Boxscore

Last night’s mid-summer classic was almost a little boring after the first inning or so. By that time, the National League had already established a 5-0 lead that would turn out to be more than enough. By the time it was all over, the National League had shut out the American League 8-0.

Matt Cain of the Giants started the parade of pitchers with 2.0 innings of 0 run, 1 hit work. Then came the next 10 guys. Aroldis Chapman was in there somewhere. With 2 outs already in the eighth, he walked Mike Trout on seven pitches. But then he struck out Mark Trumbo swinging on merely 98- and 99-MPH pitches, so he managed to keep the runless streak going.

On the offense, the accolades go to Pablo Sandoval who knocked in 3 in the first inning with a triple. He’s a big guy to be swatting a triple, but hits to right field were causing the AL lots of trouble last night. Ultimately the National League ended up with 3 triples: one from Sandoval, one from Rafael Furcal, and one from Ryan Braun.

Joey Votto went 0-for-3 last night with one strikeout and two ground outs. Jay Bruce came in as a defensive sub in the bottom of the fifth and went 0-for-2. He flied out in the top of the sixth and grounded out in the top of the ninth.

The win brings the National League’s record to 1-0, gives the home advantage in the World Series to the senior circuit, and means we can finally say goodbye to Tony LaRussa. The next game will be in 2013. If the stars align, Dusty Baker will be managing it.