Results tagged ‘ All-Star Game ’
Hey, Sandy Alderson, stuff this: San Francisco Giants dominate All-Star Game
National League’s Melky Cabrera, of the San Francisco Giants, shows off his MVP trophy after the MLB All-Star baseball game against the American League, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. The National League won 8-0. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
For all the belly-aching by fans across the country and the rabid tweets from Mets president Sandy Alderson, the fans and Tony LaRussa got it right in putting four San Francisco Giants into the starting lineup of the NL All-Star team.
The Giants’ stat lines were pretty good
- CF Melky Cabrera: 2 for 3, home run, two runs, two RBI.
- C Buster Posey: 0 for 2, walk, run, five scoreless innings caught
- 3B Pablo Sandoval: 1 for 2, triple, run, 3 RBI
- P Matt Cain: 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 BB, 1 strikeout, win.
If you missed the start of the game, you missed a thrilling first inning.
After Carlos Gonzalez struck out to open the game, Cabrera singled to left and scored on Ryan Braun’s double.
After Joey Votto struck out, Carlos Beltran and Buster Posey drew walks.
Braun, Beltran and Posey all scored when Sandoval dug out a Verlander curveball and hit it off the wall just inside the right-field foul pole for a triple.
I don’t get many triples,” the Panda said. “We had some fun with that in the dugout.”
Just like that, it was 5-0 National League.
Cabrera grounded out to second in the second. Posey popped out to catcher Mike Napoli in the third and Pablo Sandoval flied to center in the fourth.
But Cabrera capped the exciting night for the Giants by hammering a two-run homer to left off the Rangers’ Matt Harrison, making it 8-0.
That home run made Cabrera the first Giant to be selected All-Star Game MVP since Bobby Bonds in 1973 in a game also played in Kansas City.
“I didn’t come to win an MVP. That’s just a surprise,” he said. “The same opportunity that Kansas City gave me last year is the same opportunity that San Francisco is giving me every day to showcase my talent. Again, I’m just very thankful for the fans that voted for me to come here.”
He can also thank Jose Bautista for the MVP trophy and the Camaro that came with it.
Bautista made a nifty sliding catch on a looper off the bat of Braun in the second inning. If Bautista doesn’t make that play, Braun finishes the night 3 for 3 with a single, double and triple … and likely with an MVP honor.
After all the Giants left the game, the All-Star Game went quiet.
Cain earned the victory, becoming the first Giants pitcher to earn an All-Star win since Vida Blue in 1981.
“For those guys to go out and score five runs in the first inning was definitely a little more relaxing for me,” he said. “But I still tried to stay focused.”
Giants All-Star MVPs
- Willie Mays, 1963 (Cleveland)
- Juan Marichal, 1965 (Minnesota)
- Willie Mays, 1968 (Houston)
- Willie McCovey, 1969 (Washington)
- Bobby Bonds, 1973 (Kansas City)
- Melky Cabrera, 2012 (Kansas City)
Giants All-Star winning pitchers
- Sal Maglie, 1951 (Detroit)
- Johnny Antonelli, 1959 (Pittsburgh)
- Stu Miller, 1961 (San Francisco)
- Juan Marichal, 1962 (Washington)
- Juan Marichal, 1964 (New York-Shea)
- Gaylord Perry, 1966 (St. Louis)
- Vida Blue, 1981 (Cleveland)
Matt Cain named NL All-Star starter, giving San Francisco Giants 4 starters
For the second time this season, Matt Cain has helped establish a Giants franchise first.
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain, right, tips his cap to the crowd after throwing a complete game shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates in their Opening Day baseball game in San Francisco, Friday, April 13, 2012. Giants catcher Buster Posey. left, looks on. San Francisco won the game 5-0. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Last month, Cain became the first pitcher in Giants history to throw a perfect game.
On Tuesday in Kansas City, he will become seventh Giants pitcher to start the All-Star Game for the National League.
Cain’s selection as the NL starter by manager Tony LaRussa gives the Giants four All-Star starters for the first time in franchise history.
In short, if you’re a Giants fan, be sure to tune into the All-Star Game early.
Cain is joined on the starting lineup by catcher Buster Posey, third baseman Pablo Sandoval and outfielder Melky Cabrera, all voted starters in fan voting.
This is Cain’s third All-Star selection, but it will be the first time he’ll actually get to pitch in the game. Cain was not used in 2009 by manager Charlie Manuel, and last season he pitched the Sunday before the All-Star Game, making him ineligible to pitch in the midsummer’s classic.
Let’s hope Cain has better success than other recent Giants pitchers have fared as All-Star Game starters. In their first three All-Star starts, Giants pitchers (Carl Hubbell and Juan Marichal twice) did not allow a run, giving up a combined four hits in nine innings. Marichal was the All-Star MVP in 1965.
