MLB All-Star Game: Analyze favorite moments from Seattle
July 11, 2023, 11:50 p.m. ET
Believe your eyes: The National League has won the All-Star Game!
After nine straight losses to the American League, the Senior Circuit slippage was over, thanks in part to Colorado Rockies catcher Elias Diaz. Diaz’s two home runs in the eighth inning helped seal a 3-2 win at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
The AL still holds an overall head-to-head record of 47-44-2, but bragging rights belong to the NL until next summer.
Here are our favorite highlights and moments from the Midsummer Classic.
Our favorite moments from the 2023 MLB All-Star Game
Alden Gonzalez: Shading is brutal, opposing pitchers are devastating, but Luis Arraez – putting in a thrilling chase for .400 despite playing in one of the most difficult hitting environments in the history of the game – continues to make this look so easy. He saw two pitches — an 87 mph splitter from Nathan Eovaldi and a 98 mph fastball from George Kirby — and came up with two singles. 383 hitters for the season and 1,000 hitters in the All-Star Game. And over the last few days, Arraez has felt how hard it is for others to support him, especially the likes of Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuna Jr.
“They say, ‘Hey, play hard and enjoy the game. You can get to . 400,'” says Arraez. “I said, ‘It’s difficult. I’m human. But I’ll try. Let’s see what happens when I finish my season.'”
Editors’ Choice
Jesse Rogers
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Jesse Rogers: As Alden said, the shadows in the early evening are brutal — for both the batter and the fielder. It had an immediate impact as Acuna nailed one right from Gerrit Cole to start the game. Adolis Garcia battled the sun and the flight of the ball before making an awkward catch and jumping to snatch Acuna’s shot. Moments later, Randy Arozarena had to do the same in left field, although the sun was not a problem there, trapping Freeman’s opponent’s field try at extra base. Both catches helped keep the NL off the board and ignited a crowd of AL partisans. It kept the game going with a bang from the start.
Jeff Passan: The chants started as Shohei Ohtani stepped into the batter’s box in the first inning. “Come to Seattle!” fans at T-Mobile Park screamed — at first a few, then more, and finally a large contingent and boisterous enough for the words to ring around the stadium. They hosted it again at their second plate performance with the same singing, albeit a little awkwardly. (“Come to Seattle” is one beat too many for the signature four syllables that go on clap-clap-clapclapclap.) It could be the start of something new. If humming Shohei becomes a thing as he plays his final 2½ months into free agency, it will start in the All-Star Game, where Ohtani hears Mariners fans loud and clear.
