In a year when pitchers throwing unhittable 100 mph fastballs have generated many of baseball’s headlines, the story of the 2026 All-Star Game was that there are many ways to dominate the 60 feet, 6 inches between the pitcher’s rubber and home plate.
Sports News
Eleven American League pitchers combined to allow three hits and strike out 15 National League batters in a 4-0 victory Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, the AL’s fourth shutout in All-Star play. It was arguably the most impressive team pitching performance in All-Star history, with the 15 strikeouts one short of the nine-inning record and the three hits allowed tied for second fewest.
Not all those AL pitchers were throwing triple-digit fastballs. In fact, there was only one 100 mph pitch the entire game from the American League. A few of those AL pitchers might even be best described as craftsmen or masters of the art of pitching or, in the case of Michael Wacha and Nick Martinez, wily veterans. Or in the case of Parker Messick, a wily young rookie.
“That was very cool,” said Wacha, who pitched a flawless third inning. “The fact that we didn’t give up any runs against that lineup and that roster, it was a pretty cool feeling.”
Key Moments
The AL’s list of somewhat anonymous pitchers stood in stark contrast to those who didn’t pitch in this game for the National League, which has dominated the pitching leaderboards this season. Of the NL’s top 10 pitchers in FanGraphs WAR, only two appeared in the game, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo. No Jacob Misiorowski, Paul Skenes, Chase Burns, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Braxton Ashcraft or Chris Sale — all of whom were All-Stars, but none of whom pitched Tuesday.
It’s a situation that has created enough controversy that commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters earlier Tuesday that MLB will need to reevaluate the rule that allows pitchers who pitch Sunday not to appear in the All-Star Game.
“I do think it’s really important that we always reevaluate our approach to the All-Star Game in order to get the very, very best players actually participating in that game,” he said.
Analysis
The one NL star pitcher who did appear was Sanchez of the hometown Phillies, who was uncharacteristically wild in the first inning as he threw 34 pitches and walked two batters in one inning for just the second time this season. Yankees teammates Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice, both left-handed batters, delivered RBI hits to give the AL a quick 3-0 lead before Phillies fans could finish their cheesesteaks. That was another rarity for Sanchez, who allowed a .137 average to lefties in the first half.
Bellinger earned MVP honors for his two-out, two-run single. Rice followed with an RBI single, the first time since 1962 that two Yankees had an RBI in an All-Star Game.
“I just try to keep it simple,” Bellinger said. “Single up the middle and, you know, the pitching today was just dominant. I mean, it was nasty, hard to score some runs. So, you know, just try to stay within myself and just try and get the job done there.”
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