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American League again dominates All-Star action

With the American League (AL) down to its final strike, Michael Young hit a two-run triple off the National League's (NL) Trevor Hoffman for a 3-2 victory on Tuesday that kept the AL unbeaten for the past decade.

Behind David Wright's homer and some daring, old-style baserunning at picturesque PNC Park, the NL took a 2-1 lead into the ninth and brought in Hoffman to try to finish it.

But the San Diego Padres' reliever, closing in on the career saves record, failed to put this one away.

He gave up a two-out single to Paul Konerko, who was replaced by pinch-runner Jose Lopez.

Then the NL nearly caught a break -- it hasn't had many since its last victory in Philadelphia in 1996.

Troy Glaus' smash bounded over the left-field fence for a ground-rule double, perhaps preventing Lopez from scoring. He was held at third, but Young made that moot.

The Rangers' underrated shortstop lined an 0-2 pitch into right-center and slid into third with what was probably the biggest All-Star game hit since Texas teammate Hank Blalock's go-ahead homer off Eric Gagne in the eighth inning in 2003.

Young took home the MVP award -- and the AL won the home-field edge in the World Series for the fourth straight year, with some help from Vladimir Guerrero's early home run.

"I'm not going to lie. This is a pretty big highlight in my career," Young said.

"No one's really giving huge rallying calls to getting home-field advantage in the World Series, but we're all aware of how important this game is," he said.

Said Glaus: "Nobody wants to make the last out of anything, whether it's a regular season, World Series or an All-Star game."

Mariano Rivera worked around Lopez's error at third base in the bottom half for his third All-Star save, tying Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley for the career mark since the statistic became official in 1969.

Old reliable for the New York Yankees, Rivera retired Milwaukee slugger Carlos Lee on a popup with a runner on second to end it -- making the AL 9-0-1 in this summer showcase over the past 10 years.

The NL's best result was a tie in 2002 in Milwaukee.

In fact, the AL has dominated year round lately, sweeping the last two World Series and winning a whopping 61 percent of interleague games this season.

This one, an exhibition played with a crisp, competitive feel, was halted before the fifth inning for a ceremony at home plate for a tribute to the late Pirates great Roberto Clemente.

Bud Selig presented the commissioner's historic achievement award to Clemente's widow, Vera, who was escorted to the podium by Pirates Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski.

With several National Leaguers admittedly tired of losing, they certainly came out to play.

Houston manager Phil Garner smartly worked his pitcher-batter matchups -- as he said he would -- and the NL employed a drastic overshift against Boston slugger David Ortiz.

The AL's 41-year-old starting pitcher, Kenny Rogers of Detroit, made a hard dive for Chase Utley's infield single in the second.

NL starter Brad Penny of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck out Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter and Ortiz in succession with a series of fastballs.

The last pitcher to start an All-Star game with three straight Ks was Boston's Pedro Martinez at Fenway Park in 1999, when he set down former MVPs Barry Larkin, Larry Walker and Sammy Sosa.

For Penny, the relentless high heat showed everybody that he's all the way back from a nerve injury in his right biceps sustained in August 2004.

Guerrero hit his first All-Star homer in the second off Penny, over the short porch in right field.

Wright, who hit 16 homers in the first round of the Home Run Derby before losing to Philadelphia's Ryan Howard in the finals Monday night, connected in the bottom half against Rogers.

"I got a lot of practice last night," Wright said.

"After practice last night, I got a pitch to handle and I felt real comfortable," he said.
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