Ichiro Captures All-Star MVP in American League Victory

In the night preceding the 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game Vladimir Guerrero awed the packed crowd at AT&T Park with 500 foot blasts during the Home Run Derby. On Tuesday night Ichiro Suzuki awed the crowd with a home run of his own yet the blast to deep right field never left the field of play. Rather than rely on the conventional four-bagger Ichiro opted for All-Star history becoming the first player to ever hit an inside-the-park home run in the Midsummer Classic, leading his American League side to yet another victory over their Senior Circuit counterparts 5-4.

Ichiro’s home run capped a 3-3 night in which he collected a pair of singles to go along with the historical sprint earning him the game’s MVP trophy.

The Seattle Mariners centerfielder led the game off with a single and then delivered a two out single in the third before he stepped to the plate in the top of the fifth. With the AL trailing 1-0 Brian Roberts drew a walk to start the inning. Jorge Posada followed with a fly ball out to centerfield setting the stage for Ichiro. Chris Young tried to sneak a fastball past the AL’s second leading hitter and the result was a 2-1 lead for the Americans.

Carl Crawford would put the AL up 3-1 in the following inning with a traditional blast off of Francisco Cordero but the Nationals cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom half of the second with a sacrifice fly from Ken Griffey Jr.

Both teams failed to score in the seventh inning but the AL got back on the board in the eighth when Victor Martinez hit a two out two-run blast off of Billy Wagner for a 5-2 advantage.

Alfonso Soriano made it interesting in the ninth, pulling the National League to within one with a two out two-run bomb of his own but Francisco Rodriguez managed to avert a bases loaded situation by inducing a fly out off the bat of Aaron Rowand and the AL improved to ten straight victories in games that ended in a decision.

With the victory the American League representative in the World Series will hold home-field advantage.

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