Tonight is the MLB All-Star game, kicking off live from Target Field in Minnesota at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox. Fans can live stream the annual American League vs. National League clash by clicking this link. The starting pitchers will be Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners (11-2, 2.12 ERA) against Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals (12-4, 1.83 ERA).
There was much debate over whether Wainwright would start for the NL or Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (11-2, 1.78 ERA). While Kershaw's the consensus top pitcher in baseball and had a scoreless stretch that reached 41 innings this year, but his stats have been piled up in 42 less innings. Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy didn't have much to add besides his excitement to catch both aces.
"It's going to be great catching them," Lucroy said. "A lot more fun than facing them."
While both are recognized as elite pitchers, Wainwright's excitement about getting the nod serves to further justify the call made by NL manager Mike Matheny, who is also Wainwright's manager in St. Louis.
"Aside from having the ability to win two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, I think this has to be one of the highlights of my baseball career to this point," Wainwright said. "One of the coolest things I can say I did is to start a big league All-Star game."
The AL decision was tough as well, but it got easier when Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka went down with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. Hernandez's numbers aren't quite at the level of the two NL aces but he will be plenty difficult for the opposing hitters to deal with.
AL Roster:
Starters:
C Salvador Perez
1B Miguel Cabrera
2B Robinson Cano
SS Derek Jeter
3B Josh Donaldson
OF Jose Bautista
OF Mike Trout
OF Adam Jones
DH Nelson Cruz
Reserves:
P Dellin Betances
P Mark Buehrle
P Yu Darvish
P Sean Doolittle
P Felix Hernandez
P Greg Holland
P Scott Kazmir
P Jon Lester
P Glen Perkins
P David Price
P Chris Sale
P Max Scherzer
P Masahiro Tanaka
P Koji Uehara
1B Jose Abreu
2B Jose Altuve
SS Erick Aybar
3B Adrian Beltre
OF Michael Brantley
OF Yoenis Cespedes
1B Edwin Encarnacion
OF Alex Gordon
DH Victor Martinez
1B Brandon Moss
C Derek Norris
SS Alexei Ramirez
3B Kyle Seager
C Kurt Suzuki
C Matt Wieters (injured)
NL Roster:
Starters:
C Yadier Molina (injured)
1B Paul Goldschmidt
2B Chase Utley
SS Troy Tulowitzki
3B Aramis Ramirez
OF Carlos Gomez
OF Andrew McCutchen
OF Yasiel Puig
Reserves:
P Madison Bumgarner
P Aroldis Chapman
P Johnny Cueto
P Zack Greinke
P Clayton Kershaw
P Craig Kimbrel
P Pat Neshek
P Francisco Rodriguez
P Tyson Ross
P Jeff Samardzija (traded to A's)
P Julio Teheran
P Adam Wainwright
P Tony Watson
P Jordan Zimmermann
OF Charlie Blackmon
3B Matt Carpenter
SS Starlin Castro
3B Todd Frazier
1B Freddie Freeman
2B Dee Gordon
OF Josh Harrison
C Jonathan Lucroy
C Devin Mesoraco
2B Daniel Murphy
OF Hunter Pence
1B Anthony Rizzo
OF Giancarlo Stanton
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