For the first time in MLB All-Star Game history, the outcome was decided by a home run swing-off with the 2025 version tied at 6-6 after nine innings.
Kyle Stowers and Kyle Schwarber combined for four homers to best Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda’s three long balls and lift the National League to a victory over the American League on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Pete Alonso was scheduled to be the third NL hitter, but didn’t need to swing after Schwarber went 3-for-3.
Before the dramatics, Pete Alonso and Corbin Carroll sparked the senior circuit with a pair of home runs in a four-run sixth, pacing the NL offence in the win.
On the pitching side, Paul Skenes delivered a second straight scoreless start at the Midsummer Classic, working up to 100.4 m.p.h. with his fastball and striking out the first two hitters he faced before inducing an Aaron Judge groundout in his 1-2-3 inning.
Alongside the two big swings in the sixth, Ketel Marte scored Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. with a first-inning double off AL starter Tarik Skubal.
The AL didn’t go quietly, though. The junior circuit all-stars answered the big sixth inning with four runs of their own in a big seventh, led by Brent Rooker’s three-run shot.
It didn’t stop there for the AL as the game was evened in the ninth, setting up the dramatic finish.
More to come.
