American Dream, National Nightmare

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AL Downs NL Again
The American League extends its unbeaten streak over the National League to 10 years with a 3-2 victory Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

There was New York Mets third baseman David Wright, 23, hooking a line drive around the foul pole in left in the bottom of the second, becoming the 13th player in history to homer in his first all-star game at-bat.

There was St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, 26, the widely acknowledged greatest hitter in the game, making a fine defensive play in the third. On a bad-hop bouncer that shot out of range of his mitt, Pujols stabbed the wayward ball with his bare hand and jogged to the bag for the out.

And there was hometown favorite Freddy Sanchez of the Pirates, 28, making a pair of defensive gems -- one at shortstop (a leaping stab of a liner) and one at second base (a backhanded stop of a scorched grounder).

But the hero of the night wound up being Young, the Rangers' underappreciated sparkplug and the 2005 AL batting champ. Following Tuesday night's ninth-inning heroics, he has another piece of hardware -- All-Star Game Most Valuable Player -- for his mantle.

"One of the best pure hitters in baseball," Guillen said. "I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league."

A few months from now, when the NL pennant winners are forced to start the World Series on the road once again, perhaps they will lament the run that left fielder Alfonso Soriano, the Washington Nationals' lone representative, gave away in the third inning.

Soriano, playing in his fifth straight all-star game, singled and stole second against Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. But on Beltran's single to center -- and with Pujols on deck -- Soriano ran through a stop sign at third base and was thrown out easily at the plate by Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells, a costly mistake that derailed what otherwise might have been a big inning for the NL.

After Beltran scored on a wild pitch by Halladay, giving the NL a 2-1 lead, the pitchers took over. Four straight AL pitchers and six straight NL hurlers put up scoreless frames, until Hoffman coughed up the lead in the thrilling, decisive ninth.

"It went from being a ho-hum all-star game," Konerko said, "to one of the better ones that's been played in recent years."

With the AL now ahead, everyone knew what was coming next. Into the game came Mariano Rivera, arguably the greatest closer in history, and into the history books went another victory for the American League, still the dominators.