Just as you were being lulled to sleep by a no-shits-given-for-East-Coast-viewers pregame show, the MLB All-Star Game actually started and it did so with a crack off the bat of Angels outfielder Mike Trout that spotted the AL a quick 1-0 lead:
Trout's opposite field bomb put him in a unique statistical category that (at first) seems like a dumb stat you'd see on ESPN's Bottom Line, but is actually kind of cool. It gave him a natural cycle in the first at-bat of his past four All-Star games:
Now in the MLB All-Star Game, offense is at a premium. Especially in an era with such dominant pitching that many final scores are akin to the World Cup. American League pitchers kept the NL offense in check for most of the night with few hiccups. The National Leaguers squeaked across a run in the second after a Jhonny Peralta RBI single. But then they didn't stack another on to the board until Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen hit a bomb that wouldn't have been out of place during last night's Home-Run Derby. Before McCutchen did that however, Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw got tagged for two runs, which is equal to the amount Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez Brewered away just a few innings later.
Finally, in the eighth, Twins second baseman/late AL addition Brian Dozier hit a bomb that allowed anybody willing to stay up until midnight on a Tuesday for an All-Star game (if such a person exists) to go to bed:
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