Yanks Play Well but A.L gets Shutout

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The Yankees starters played well overall, but were no match for the National League bats as the American League lost 8-0. Home field advantage for the World Series goes to the National League with the win in the All-Star game.

Derek Jeter, making his 13th All Star team, was able to go 1 for 2 making the start at shortstop. He got a base hit in the first inning off Giants pitcher Matt Cain.

Robinson Cano, who heard it from Kansas City fans on Monday night at the Homerun Derby for not picking Billy Butle,r got booed a lot again on Tuesday night. Cano went 1 for 2, getting a base hit off Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals in the fourth inning in a fun match-up.

Curtis Granderson also was starting for the American League in center field, but he had a tough time facing two of the better lefthanders the National League had to offer. He went 0 for 2 in the game flying out in the third inning against Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals and grounding out in the fifth against Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.

Mets Snubbed as All-Star Game Starters

David Wright and R.A. Dickey snubbed from starting spots

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The Mets were snubbed in more than one way Monday afternoon by NL All-Star manager Tony La Russa, as R.A. Dickey was not picked to start the All-Star Game Tuesday night.  In addition to Dickey’s snub, David Wright will also not be the starting designated hitter for the NL squad.

Dickey’s stats were more than worthy of the starting pitcher spot in the All-Star game, but he will instead be pitching sometime in the first half of the game as San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain was selected as the starter. 

La Russa said that both Dickey and Cain were “equally legitimate” in earning the starting spot, but Cain nonetheless got the nod.

La Russa says that Cain and Posey have familiarity already because of being on the same team during the regular season, but Cain has a good point when he says that it would have been beneficial for Dickey to start.

“I was actually thinking that it might be a little bit of help if R.A. were able to start it, because maybe Buster would be able to catch him today and then catch him warming up or something like that – maybe a little bit of help doing it that way,” Cain said.  It makes sense as Posey is not familiar with catching the knuckle-balling Dickey, so it should be interesting to see how he fares during the game. 

After losing out on the starting 3^rd baseman spot on the NL squad to San Francisco Giant Pablo Sandoval, David Wright lost out on the starting designated spot as well.  La Russa opted to instead go with Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzales in the designated hitter spot. 

New York Mets Sending Two Players to All-Star Game

The MLB All-Star rosters were announced today, and the New York Mets will be represented by two players in Kansas City for the game.

Third baseman David Wright and starting pitcher R.A. Dickey will be making the trip for the Mets. This is Wright’s sixth All-Star selection and Dickey’s first.

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Wright will be a reserve on the team, considered an upset by some not to be the starter ahead of San Francisco Giants Pablo Sandoval.  Wright held nearly a 465,000 vote lead earlier in the week, which Sandoval closed and eventually won by over 1.6 million votes.  Wright's stats trump Sandoval's across the board because Sandoval spent time on the disabled list with a broken bone in his hand; nonetheless Wright will be backing him up because of the fan vote.

Wright now sits fourth in Mets franchise history for All-Star game appearances, trailing nine appearances for Tom Seaver and seven appearances for both Mike Piazza and Darryl Strawberry. 

R.A. Dickey will be making his first All-Star appearance and deservedly so.  Dickey leads the majors with 12 wins against one loss on the season and has outstanding stats to go along with it including a 2.15 ERA and 116 strikeouts. 

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Dickey has a very good chance of being named the starting pitcher for the NL All-Star team, but that decision will not be announced until the day before the All-Star game festivities begin July 9th.