The American League didn’t just win the All-Star Game on Tuesday night. They erased the National League’s offense entirely. Final score: 4-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and it wasn’t even that close.
The AL pitching staff combined for a ridiculous 27 strikeouts over nine innings. That’s a new All-Star Game record, breaking the previous mark of 24 set back in 2015. Eleven different pitchers took the mound, and none of them looked scared of the moment.
If you blinked during the first inning, you missed the entire offensive show. Cody Bellinger stepped up with two outs and ripped a two-run single. Ben Rice followed with an RBI hit of his own, and just like that it was 3-0. The NL starter, Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez, struck out Mike Trout to open the game but then let three straight batters reach. That was all the room the AL needed.
Miguel Vargas added a solo homer in the eighth, a 433-foot blast that was the game’s only extra-base hit. From there, it was all about the arms.
This was the first shutout in an All-Star Game since 2013. Which feels notable because last year’s game went to a swing-off tiebreaker, the first time that had ever happened. So much for close finishes.
The NL managed just three hits total. Three. Against 11 different pitchers, sure, but still. You don’t see that kind of dominance in exhibition games. The crowd in Philly was hyped for hometown starters, but the AL pitching didn’t care about the atmosphere.
What sticks out here isn’t just the win. It’s the strikeout number. Twenty-seven strikeouts is a lot in any game. In an All-Star Game, where the best hitters in the sport face off, it’s almost hard to believe. Some of it is the modern game, sure. Hitters are swinging harder and missing more. But this was still a statement.
The AL now holds bragging rights until next July. And the NL heads home wondering how a lineup full of All-Stars went down without scoring a single run.
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