American League at National League
Homefield advantage did not do much for manager Ned Yost and the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series, but he is not willing to give up the chance at another Game 7 at home. Yost will attempt to guide the American League to a third straight win in the All-Star Game and the resulting homefield advantage in the World Series in the 86th edition of the Midsummer Classic at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park on Tuesday.
Yost filled out his pitching staff with the kind of late-inning power relievers that have been a big part of his team’s success while using the end of the roster for versatile players like New York Yankees speedster Brett Gardner and Boston Red Sox super utilityman Brock Holt. The Royals’ manager should feel right at home with a record seven members of his own team enjoying the festivities, though left fielder Alex Gordon won’t be able to play due to a groin strain. San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy leads a National League squad so stacked with talent that reigning league MVP and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw wasn’t added to the roster until Sunday. The middle of the NL lineup includes Washington right fielder Bryce Harper and Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who bring a combined .34 batting average, 47 home runs and 131 RBIs into the game.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FOX
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros LH Dallas Keuchel (11-4, 2.23 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Zack Greinke (8-2, 1.39)
Keuchel put himself at the front of the list to start for the AL when he held Yost’s Kansas City squad scoreless over eight innings on June 30. The 27-year-old is tied with Seattle’s Felix Hernandez for the AL lead in wins and sits second in ERA behind Oakland’s Sonny Gray (2.04). "Just to be on the team with some of the best players in the world is truly an honor,” Keuchel told reporters. “That's the way I'm going to approach it, to have as much fun as I possibly can."
Greinke brings a streak of 35 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings into the game along with the lowest ERA in the majors. The former AL Cy Young Award winner is the first Dodger to start since Brad Penny in 2006 and is making his third appearance in the Midsummer Classic. "I had some great starters that were candidates, but these numbers that he's putting up are really, really unbelievable," Bochy told reporters, after announcing Greinke as his starter.
WALK-OFFS
1. The NL leads the all-time series 43-40-2, but the AL has taken 14 of the last 18.
2. Reigning All-Star Game and AL MVP Mike Trout will bat leadoff for the AL in front of leading vote-getter Josh Donaldson, while Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen and hometown favorite Todd Frazier will bat Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, for the NL.
3. Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera (calf), the leading hitter in the majors (.350), was replaced in the starting lineup by Albert Pujols, who is tied for the AL lead in homers (26) with Trout.