NL Routs AL To Win 2012 All Star Game
Added on Jul 11, 2012 by Jack Thurman in
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Are the times a changin’ back? It may be too soon to pronounce an end to the American League’s decade plus domination of the All Star Game but the National League has now won three straight ‘midsummer classic’s’ after a 8-0 rout in the 2012 game. The NL jumped all over AL starter Justin Verlander in the top of the first inning, putting five runs across the plate and building a 5-0 lead that they would never relinquish. The senior circuit would add 3 more runs en route to the victory which earns the National League representative home field advantage in this year’s World Series.
Atlanta Braves legend Chipper Jones, playing in his last All Star game before retirement, addressed the National League team before the game saying that ‘he wasn’t going out a loser’. That seemed to set the tone and among those responding were San Francisco Giants’ teammates Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera who led the NL offense. Sandoval hit the big blast in the first inning with a bases loaded triple to break the game open and give the Nationals a 4-0 lead. Cabrera would pad the lead later in the contest with a home run and would be named the All Star MVP.
Making the NL victory doubly sweet was the presence of retired St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa in the NL dugout. LaRussa, one of the real class acts in sports in addition to being a great manager, didn’t have to do much actual ‘managing’ after his team was spotted a 5-0 lead. LaRussa now spends his time promoting a great animal rescue organization that bears his name (Tony LaRussa’s Animal Rescue Foundation, or ARF) but he was clearly happy to be back in the dugout, even just for one night.
Baseball betting enthusiasts typically approach the All Star Game with some trepidation, but players who backed the underdog National League received a nice +120 reward for their wager. The American League closed a -140 favorite in the game. Total players had to sweat throughout the game with 5 runs scored in the first and 8 scored after the top of the fourth inning but ultimately the contest would go under the posted total of 8.5 representing the fifth straight All Star Game ‘Under’ and sixth in eight years.
