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MVP Suzuki makes history in All-Star game

American League All-Star Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners celebrates with the MVP trophy at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, on Tuesday. PHOTO: AFP

Ichiro Suzuki and the American League (AL) bounced back to win baseball's All-Star game on Tuesday.

Normally a Barry Bonds homer makes the headline at picturesque AT&T Park, but on Tuesday it was Suzuki's inside-the-park home run -- the first in the game's history.

Suzuki lined a go-ahead, two-run drive off the right-field wall in the fifth inning as the American League won 5-4 to make it 10 straight wins over the National League (NL).

"I thought it was going to go over the fence," Suzuki said through a translator. "When it didn't, I was bummed out."

The ball -- smudged with green and red and signed by Suzuki -- immediately was handed over to the Hall of Fame.

"He's an artist with that bat," NL manager Tony La Russa said.

That wasn't the only drama.

Following Alfonso Soriano's two-out, two-run homer in the ninth that made it 5-4, the NL loaded the bases on three walks before Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez retired Aaron Rowand on a routine fly to right for a save.

Willie Mays, Bonds' godfather, was honored before the game. In the Say Hey Kid's day, the NL ruled All-Star games but not anymore. The AL closed to 40-36-2 and improved to 5-0 since the All-Star winner received homefield advantage in the World Series.

In a decade of dominance, the notorious 2002 tie at Milwaukee was all that interrupted the AL's run. The only longer streak was when the NL took 11 in a row from 1972 to 1982.

Soriano made it close with his homer off Seattle closer J.J. Putz, who then walked J.J. Hardy. Rodriguez relieved and walked Derrek Lee on a full count -- AL manager Jim Leyland screamed about a check swing. A walk to Orlando Hudson loaded the bases before Rowand's fly ended it.

Suzuki, on the verge of a large contract extension from the Mariners, was the game's MVP.

Bonds had a quiet night. He flied to right field in the first, hit an opposite-field shot to the warning track in left in the third, then departed at the top of the fourth.

He received a huge ovation after he came out on the red carpet during the pregame introductions and bowed three times to his adoring hometown fans. Hitting in the No. 2 spot -- his last regular-season appearance in that slot was 20 years ago -- he even faked a bunt on the first pitch of his second at-bat.

"There's too many emotions to be able to explain it," he said.
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