slowly turned around to watch the ball leave the yard.
It was the longest homer at the All-Star Game since Statcast began tracking in 2015.
Guerrero’s homer was No. 200 in All-Star Game history.
Burnes was tagged for both runs. He also surrendered an RBI single to Marcus Semien in the second.
___
6:55 p.m.
Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman joked that Yankees slugger Aaron Judge made him look short, then had a ball bounce right over his head.
Freeman, wearing a mic for Fox's broadcast, bemoaned having to look up at the 6-foot-7 Judge when he reached first on a leadoff walk against Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes in the scond inning. Boston's Rafael Devers then skipped one right over the 6-foot-5 Freeman that went for a double.
Judge scored the game's first run a batter later on Marcus Semien's infield single.
Freeman said the highlight of his All-Star week was introducing his son, Charlie, to Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. Charlie Freeman had been begging his dad to make the All-Star team so he could finally meet Tatis.
White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn replaced Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the AL in the bottom of the second inning. He worked around a walk to Cincinnati's Jesse Winker to throw a scoreless inning.
___
6:35 p.m.
Shohei Ohtani followed up his groundout to start the All-Star Game with a perfect inning on the mound.
The first player in major league history to make an All-Star Game as a pitcher and position player led off with a roller to second base in a 1-2-3 top half of the first inning.
The AL’s designated hitter and starting pitcher then took the mound for the bottom half and retired leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. on a flyout to left, Max Muncy on a groundball to second and Nolan Arenado on a groundout to short.
Six up and six down, and Ohtani had a hand in four of the outs.
Arenado received a standing ovation and waved to fans on his way into the batter's box. The longtime Rockie was traded to St. Louis over the offseason.
___
6:20 p.m.
American League starting pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani led off the All-Star Game with a grounder to second.
The Los Angeles Angels standout hit a roller to Pittsburgh's Adam Frazier off Washington starter Max Scherzer to get things under way at Coors Field on an 84-degree night.
Ohtani is the first player in major league history to make the All-Star Game as a pitcher and position player. He leads the league with 33 homers.
It’s been a busy two days for the 27-year-old from Japan. Ohtani also participated in the Home Run Derby the night before, where he lost in the first round.
Nolan Arenado gave a shoutout to the fans in an interview at third base before the opening pitch. Now with St. Louis, he started his career with Colorado.
___
6:15 p.m.
Major League Baseball paid tribute to the late Hank Aaron just before the start of the All-Star Game.
Aaron died on Jan. 22 at age 86. Billye, the wife of the record 25-time All-Star, was accompanied to home plate by the Braves’ Freddie Freeman and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.
Just before the national anthems, she was presented a Braves’ jersey in the 1974 style used when Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record, a shirt signed by all All-Stars. She also was given a portrait of Aaron created by Colorado-based artist Kaylee Bender.
A video tribute to Aaron included Willie Mays doffing his cap.
___
6:10 p.m.
Peyton Manning still has some zip in his right arm. He’s lost some accuracy in retirement, though.
The former Denver Broncos quarterback bounced the ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game. Rockies great Todd Helton smiled as he stood near the mound.
Rockies pitcher German Márquez was behind the plate for the throw and made a sensational save to keep Manning’s toss from going down as a wild pitch.
___
5:50 p.m.
Put launch angles and wins above replacement aside for a moment: the All-Star Game at Coors Field features a throwback to the days of Babe Ruth.
For the first time since the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933, the National League players aren’t wearing their own team’s jersey.
The American Leaguers are wearing AL uniforms for the first time ever at an All-Star Game.
The AL is wearing blue getups and the NL white. Each player has a three-letter abbreviation for his team in red lettering down the left side, partially obscured by his team’s logo.
Credit — or blame — Major League Baseball’s billion-dollar contract with Nike, whose swoosh is displayed prominently on the right side of the uniform just below the collar.
Players still have their regular logos on their caps, displayed over a star.
___
5:20 p.m.
There were a pair of late additions to the AL All-Star team: Tampa Bay right-hander Andrew Kittredge and Minnesota left-hander Taylor Rogers.
They replaced New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole and Seattle left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Cole said the Yankees did not want him to pitch. Kikuchi went on the COVID-19 injured list Sunday, tested negative twice and was activated Monday. Cole and Kikuchi were in Denver but were made inactive for Tuesday night.
___
4:20 p.m.
The skies were gray overhead and there was occasional drizzle during batting practice ahead of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Coors Field.
There was a chance severe weather would come through Denver ahead of the scheduled first pitch at 6:15 p.m.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was set to become baseball’s first two-way All-Star, hitting leadoff for the American League as its designated hitter and also the AL’s starting pitcher.
The AL entered with seven straight wins and 19 of the last 22, with the infamous 2002 tie thrown in.
This year’s game originally was scheduled for Atlanta but was moved by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred in response to a Georgia voting law that critics say will negatively affect communities of color.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports