American League vs National League
When: Tuesday, July 12th 2016
Where: Petco Park, San Diego, CA
Time: 8:00 ET | TV: FOX
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The 87th annual MLB All-Star Game takes place Tuesday night in beautiful Petco Park in San Diego, California as the American League takes on the National League. The A.L. has dominated the annual event of late with wins in three straight and 15 of the last 19, but still trails the all-time series 43-41-2. The A.L. is led by six members of the Boston Red Sox, including designated hitter David Ortiz – who is making his 10th and final appearance before retiring at the end of the season. Ortiz was voted as a starter and maybe should think twice before calling it quits. The veteran is hitting .332 with 22 home runs and 72 RBIs for the Red Sox this season. Former MVPs Miguel Cabrera and Josh Donaldson along with the major’s home run leader (Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo, 28), make up a pretty impressive bench for the A.L. The Chicago Cubs are the first team since the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals to have all four of their starting infielders voted in by the fans as starters – third baseman Kris Bryant, shortstop Addison Russell, second baseman Ben Zobrist and first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Marlins OF Marcell Ozuna and Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez will replace Chicago’s Dexter Fowler (hamstring) and New York’s Yoenis Cespedes (quad) in the NL starting outfield. Toronto OF Michael Saunders and San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt were voted in by the fans on the Final Vote.
Pitchers: White Sox – Chris Sale (14-3, 3.38) | Giants – Johnny Cueto (13-1, 2.47)
Chris Sale will get the nod for the A.L. squad, but is coming off one of his worst outings of the season. Sale was hit for eight runs in a loss to Atlanta on Friday, but only figures to go two innings, leaving a roster packed with hard-throwing relievers to close out the contest. Kansas City manager Ned Yost has starters Cole Hamels, Steven Wright, Corey Kluber and Jose Quintana available but can shorten any game with shutdown arms like New York’s Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, Baltimore’s Brad Brach and Zach Britton, Tampa Bay’s Alex Colome, Houston’s Will Harris or his own Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera.
Johnny Cueto will start for the National League who will be without some of it’s best starting pitchers tonight. Clayton Kershaw is out with a back injury, Stephen Strasburg (12-0) is electing to rest his arm, and Madison Bumgarner (10-4, 1.94 ERA) is coming off a Sunday start and will be unavailable. Cueto won his last 10 decisions and is a big reason San Francisco has the best record in the majors. NL manager Terry Collins lost the option of using his own guy, Noah Syndergaard, when he went down with arm fatigue on Friday but will have 43-year old Bartolo Colon and closer Jeurys Familia available from the New York staff.
The American League roster in my opinion is much more stacked than the N.L., plus the N.L. doesn’t have three of their best aces. Look for Ortiz to end his All-Star career with a flourish and for the American League to win this game going away.
Pick: American League +100
