Prince Fielder Named All-Star MVP as NL Defeats AL
By Editorial Staff
Prince Fielder’s 3 run blast was all the support National League pitchers needed, as the NL defeated the AL 5-1 last night.
The American League got on the board first as Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez homered off of Phillies starter Cliff Lee.
However, the lead was short lived as the NL received back-to-back singles from Carlos Beltran and Matt Kemp before Fielder stepped to the plate and parked an offering from C. J. Wilson in the center field seats.
Andre Ethier and Pablo Sandoval extended the lead with RBI hits in the 5th and 7th, giving the National League the win and home field advantage during this year’s Fall Classic.
Other than Lee’s hiccup in the 4th, NL Pitchers were phenomenal last night. Roy Halladay started things off with 2 perfect innings of work. The AL then collected 3 hits off of Cliff Lee in only 1.2 innings, but were only able to notch 3 more hits the rest of the way.
Starters Clayton Kershaw and Jair Jurrjens combined to pitch 2.2 scoreless frames. Then manager Bruce Bochy went to his pen, and what a pen it was. He was able to trot out 4 relievers with regular season ERA’s south of 2.50 before using his own guy, Brian Wilson, to slam the door on the AL.
Gonzalez had the only extra base hit for the American League and no one from either lineup had a multi-hit game. Fielder’s deciding 3 run shot earned him MVP honors.