Morneau sparks winning rally at All-Star Game

Morneau sparks winning rally at All-Star Game

Game goes 15 innings after slow start by American League

http://www.twincities.com/ci_9893914?source=most_viewed

07/16/2008

NEW YORK - Justin Morneau singled and scored the winning run on
Michael Young's sacrifice fly in the 15th inning Tuesday night as the
American League beat the Nationals 4-3 in the all-stars' long goodbye
to Yankee Stadium.

The AL stretched its unbeaten streak to a record 12 games.

Morneau singled to shallow center leading off the 15th against Brad
Lidge. He took second on a one-out single by Dioner Navarro. After
J.D. Drew walked, Michael Young hit a fly to right field. Corey Hart
caught it, Morneau tagged and just beat the throw to end the
four-hour, 50-minute game.

Morneau went 2 for 4 and scored the AL's first and last runs a night
after winning the home run derby. Drew, a former St. Paul Saint, was
named the game's most valuable player.

Morneau had a chance to win the game in the 10th, when errors on
consecutive batters by second baseman Dan Uggla helped load the bases.
But, facing Colorado's Aaron Cook with two outs, he hit a weak
grounder to shortstop.

Morneau, who entered the game at first base in the sixth inning,
scored the AL's first run after hitting a double to right-center in
the seventh. He came home on Drew's tying two-run home run off Edinson
Volquez.

Morneau drew an intentional walk with the potential winning run on
third in the 12th.

Joe Mauer, who started at catcher for the AL, reached base in both of
his plate appearances. He walked off Ben Sheets and bounced an infield
single just over the reach of 6-foot-5 pitcher Dan Haren.

Joe Nathan, the Twins' closer, pitched a perfect seventh inning. He
struck out Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, and induced flyouts by Nate McLouth
and Russell Martin to center field.

The AL improved to 6-0 since the All-Star Game began determining
home-field advantage in the World Series. And it even ended an old hex
— it had been 0-9-1 in extra innings against its older rival.

Young got the winning hit off Trevor Hoffman in the 2006 All-Star Game
at Pittsburgh, and it gave the win to Tampa Bay's Scott Kazmir, the
12th AL pitcher.

The only other AL player with an All-Star Game-ending RBI was Red Sox
great Ted Williams, who hit a three-run, ninth-inning homer in 1941.

The last time the All-Star Game had gone into extras was the infamous
7-7 tie in 2002 at Milwaukee's Miller Park. That game was called after
11 innings because both teams ran out of pitchers. The NL is 9-0-1 in
extra-inning games.

Cook escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam for the National League in the
10th by inducing three consecutive grounders. He gave up three singles
in the 11th, but McLouth cut down the slow-footed Navarro at the plate
on Young's ground single up the middle for the second out.

Carlos Guillen opened the bottom of the 12th with a double and went to
third on Grady Sizemore's groundout. Cook then fanned Longoria and
walked Morneau intentionally before Ian Kinsler grounded out, leaving
the AL 3 for 21 with runners in scoring position.

Baltimore lefty George Sherrill escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top
of the 12th by striking out Uggla and Adrian Gonzalez.

Mariano Rivera took over on the mound for the AL in the ninth,
delighting the sellout crowd. He got Uggla to ground into an
inning-ending double play in the 10th with runners at the corners.

Uggla then made consecutive errors at second base to start the bottom
half, putting runners at the corners. Guillen was intentionally
walked, and Cook wriggled out of it.

The Colorado Rockies right-hander induced two straight grounders for
force plays at the plate — including one by Longoria for the second
out. Morneau then bounced to shortstop on a nice play by Miguel
Tejada.

Drew became the 15th player to homer in his first all-star at-bat when
he connected off Volquez in the seventh to tie the score 2-2.

Matt Holliday homered in the fifth for the NL, which took a 3-2 lead
in the top of the eighth when Tejada helped manufacture a run.

Tejada singled off Boston reliever Jonathan Papelbon, who was booed
lustily by the sellout crowd. Tejada stole second and went to third on
catcher Navarro's throwing error before scoring on a sacrifice fly by
Gonzalez.

The teams combined for six steals, an All-Star Game record. The five
by the AL matched its own mark for one team set in 1998.



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