Pitching and defense stole the spotlight in the middle innings.
Pitching and defense finally took center stage at the All-Star Game as both bullpens held strong after the fifth inning. It started with two outs (one strikeout) from the resurgent Scott Kazmir and a mid-inning pitching change to Koji Uehara, who promptly whiffed the only batter he faced. The NL sent out Francisco Rodriguez in the bottom of the sixth, and while he did walk Adrian Beltre, no damage came of it, thanks to marvelous efforts from second baseman Dee Gordon and first baseman Freddie Freeman:
Greg Holland pitched a clean frame of his own (one strikeout), while Craig Kimbrel worked around a Freeman error and an Alexei Ramirez stolen base to hold the AL scoreless, striking out the side in the process. The closer parade continued with Oakland's Sean Doolittle, who struck out two, though he did give up the first hit in the game since the top of the sixth when Freddie Freeman singled to right field. He was replaced with two outs and a man on by Mariners closer Fernando Rodney. Rodney walked the first batter he faced before fanning Daniel Murphy to end the inning.
Rodney, as he does, celebrated.
