MINNEAPOLIS
Derek Jeter soaked in the adulation from fans and players during one more night on baseball’s national stage, set the tone for the American League with a pregame speech and then delivered two final All-Star hits.
Mike Trout, perhaps the top candidate to succeed the 40-year-old Yankees captain as the face of the game, seemed ready to assume the role with a tiebreaking triple and later a go-ahead double that earned him MVP honors.
On a summer evening filled with reminders of generational change, the AL kept up nearly two decades of dominance by beating the National League 5-3 Tuesday for its 13th win in 17 years.
Miguel Cabrera homered to help give the AL champion home-field advantage for the World Series.
The AL improved to 9-3 since the All-Star game started deciding which league gets Series home-field advantage; 23 of the last 28 titles were won by teams scheduled to host four of a possible seven games.
Detroit’s Max Scherzer, in line to be the most-prized free agent pitcher after the season, pitched a scoreless fifth for the win, and Glen Perkins got the save in his home ballpark.
Target Field, a $545 million, limestone-encased jewel that opened in 2010, produced an All-Star cycle just eight batters in, with hitters showing off flashy neon-bright spikes and fielders wearing All-Star caps with special designs for the first time.
With the late sunset – the sky didn’t darken until the fifth inning, well after 9 o’clock – there was bright sunshine when Jeter was cheered before his first at-bat. He was introduced by a recording of late Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard’s deep monotone: “Now batting for the American League, from the New York Yankees, the shortstop, number two, Derek Jeter. Number two.
Trout, the 22-year-old Los Angeles outfielder who finished second to Cabrera in AL MVP voting in each of the last two seasons, followed Jeter in the first by tripling off the right-field wall.
Raised in New Jersey, Trout saw a lot of Jeter and said all week he felt honored to play alongside him.
“Growing up and him being my role model, it’s pretty special,” Trout said.
After Robinson Cano struck out, Cabrera homered over the left-field wall for a 3-0 lead – just the fourth home run in the last six All-Star games.
Jeter then hit a soft single into right off Alfredo Simon leading off the third but was stranded.
The NL, which still holds a 43-40-2 advantage in the series, came back on consecutive RBI doubles by Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy off Jon Lester that made it 3-2. Lucroy’s run-scoring double against Chris Sale tied the score in the fourth.
The AL went ahead for good in the fifth against Pat Neshek, the St. Louis reliever who grew up in the Minneapolis suburbs and started his career with the Twins.
Josh Donaldson and Derek Norris hit one-out singles, and Trout hit an RBI double down the third-base line that was ruled fair by umpire Scott Barry. Because the ball landed in front of the umpire – it was real close to the line – it was not reviewable under baseball’s new replay rules.
Jose Altuve followed with a sacrifice fly off Tyler Clippard that made it 5-3.
Captain bids adieu
MINNEAPOLIS – Derek Jeter was a huge hit from the very start in his final All-Star game.
Batting leadoff for the American League, the 40-year-old shortstop for the New York Yankees soaked in an ovation that lasted more than a minute at Target Field, then seized the moment Tuesday night by hitting a double.
Jeter soon crossed the plate for the game’s first run. After three innings of action, he ceremonially was removed from his familiar position in the field to one more round of revering cheers as his dad, mom, nephew and sister watched from the stands.
The double was one of Jeter’s classic, opposite-field line drives to right. He singled to right field in his next at-bat, too, raising his All-Star batting average to a robust .481 – 13 hits in 27 at-bats. That’s the second-best of all time for players with 20 or more at-bats, behind Charlie Gehringer.
OK, so maybe NL starter Adam Wainwright admitted he threw something juicy for Jeter to hit.
“I was going to give him a couple pipe shots,” the right-hander said. “He deserved it.”
Wainwright later said that he didn’t want to take away from Jeter’s first inning hit.
“It was mis-said,” the pitcher said in a television interview. “I hope people realize I’m not intentionally giving up hits out there.”
Jeter showed off in the field, too. In the top of the first, he made a slick, diving stop on Andrew McCutchen’s sharp groundball up the middle. Jeter got to his feet and fired an on-target throw to first base, but the fleet-footed McCutchen was too fast, beating it out for a leadoff single.
It was the 14th time Jeter was picked as an All-Star. He’s set to retire after this season. When Jeter stepped to the plate, the crowd gave him a 63-second ovation, prompting him to wave, nod and tip his helmet several times.
Wainwright, who spoke the day before about how proud he would be to pitch to Jeter on this memorable occasion, backed up toward second base and left his glove on the mound so he could clap along with everyone else at the ballpark.
“For him to do that meant a lot to me,” Jeter said.
In the third, Jeter took Cincinnati ace Alfredo Simon to a full count before his single.
Then, right before the fourth inning began, Jeter was taken out for Alexei Ramirez and the captain jogged off. With Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” playing on the stadium speakers, he waved to the crowd and exchanged hugs and handshakes in the AL dugout and then took a curtain call before the game resumed.
“I think everyone wants it to sink in that this is my last,” Jeter said in the clubhouse before batting practice, “but I’m just trying to enjoy it while I’m here and stop thinking about this is the last one.”
