Pitching, defense: the American (League) way

SAVING GRACE: Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford robs Colorado’s Brad Hawpe of a home run to left field in the seventh inning of major league baseball’s All-Star game Tuesday night in St. Louis. The American League pushed across an eighth-inning run for a 4-3 victory, making it 12-0-1 against the National League since 1996, and Crawford was named the game’s most valuable player.

ST. LOUIS — World Series champions change. Stadiums change. Stars of the game change.

Baseball’s All-Star game winner is always the same.

On a night to savor defense and relief pitching, Carl Crawford pulled back a home run with a leaping grab an inning before Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning. That boosted the American League to a 4-3 victory Tuesday night at new Busch Stadium, its seventh straight win since the All-Star game has been used to determine home-field advantage for the World Series.

“We came here on a ...

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July, 2009