| Three in a Row for the NL |
| By Sally Haase July 11, 2012 An out of character performance by Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander put the game out of reach for the American League in the first inning as the National League sailed to an 8-0 win. It is the third consecutive win for the National League who will once again have home field advantage in the World Series. The National League can thank the San Francisco Giants for the victory, players Pablo Sandoval, Melky Cabrera, and pitcher Matt Cain helped the NL with two shutout innings while Sandoval cleared the bases with a triple in the first inning. Later in the game Cabrera added a two run home run that earned him the MVP award. Once there was a comfortable lead, NL manager Tony La Russa finished off the game by using a series of closers that included the Atlanta Braves Craig Kimbrel and the Cincinnati Reds Aroldis Chapman from the NL to finish off the shut out. As for teenage rookie star Bryce Harper, he got off to a shaky start when he lost a fly ball in the twilight sky, giving Mike Napoli a base hit. If the rookie keeps playing the way he has this season there will be plenty of All-Star games for Harper and plenty of chances to make up for the lost fly ball. The struggles of Verlander was surprising, the man is known for control and shut outs but whether it was nerves or another factor but Verlander could not get the ball down and the National League made him pay by hitting him for five runs. It was a big hole Verlander put the American League into and the big hitters in the American League could not get anything started to begin to dig out of the hole. With the exception of Verlander’s off night, the American League pitching staff did do a good job of keeping the National League from scoring any more runs but it was the National League who had the better pitching for the night, showing baseball fans that pitching is the big story in baseball once again this season. |
Search this site
Leave A Comment