SEATTLE – Shed of all the pomp surrounding the circumstances at all-star week, the Midsummer Classic is, at its best, both a celebration of and a mirror on the sport. Nine innings, featuring the very best players in the midst of elite seasons, in a showcase that’s as close to the real thing as any of the four major North American leagues gets. If you want a sense of what Major League Baseball has to offer, you’ll get one here.
And the 93rd All-Star Game provided quite a glimpse, from leaping catches by the outfield walls by Adolis Garcia and Randy Arozarena right out of the gate, to elite velocity from local favourite George Kirby on down, Mariners fans chanting “Come to Seattle” during each of Shohei Ohtani’s two plate appearances to the raw power of Yandy Diaz ripping a ball over the wall to the situational baseball in which Bo Bichette cashed in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning sac fly. The American League couldn’t hold the advantage, as Colorado Rockies catcher Elias Diaz took Felix Bautista deep in the eighth inning and Craig Kimbrel struck out Jose Ramirez for the final out of a 3-2 National League victory.
For the Toronto Blue Jays, an opportunity to revel in the limelight quickly turned into a cause for concern when closer Jordan Romano came out of the game in the seventh inning with left lower back tightness. He walked off the mound during a replay review on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. rocket to left that was initially ruled a home run, but eventually overturned as a foul ball.
Romano, who got Will Smith on a weak fly ball to right to open the inning, bent over on the mound watching the ball fly after his former teammate hammered a flat slider, grimaced during the deliberations, was tended to by a trainer and then departed.
The Blue Jays didn’t offer any details beyond the diagnosis and questions about his status overshadowed an eventful night for their four representatives.
Aside from his sac fly, Bichette also put a tag down at second to catch Luis Arraez stealing in the fourth. Whit Merrifield opened the eighth with a base hit before a Brent Rooker lineout to third resulted in a double play. And Vladimir Guerrero Jr., fresh off his Home Run Derby win, made a throwing error in the sixth, flung his bat into the third-base camera well swinging atop an Alexis Diaz heater before grounding out, and the struck out in the ninth against Kimbrel.
The tight and entertaining game before a crowd of 47,159 at T-Mobile Park was played in 3:03, featuring the same brisk pace that’s been a hallmark of the 2023 season thanks to the implementation of a new pitch timer.
Commissioner Rob Manfred, speaking to members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America earlier in the day, heralded the benefits of the timer and rules banning infield shifts, limiting pitcher disengagements and batters’ timeouts and larger bases, saying they’ve “been great for us.”
Union head Tony Clark, also addressing the BBWAA, wasn’t quite as positive, praising the quick adjustment his players had made while mentioning that “there are still some concerns there, particularly as it relates to September and October once we lead into and up through the playoffs.”
He suggested players would continue raising a slowdown to the timer through the on-field rules committee, saying, “I don’t think that an extra few seconds here and there is going to create a 3½, four-hour game unless it’s just a slugfest and it turns into what would otherwise be a long game anyway.”
Later, he added, “when you are trained as a pitcher or a hitter to be able to execute, slow things down, yeah there’s actually a big difference when you have the extra two or three seconds.”
Manfred was wary of adapting the timer for the post-season, saying, “I do in general, like the idea of playing everything under a single set of rules,” added that he remained “open-minded” but also said mentioned that “we are comfortable with the way the clock and the violations, particularly late in the game, in high-leverage situations that we’re watching, have been managed.”
There were no issues late in this one, with no violations called as Bautista got into trouble and got tagged by Elias Diaz, as Pablo Lopez worked through the top of the ninth and Kimbrel grinded through a ninth in which he issued two-out walks to Kyle Tucker and Julio Rodriguez before getting Ramirez swinging to end it.
