{"id":21548,"date":"2022-07-21T19:50:14","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T19:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/al-relievers-dominant-against-nl-hitters\/"},"modified":"2022-07-21T19:50:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T19:50:14","slug":"al-relievers-dominant-against-nl-hitters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/al-relievers-dominant-against-nl-hitters\/","title":{"rendered":"AL relievers dominant against NL hitters"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el\" aria-label=\"Video - MLB MVP front-runners at the midway point of the season\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">LOS ANGELES &#8211; One by one, they emerged from the American League bullpen at the 92nd All-Star Game, tasked with preserving a one-run lead and a ninth consecutive AL victory in the Midsummer Classic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Along the way, they decided to put on a pitching clinic, too. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The MVP trophy was carried home by New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, whose two-run homer erased a fourth-inning deficit in a 3-2 AL win over the National League. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Yet the dominance on display by the AL pitchers left an enduring mark &#8211; on this game and frustrated NL hitters. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Just ask the greatest pitcher of them all who was the only one to fail. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Shane McClanahan has been the league&#8217;s most dominant starter this season, leading the major leagues with a 1.71 ERA, and thus was named the AL starter by Houston manager Dusty Baker. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>ALL-STAR GAME:<\/strong> Stanton, Buxton power American League to ninth straight win<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>OHTANI<\/strong>: Angels All-Star calls his shot: &#8216;First pitch, first swing&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">He mottled the night quickly, yielding first-inning runs on a Mookie Betts single and Paul Goldschmidt homer, created a 2-0 deficit \u2013 and then watched those that followed quiet the NL bats and clean up his mess.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;That shows how bad I was,&#8221; says McClanahan, &#8220;and how good they were. Hats off to them. It&#8217;s baseball, baby. I&#8217;m still excited.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Just how good were they? <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Ten relievers combined for eight shutout innings, and piggybacked for seven no-hit innings until Austin Riley stroked a leadoff single off Clay Holmes in the eighth.  They struck out nine NL batters and walked just two. <\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The run began when Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah picked up after McClanahan and struck out the side in the second.  It finished when Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clas\u00e9 punched out the NL on 10 pitches in the ninth, all 97.7 mph or faster. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Any questions?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;Incredible,&#8221; says Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, whose fourth-inning homer provided the winning margin.  &#8220;Some guys, you&#8217;ve faced and you kind of know what they&#8217;ve got. And then you get on a team and play with them, it&#8217;s very eye-opening to realize, &#8216;Oh wow, I see you all the time, but when I play with you, I see, that&#8217;s what I have to hit?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;It&#8217;s the best in the game for a reason.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Indeed, the night was, like many All-Star weeks, a mission of discovery for the players, finding out what makes their teammates tick, perhaps learning a new pitch grip, committed to renewing acquaintances. <\/p>\n<aside aria-label=\"advertisement\" class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">For Chicago White Sox closer Liam Hendriks, it was a window into what makes the AL hurlers so nasty. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">He retired one batter in the eighth inning but spent the rest of his time watching what makes his teammates tick, and learning just how much of a problem they all are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Like Framber Valdez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Houston Astros lefty needed just 11 pitches to set down Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Freddie Freeman in the third inning, an unsurprising outcome given his 2.66 ERA this year.  And Hendriks found himself picking the brain of fellow Australian Michael Collins, the Astros&#8217; catching coach whose duties include catching Valdez&#8217;s bullpen sessions.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\"\/>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;He said Framber&#8217;s ball is late, it&#8217;s big, it&#8217;s sharp, and it&#8217;s everything you could hope for in a pitcher,&#8221; says Hendriks.  &#8220;It was awesome being out there. It&#8217;s always fascinating.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Perhaps someday, McClanahan will be one of the veteran stars who pitches his inning, quickly addresses the media and then hops a flight to salvage the remainder of his All-Star break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Tuesday was his first, though, and so he hung around and learned, eyes wide, and saw his teammates for a night dominate the one time he couldn&#8217;t. <\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;It was the best experience of my life, and hopefully I get to do it again someday,&#8221; says McClanahan.  &#8220;My whole season, I&#8217;ve been so trying to put my team in position to win. Tonight was no different, but I can live with it. To be here is an honor. I couldn&#8217;t be more thankful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;I have a tremendous amount of respect for every single person here.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_gl_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/20\/USAT\/53f24391-641c-4efa-99b8-48fa6d8ed944-USATSI_18719728.jpg?crop=4845,2726,x0,y0&amp;width=660&amp;height=372&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" data-gl-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/20\/USAT\/53f24391-641c-4efa-99b8-48fa6d8ed944-USATSI_18719728.jpg?crop=4845,2726,x0,y0&amp;width=1320&amp;height=744&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES &#8211; One by one, they emerged from the American League bullpen at the 92nd All-Star Game, tasked with preserving a one-run lead and a ninth consecutive AL victory in the Midsummer Classic. Along the way, they decided to put on a pitching clinic, too. The MVP trophy was carried home by New York &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/al-relievers-dominant-against-nl-hitters\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">AL relievers dominant against NL hitters<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10551,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/los-angeles-angels-star-shohei-ohtani-named-to-american-league-all-star-team-as-pitcher-and-hitter\/","url_meta":{"origin":21548,"position":0},"title":"Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani named to American League All-Star team as pitcher and hitter","date":"July 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani was elected to the American League All-Star team as a pitcher and hitter for the second consecutive season, while brothers William Contreras and Willson Contreras will both start for the National League.Ohtani, 28, was voted in as the designated hitter for the AL team,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9027,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/detroit-tigers-miguel-cabrera-honored-with-special-mlb-all-star-nod\/","url_meta":{"origin":21548,"position":1},"title":"Detroit Tigers&#8217; Miguel Cabrera honored with special MLB All-Star nod","date":"July 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"CHICAGO \u2014 Eight years ago, Miguel Cabrera turned on an inside fastball from Adam Wainwright in the first inning at Target Field. He lined the pitch over the left-field wall and into the stands.The two-run home run sent Cabrera jogging around the bases. He drove in Mike Trout and gave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/08\/28\/PDTF\/6c8f363d-51e9-44a0-afb6-296e2b9945c4-AP_Blue_Jays_Tigers_Baseball.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20084,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/al-beats-nl-for-ninth-straight-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":21548,"position":2},"title":"AL beats NL for ninth straight time","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 The American League's dominance of the All-Star Game rolls on. The AL won the 2022 Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium, 3-2, thanks to back-to-back homers by Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton. It's the ninth straight All-Star Game victory for the AL.The NL took an early lead when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19075,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/clayton-kershaw-named-nl-starter-will-face-als-shane-mcclanahan-at-dodger-stadium\/","url_meta":{"origin":21548,"position":3},"title":"Clayton Kershaw named NL starter, will face AL&#8217;s Shane McClanahan at Dodger Stadium","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"After winning an MVP award, three Cy Youngs and five ERA titles, one of the generation's best pitchers will claim a title that has somehow eluded him: All-Star Game starter. Clayton Kershaw is starting the Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium, a glorious and appropriate honor for the avatar of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/07\/20\/USAT\/53f24391-641c-4efa-99b8-48fa6d8ed944-USATSI_18719728.jpg?width=660&height=440&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}