SEATTLE – In a 2023 season rife with surprises came an All-Star Game result way out of left field … thanks to a blast way out to left field.
An unlikely All-Star became an unlikely All-Star hero in an unusual All-Star result. When Rockies catcher Elias Díaz, a first-time All-Star at age 32, took the O’s Félix Bautista deep in the top of the eighth on Tuesday night, he gave the National League the go-ahead run in a 3-2 win at T-Mobile Park — the Senior Circuit’s first victory on the Midsummer Classic stage since way back in 2012.
“It means a lot to me, to my family,” Díaz said of his sudden star turn. “So proud of what I’ve been doing, what I’ve been able to accomplish. Being in the All-Star Game, for me, is amazing.”
The year has been defined thus far by some unexpected surges up topsy-turvy standings, and so the NL’s sudden All-Star success propelled by a career backup catcher fits right in.
But as usual in this non-binding exhibition, the result was secondary to the showcase. For this was a night to appreciate the Mariners’ underappreciated facility and some sensational Seattle weather, to gawk at great catches and clutch hits, to enjoy in-game interviews with mic’d up stars and, in keeping with the crisper pace that has characterized the first season with the pitch timer, to get out of there at a reasonable hour.
The NL’s early efforts to end their rut were impeded by leather. In succession to open the top of the first, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman lofted long fly balls off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, only to watch Adolis García and Randy Arozarena, respectively, corral them with leaping catches in front of the wall. Arozarena of course punctuated his with the famous “Randy pose.”
It was, instead, the AL that opened the scoring, with AL first baseman Yandy Díaz, whose blossoming power has made him a pivotal piece of the Rays’ rise to the top of the AL East, taking Zac Gallen deep on a second-inning solo shot, shortly before heading back to Tampa for the birth of his baby. (And in case you were wondering, yes, this was the first time two players with the same last name went deep in the same All-Star Game. Viva the Díaz duo.)
The NL evened it up when that human hit machine Luis Arraez, whose .400 chase is one of the season’s best storylines, did what he does best by smacking a single to right to score J.D. Martinez and make it 1-1. But Bo Bichette’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly gave the AL a 2-1 lead and a chance at pushing its winning streak to 10.
It looked as though that would be the case, until Díaz, with Nick Castellanos aboard via a walk, scooped Bautista’s 87 mph slider and lofted it out to left. With that, the NL had a 3-2 lead, and Josh Hader and Kimbrel made it stand. Though it took a big strikeout of Ramírez from Kimbrel with two on and two out in the ninth, the NL is off the schneid. Another surprise in a season full of them.