The 2026 MLB All-Star Game will not go down in history as one of the most memorable Midsummer Classics in the near-century-long history of the event. Highlights on the field were few and far between, broadcast debacles and poorly-executed ideas compromised the viewing experience, and several distracting pieces of vaguely baseball-themed pageantry bloated the presentation of a contest which would have otherwise flown by.
But for our decidedly narrower purposes here at Pinstripe Alley, the game was
a splendid success. The American League defeated the National League 4-0 at Citizens Bank Park, fueled by a first-inning rally which was paid off by both Yankees representatives in John Schneider’s starting lineup. The man who drove in the first two runs, Cody Bellinger, was eventually named All-Star Game MVP, the fourth Yankee to ever win the honor. The AL pitching staff limited the NL to just three hits all night in a tidy victory for the Junior Circuit.
The game was listed as beginning at 8pm ET, but fans needn’t have worried about missing the first pitch, which came almost a full half-hour later. All the pomp and circumstance gave way to a dream start for the AL—and the little Yankee contingent nestled within their starting lineup. Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez received the opportunity to start the All-Star Game on his home mound, but he may have been a bit nervous. His command was sporadic as the AL built a rally on a Yordan Alvarez single and a pair of walks. With two outs, Cody Bellinger came up with an opportunity to stake his side to an early advantage.
There are more ideal scenarios to face Bellinger than with two runners in scoring position and a left-handed pitcher on the mound.
Sánchez actually got ahead of Cody 0-2 with a pair of sinkers, then missed low with yet another. He turned to his signature changeup but missed badly inside. Having lost some confidence on that pitch, Sánchez returned to the sinker and left it belt-high in the strike zone. Bellinger swatted it up the middle and past shortstop CJ Abrams to score a pair.
Thanks to this early knock in the low-scoring game, Bellinger was awarded the All-Star Game MVP. He joins Derek Jeter (2000), Mariano Rivera (2013), and Giancarlo Stanton (2022) as the lone Yankees to win the honor. Congrats to Cody!
Ben Rice wasted little time coming up with a nearly-identical result two pitches later. The first-time All-Star took a first-pitch sinker from the desperate southpaw, who was fully scared off from his changeup. Another sinker came down the pipe, and Rice capitalized. He found the same hole Bellinger did, grounding it up the gap to the right of second base to bring in yet another run. Thanks to the two hard-hit singles from the Yankees, the AL led 3-0. Who needs Aaron Judge?
(That is a rhetorical question.)
The NL failed to respond in kind to Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease, who struck out three batters and walked one in a scoreless opening frame. Cease and Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers wore microphones which they could use to communicate with each other—neither seemed all that interested in providing engaging radio in the process. It’s clear FOX was trying to replicate the success of mic’ing up Nestor Cortes and Jose Trevino back in 2022 without recognizing what made that pairing work—they were Yankee teammates, for starters.
The second proceeded with little incident, as Eduardo Rodríguez and Parker Messick provided scoreless innings. Things went pear-shaped in the third inning though. Cardinals breakout reliever Riley O’Brien entered for the road third, and misfired on a fastball to Junior Caminero—the pitch hit the burgeoning Rays superstar on the wrist. Caminero fell to the ground, then wasted little time racing down the dugout tunnel and out of the game. X-rays taken during the game were negative, but it was a scary moment that put a damper on the festivities.
The show had to go on, however. After a truly pointless and unsuccessful All-Star Game challenge(???), the Yankee duo got more opportunities to drive in runs with two runners aboard. They were decidedly less successful the second time: Bellinger popped out to Juan Soto—of all people—on the first pitch he saw from O’Brien. Rice struck out swinging on a nasty 1-2 changeup to retire the side. Hey, at least they came through in the first.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Ben Rice exited the game to make way for fellow AL East denizen and Home Run Derby competitor Willson Conteras. Bellinger remained in right field, but Twins righty Joe Ryan pitched a scoreless inning without a ball being hit his way.
The folks at Citizens Bank Park appeared to expend their entire pyrotechnic budget in between the fourth and fifth. On what, I’m not entirely sure. But there were a lot of fireworks. When we came back from that display, the playing field was swamped by a thick layer of smoke—just another complication in an absurd presentation put on by MLB tonight.
Interestingly, Bellinger joined Mike Trout as the only two All-Star starters to take three plate appearances tonight. Cody got his third turn at bat in the top of the sixth inning against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, and gave the 1-0 offering a good ride to the opposite field. Corbin Carroll tracked it down in the gap, though. Iglesias worked around a two-out single from Contreras to put up yet another zero on the box score—those three Yankee ribbies continued to stand up as the only scoring entering the game’s latter third.
In the top of the seventh, breakout Dodger lefty Justin Wrobleski turned in one of the better pitching performances of the night by striking out the side. While Wrobleski and his bottom-of-the-inning counterpart, Drew Rasmussen, are deserving All-Stars, their appearances underscored another unfortunate aspect of this year’s game: a relative lack of household names taking the mound.
To wit, here are just a few starting pitchers who didn’t participate in the game tonight: Paul Skenes, Jacob Misiorowski, Chris Sale, Shohei Ohtani, and Yankees breakout star Cam Schlittler. Of course, this is an annual issue with the All-Star Game, but the timing felt particularly poor for this year’s crop of star hurlers.
We finally got another run in the top of the eighth inning courtesy of White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas. Vargas drew in for the injured Caminero in the third, and in his second at-bat, he took Wrobleski to the second deck in left field for a massive solo shot, giving the American League a good-measure insurance run.
I got one last chuckle out of this game when John Schneider pulled Aroldis Chapman from the game with two outs in the ninth to give the final out to a Ray. Bryan Baker did the honors by fielding a comebacker from Sal Stewart to record the first All-Star Game shutout since 2013. Was that fun? I’m not sure.
Enjoy the rest of the All-Star Break, everybody! The Yankees have even more reasons to enjoy it given the way Bellinger and Rice represented them tonight. Their first assignment out of the intermission will come in the Bronx on Friday, as the defending back-to-back champion Dodgers come to town. First pitch for the series opener is set for 7:05 PM, with coverage on YES.