But since then, three of the last four Giants All-Star starters were tagged for at least two runs, although none of them ending up as the losing pitcher.
Here’s a look at how Giants have fare as the NL starting pitcher:
- 1934, Carl Hubbell 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K
- 1965, Juan Marichal, 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R
- 1967, Juan Marichal, 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K
- 1978, Vida Blue, 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
- 1989, Rick Reuschel, 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER
- 2003, Jason Schmidt, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K
- 2009, Tim Lincecum, 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 K
San Francisco Giants fans stuff the ballots: Melky Cabrera, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval All-Star starters
During the All-Star Selection Show Sunday, one of the panelists disagreed with the election of Pablo Sandoval over David Wright, even going so far as to scold Mets fans for not getting out the vote for their man.
But you can’t blame Mets fans. When it came to All-Star votes — especially online — San Francisco Giants fans belted a grand slam.
The final all-star vote in the NL was knocked black and orange.
Buster Posey went from having 3.3 million votes and leading Yadier Molina by a little more than 200,000 votes last week to finishing with an NL-record 7.6 million votes. Posey was the leading vote-getter in the National League. He outdistanced Molina by more than 2.5 million votes.
Last week, Melky Cabrera lost as the No. 3 vote-getter in the outfield to Ryan Braun. In the final tally, Cabrera was the top vote-getter among NL outfielders. Cabrera collected 7.5 million votes, a little less than 100,000 votes behind Posey. Cabrera finished more than 1 million votes ahead of No. 2 outfielder Carlos Beltran.
Sandoval went from trailing Wright by more than 400,000 votes to beating Wright by more than 1.6 million votes. Sandoval collected 5.7 million votes.
Oh, and it didn’t stop there. Two other Giants — 1B Brandon Belt and SS Brandon Crawford — finished second in voting at their respective positions. Belt finished more than 3 million votes behind the Reds’ Joey Votto. However, Crawford missed being voted the starting NL shortstop by a little more than 306,000 votes.
Outfielder Angel Pagan finished fifth among outfielders (4.5 million). Aubrey Huff was 14th (1.9 million). Freddy Sanchez, who has not played a big-league game in more than a year, finished fourth among second baseman (2.289 million votes).
It’s the first time since 2001 that the Giants have had three players voted All-Star starters (Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and Rich Aurilia). Coincidentally, Bonds, Kent and Aurilia are expected at AT&T Park Sunday as the Giants commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the 2002 NL championship squad.
Congrats to Buster, the Melkman and the Panda, and also to Matt Cain, who was named to the All-Star team.
Here is the NL All-Star team:
STARTERS
C – Buster Posey, Giants; 1B – Joey Votto, Reds; 2B – Dan Uggla, Braves; SS – Rafael Furcal, Cardinals; 3B – Pablo Sandoval, Giants; OF – Matt Kemp, Dodgers; OF – Carlos Beltran, Cardinals; OF – Melky Cabrera, Giants.
PITCHERS
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers; Craig Kimbrel, Braves; Aroldis Chapman, Reds; Cole Hamels, Phillies; Jonathan Papelbon, Phillies; Wade Miley, Diamondbacks; Gio Gonzalez, Nationals; Stephen Strasburg, Nationals; R.A. Dickey, Mets; Matt Cain, Giants; Lance Lynn, Cardinals; Joel Hanrahan, Pirates; Huston Street, Padres
RESERVES
1B Bryan Lahair, Cubs; 2B Jose Altuve, Astros; SS Starlin Castro, Cubs; SS Ian Desmond, Nationals; 3B David Wright, Mets; C Carlos Ruiz, Phillies; C Yadier Molina, Cardinals; OF Jay Bruce, Reds; OF Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies; OF Ryan Braun, Brewers; OF Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins; OF Andrew McCutchen.
National League All-Star team, if MoreSplashHits were picking reserves, pitchers
The All-Star starters and reserves will be announced on Sunday at 10 a.m. on TBS. So that gives us a couple of days to consider who should be on the team.
So if MoreSplashHits were in Tony LaRussa’s position — and in a way we are; neither one of us is managing in the bigs this season — this is how we could draw up the National League All-Star.
We’re going to start with assuming that all the players who were leading in All-Star voting as of Tuesday will hold on to win. That’s no sure thing because more than 11 million online votes were cast, so close balloting could easily win.
But we’ll use Tuesday’s voting as a starting point, and we’ll add some caveats later. We’re not saying this SHOULD be the starting lineup. Actually, I guess we are. Because we’ve always believed if players get the votes, they should start. That’s the way the All-Star Game works.
The National League selects 25 reserves (including pitchers). We’re going with the past formula of selecting 12 position players and 13 pitchers.
