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Once again, the American League came out ahead in the All-Star Game. The AL shut out the National League in the 96th All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday (AL 4, NL 0). The AL has won 11 of the last 13 and 23 of the last 29 All-Star Games dating back to 1997. Despite the recent dominance, the AL has only a slight 49-45-2 edge all-time.
The game was dominated by pitching. The AL held the NL to three singles and two walks, and did not allow a runner to reach second base. The three hits are the second fewest in All-Star Game history. Only the NL in 1990 had fewer. They had two. Cody Bellinger's 2 RBI single in the first inning was enough to earn him All-Star Game MVP honors.
Here now are our winners and losers from the 2026 MLB All-Star Game.
Winner: Yankees in the first inning
The Bronx Bombers provided the fireworks early.
The AL has dominated the All-Star Game over the last 30 years or so, and they wasted no time jumping out to the lead on Tuesday. The AL loaded the bases against hometown Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez in the top of the first on a Yordan Alvarez single and walks by Shea Langeliers and Bobby Witt Jr. Witt walked after falling behind in the count 0-2. That was impressive.
With the bases loaded, two Yankees -- Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice -- came through with RBI singles to give the AL an early 3-0 lead. Bellinger drove in two, Rice one.
Bellinger and Rice are the first set of teammates to drive in at least three runs in the first inning of the All-Star Game since Joe Morgan and George Foster of the Big Red Machine in 1977.
Two Yankees driving in three runs in the first inning must've felt foreign to Yankees fans. Their team hasn't scored three runs in the first inning of a game since May 29. Bellinger and Rice went a combined 2 for 5 with 3 RBI in the All-Star Game. Cam Schlittler, the third Yankees All-Star, did not pitch. (Aaron Judge is also an All-Star, but he's on the injured list.)
Loser: Hometown Phillies
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and pals couldn't show out for the locals.
Jordan Walker rallied late to upset Kyle Schwarber in the Home Run Derby on Monday, and things went no better for the hometown Phillies in Tuesday's All-Star Game. The AL hung a three-spot on Sánchez in the top of the first. Sánchez has allowed three runs total (not just in a single inning) in only six of his 43 career regular-season starts at Citizens Bank Park. Go figure.
In the bottom of the first, Dylan Cease blew Schwarber away, then Brandon Marsh struck out against Parker Messick in the second. All told, the three hometown Phillies hitters -- Schwarber, Marsh, Bryce Harper -- went a combined 0 for 5 with four strikeouts in the All-Star Game. Harper lost an ABS challenge too. Between those three and Sánchez, ouch.
It wasn't all bad for Phillies players, though. Lefty Jesús Luzardo threw a scoreless fourth inning on an efficient six pitches. He had the best All-Star showing of the various Phillies players almost by default. Philadelphia was a terrific All-Star Game host. It just wasn't a good few days for their players. So it goes. (Closer Jhoan Duran got two outs and allowed a single.)
Winner: The AL pitching staff
American League pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.
The AL pushed across three runs in the top of the first inning, and it wasn't until Miguel Vargas took Justin Wrobleski deep in the eighth inning that another run was scored. That was the game's only extra-base hit. Wrobleski, by the way, was the first pitcher to get more than three outs in the All-Star Game since Corbin Burnes went two innings in 2021.
It was a pitching-dominated All-Star Game, especially on the AL side. Their 11 pitchers were simply marvelous:
|
Dylan Cease, Blue Jays | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 25 |
Parker Messick, Guardians | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
Michael Wacha, Royals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
Joe Ryan, Twins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
Nick Martinez, Rays | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
Cade Smith, Guardians | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
Drew Rasmussen, Rays | ⅔ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
Jacob Latz, Rangers | ⅓ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Louie Varland, Blue Jays | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox | ⅔ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Bryan Baker, Rays | ⅓ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Total | 9 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 138 |
Juan Soto, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Otto Lopez had the NL's only hits. The AL didn't exactly bang the ball around the yard either. They scored their four runs on six singles, one homer, and four walks. They struck out 12 times. That 27 strikeouts between the two teams. Every hitter who stepped to the plate was an All-Star and they still got dominated. Pitching is just that damn good.
They’re not all stars, but unheralded pitchers took over the 2026 MLB All-Star Game
Matt Snyder
Loser: Mike Trout's All-Star Game stats
In his first All-Star appearance of the decade, Trout went 0 for 3.
This is hard to believe, but this was Mike Trout's first All-Star Game appearance since 2019. He was voted into the All-Star Game in 2021, 2022, and 2023, though he was unable to play due to injury. Coming into this year, Trout was a .412/.500/1.000 career hitter with two home runs in his All-Star Game career. He then went 0 for 3 on Tuesday. Sánchez struck him out in the first, Eduardo Rodriguez got him to ground out in the second, and Luzardo got him to ground out in the fourth. The 0 for 3 knocks Trout down to a measly .350/.435/.850 in his All-Star Game career. He lost 215 OPS points in one night. Rough!
Winner: Caminero and the Rays
Caminero avoided major injury after a scare.
There was a scary moment in the third inning on Tuesday when Rays superstar Junior Caminero took a 98 mph Riley O'Brien sinker to the right hand. He dropped to the ground in pain, stayed down for a moment, then went straight to the clubhouse. Here's the scene:
Caminero went for X-rays with the Phillies' team doctor and, thankfully, it was later announced he did not suffer a fracture. He's day-to-day. O'Brien went to check on him and the two hugged it out.
Caminero is irreplaceable, especially for a Rays team that doesn't hit many home runs. He's hitting .279/.372/.555 with 28 home runs this year, including 13 homers in his last 19 games before the All-Star break. Prior to exiting, Caminero hit a tapper back to Sánchez in the first inning in his only official All-Star Game at-bat.
Loser: The broadcast audio
All those in-game interviews? Yeah, good luck.
Echos, static, cutting in and out. It was a mess, particularly during the interviews, which were too numerous. They always are with these things. But yeah, it was not a great listening experience. All-Star Game on the field, spring training for the broadcast audio.
