The National League will have home field advantage once for the second year in a row, as the NL All-Stars defeated the AL All-Stars, 5-1, on Tuesday night in the 2011 MLB All-Star Game. It was a story of strong pitching overcoming supposedly potent bats.
Roy Halladay threw consecutive 1-2-3 innings to start the game before giving way to teammate Cliff Lee. Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run off of him in the fourth inning for a 1-0 lead. But Prince Fielder answered back with a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning and Andre Ethier drove in Rickie Weeks in the fifth. Pablo Sandoval hit a ground rule double in the seventh to score the fifth run.
In the top of the ninth inning, Joel Hanrahan got into a bit of trouble when two runners reached base, one on a throwing error by Starlin Castro and a Matt Joyce singled that turned into runners on second and third after a throwing error by Jay Bruce. Brian Wilson came in for the final two outs and secured the save and victory.
Tyler Clippard of the Nationals picked up the win and C.J. Wilson took the loss. The Colorado Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki went 1-for-2 with a single in the fifth inning. Starlin Castro replaced him as a pinch-runner.
For more on the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, visit Baseball Nation. For the live-tweeting experience of the game, visit @SBNationLive for its hilarious timeline.