STARTING LINEUP
(Based on leaders in most recent balloting results)
- 1B — Joey Votto, Reds
- 2B — Dan Uggla, Braves
- SS — Rafael Furcal, Cardinals
- 3B — David Wright, Mets
- C — Buster Posey, Giants
- OF — Matt Kemp, Dodgers
- OF — Carlos Beltran, Cardinals
- OF — Ryan Braun, Brewers
RESERVE POSITION PLAYERS
1B — Paul Goldschmidt, Diamondbacks (11 HR, 35 RBI, .299) — First base is a little lean in the NL, but Goldschmidt is clearly the best of what is left. Heating up after a slow start.
2B — Jose Altuve, Astros (5 HR, 23 RBI, .309) — Altuve will be the Astros’ lone representative on this team. But that’s not why is on the list. He’s earned his spot, leading all 2B in hitting.
2B — Aaron Hill, Diamondbacks (11 HR, 38 RBI, .302) — Hill made a big late push to make his way on this team. But two cycles in one season is good enough for us.
SS — Starlin Castro, Cubs (6 HR, 39 RBI, .297) — Whenever he remembers how many outs there are, Castro has been the best shortstop in the league.
3B — Chase Headley, Padres (8 HR, 38 RBI, .272) — Headley having decent, but not necessarily All-Star season. But the Padres need a representative and we can’t find another.
C — Carlos Ruiz, Phillies (11 HR, 43 RBI, .356) — Chooch is a no-brainer.
C — Yadier Molina, Cardinals (12 HR, 44 RBI, .311) — St. Louis fans are grumpy about Molina being behind Posey in the voting. But their seasons are VERY similar and Posey plays in the tougher park. Still, Molina’s earned a spot.
OF — Melky Cabrera, Giants (7 HR, 38 RBI, .355) — The Melkman is another no-brainer, on his way to another 200-hit season.
OF — Andrew McCutchen, Pirates (15 HR, 51 RBI, .344) — The Pirates knew what they were doing when they locked up McCutchen long term.
OF — Michael Bourn, Braves (7 HR, 28 RBI, .306) — Bourn is a run-scoring machine atop the Braves’ lineup.
OF — Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies (17 HR, 58 RBI, .338) — His home/road splits aren’t great, but his overall numbers are clearly All-Star worthy.
OF — Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (17 HR, 47 RBI, .278) — The Marlins need a representative and the power-hitting Stanton is certainly deserving.
PITCHERS
SP — R.A. Dickey, Mets (11-1, 2.31 ERA) — Really can’t deny Dickey a spot.
SP — Matt Cain, Giants (9-2, 2.27 ERA) — Mr. Perfecto definitely makes the team.
SP — James McDonald, Pirates (7-3, 2.44 ERA) — Do you think the Dodgers want him back?
SP — Stephen Strasburg, Nationals (9-2, 2.60 ERA) — Got to take the NL’s K leader.
SP — Gio Gonzalez, Nationals (10-3, 2.78 ERA) — Better earlier than lately but still good enough to make team.
SP — Johnny Cueto, Reds (9-4, 2.26 ERA) — Cueto has finally figured it out. Been great since last All-Star break.
SP — Ryan Vogelsong, Giants (7-3, 2.23 ERA) — Made All-Star team last year because his skipper was manager. Now, he makes it no matter who is managing.
SP — Wade Miley, Diamondbacks (9-3, 2.19 ERA) — Not in the rotation to start the season, now he’s the Snakes’ ace
SP — Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (5-4, 2.74 ERA) — More fallible this year than last, but still really good. Record is not his fault. Basically, this boiled down to the better Dodgers: Kershaw or Chris Capuano. Over past 12 months, Kershaw has better resume.
RP — Craig Kimbrel, Braves (0-1, 1.55 ERA, 22 saves) — League-leader in saves.
RP — Sergio Romo, Giants (2-1, 0.83 ERA, 4 saves) — Sexy pick is to select teammate Santiago Casilla, but Romo has been flat-out filthy. Or should I say Romolicious.
RP — Joel Hanrahan, Pirates (3-0, 2.10 ERA, 20 saves) — Big part of the Pirates’ surprise season.
RP — Aroldis Chapman, Reds (4-4, 1.98 ERA, 9 saves) — Chapman brings the big heat and tiny WHIP (0.74)
VOTING CAVAETS
A quick look at close votes
- OF: If Cabrera beats out Braun, Braun still makes roster as Brewers’ representative.
- C: If Molina beats Posey, Posey still makes the team as a reserve. Gotta have three catchers.
- 3B: If Pablo Sandoval beats out Wright, Wright makes the team as a reserve. However, that would cost Aaron Hill his spot in a tough-luck decision.
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