Projo Sox Blog

Associated Press

PRESIDENT'S PITCH

President Barack Obama threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star game, barely reaching the plate. St. Louis Cardinals star Albert Pujols helped the president, moving up on the plate and reaching out to scoop the low toss. Obama began the day by greeting Wimbledon champion Serena Williams at the White House, then picked up Hall of Famer Willie Mays in Michigan for the flight to St. Louis. Click here to watch the video of the pitch.

ALL AL AGAIN

Carl Crawford pulled back a home run with a leaping grab an inning before Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth, giving the American League a 4-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game on Tuesday night at the new Busch Stadium. The AL is 12-0-1 since its 1996 defeat at Philadelphia -- the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history.

HE'S BACK

Pedro Martinez has agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was in town for a physical, and the Phillies planned to hold a news conference on Wednesday, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement hadn't been made. The 37-year-old Martinez went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA for the New York Mets last year.

SPEAKING

"It was definitely probably the best catch I ever made." -- Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford on robbing Colorado slugger Brad Hawpe of a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning of the American League's 4-3 victory over the NL in the All-Star game in St. Louis.

TUESDAY'S STARS

--Carl Crawford, Rays, robbed Brad Hawpe of a go-ahead homer and took home All-Star MVP honors in the American League's 4-3 victory over the NL.

--Mariano Rivera, Yankees, pitched a perfect ninth inning in the AL's 4-3 victory to earn his record fourth All-Star save, breaking a tie with Dennis Eckersley.

--Adam Jones, Orioles, hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to lead the American League to a 4-3 win in the All-Star game.

--Prince Fielder, Brewers, had a pinch-hit RBI double in the National League's 4-3 loss to the AL in the All-Star game.

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1901 -- Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched the first of two career no-hitters, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0.

1969 -- Cincinnati's Lee May hit four home runs in a doubleheader split with the Atlanta Braves. May had two home runs and drove in five runs in both games as the Reds lost the opener 9-8 but came back to win the second game 10-4.

1969 -- Rod Carew stole home off Chicago's Gerry Nyman in the Minnesota Twins' 6-2 victory. It was Carew's seventh steal of home for the year and tied Pete Reiser's 1946 major league mark.

1973 -- Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out 17 batters and threw his second no-hitter of the year, beating Detroit 6-0.

1980 -- Johnny Bench broke Yogi Berra's record for home runs by a catcher as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos 12-7. Bench hit his 314th homer as a catcher off David Palmer. Bench had 33 home runs while playing other positions.

1990 -- Chicago's Bobby Thigpen became quickest to reach 30 saves in a season as the White Sox beat New York 8-5.

1997 -- The San Francisco Giants scored 13 runs to set a modern NL record for runs in a seventh inning en route to a 16-2 rout of the San Diego Padres. The Giants set the NL record for the most runs in a seventh inning since 1900.

1999 -- After 22 1/2 years in the dreary Kingdome, Seattle finally played a home game outdoors, moving into a $517.6 million ballpark with a retractable roof. Jose Mesa wasted a ninth-inning lead by walking four batters and the Mariners lost 3-2 to the San Diego Padres in Safeco Field's opener.

2003 -- Anaheim's Garret Anderson went 3 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double as the American League beat the National League in the All-Star game 7-6. Hank Blalock of Texas hit a go-ahead, two-run homer as a pinch hitter in the eighth off Los Angeles' Eric Gagne.

2005 -- Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro became the 26th player to reach 3,000 career hits, curling an RBI double into the left-field corner off Joel Pineiro in the fifth inning of a 6-3 win over Seattle. Palmeiro joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray as the only players with 3,000 hits and 500 homers.

2006 -- For the first time in nearly three decades, a full day of major league baseball games were played without a save being recorded. There were six blown saves during 15 games, including two each in Pittsburgh's 7-6 victory over Washington, and in Cincinnati's 3-2 win against Colorado. The Nationals and Reds both won with ninth-inning rallies.

2007 -- The Philadelphia Phillies lost their 10,000th game, 10-2 to St. Louis. The franchise, begun in 1883 as the Philadelphia Quakers and later called the Blue Jays in the mid-40s, fell to 8,810-10,000.

2008 -- Justin Morneau slid home just in time on Michael Young's sacrifice fly in the 15th inning, giving the American League a 4-3 victory in the All-Star game at Yankee stadium. The AL extended its unbeaten streak to 12. The AL improved to 6-0 since the All-Star game began determining home-field advantage in the World Series. Boston's J.D. Drew, who hit a tying two-run homer in the seventh inning, took home MVP honors.

Today's birthdays: Chris Denorfia 29; Miguel Olivo 31.

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