Shane Bieber sings, the local crowd reigns during Cleveland's Night of Stars

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CLEVELAND – Baseball has the ability to hit the face. Even in the hours leading up to Tuesday's All-Star Game, much of the conversation on Twitter has been about previous comments by Commissioner Rob Manfred on baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association President Tony Clark, saying that the MLB project was fundamentally anti-worker. .

Even the fans are not irreproachable in all this. Instead of admiring all the young talents in today's game and the prodigious ability to score goals at home against incredible pitchers throwing rockets at 100 km / h, we regret too much often lack of basic success and stolen bases, or complain about all the nicks.

The discussion is important and necessary. Sometimes, however, one has the impression that criticism becomes the damning narrative that surrounds this sport. The game of stars is far from perfect; it's not what it used to be, and wishing it to be 1972 does not solve anything. We understood it: Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger, the two best players in the National League this season, came out at the end of the fourth inning.

Despite everything, after three days in Cleveland, it was clear that fans enjoyed all the festivities with enthusiastic fervor, going crazy during Monday's Home Run Derby and applauding as a playoff game when the hometown pitcher, Shane Bieber started in the fifth inning. Everyone in the downtown and at the stadium was adorned with Indian t-shirts and jerseys – much more support for the local team than in recent star games – a reminder that Clevelanders, although the number of spectators is weak the regular season, always passionately support their team.

This year's All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday at the progressive course in Cleveland. Here's what you need to know about teams and all the festivities. Alerts, schedules, analyzes

The American League has beaten the National League 4-3, and few will remember the score of the match. Indeed, the most memorable moment of the night may have been the tribute to Stand Up To Cancer, when Indian pitcher Carlos Carrasco joined his four All-Star teammates and his manager, Terry Francona, on field. They waved placards saying that they were supporting "Cookie" – Carrasco's nickname, chanted by the crowd – while Carrasco was holding his sign saying "I'm standing".

It's a reminder that baseball is only a small flat. The fans left happy and that is maybe all that matters.

Ten thoughts on a baseball game in Cleveland:

The surprise hero Shane Bieber raises his trophy All-Star Game MVP. AP Photo / Tony Dejak

1. Bieber's MVP in the final phase: Bieber was not even part of the initial formation of the stars, but the substitute came in at the top of the fifth inning and removed the stick on 19 shots, which shows why he had an outstanding season in the Cleveland rotation. He fanned the Willson Contreras Chicago Cubs looking for a fastball at the speed of 2-2, 95 mph He drew Ketel Marte from Arizona's Diamondbacks on a 3-2 curve ball that sparked the game. Marte admired, while he greeted Bieber with a thumbs-up gesture. Then Bieber recruited Atlanta Braves baseball player Ronald Acuna Jr., looking for a 3-2 slider. Note the sequence: Fastball, curveball, slider. Note the remarkable story of Bieber:

"I could not really feel my body so much because, as I said, the electricity and the atmosphere we had, but you also did not want to leave a cookie on top of the plate because these guys are so good and they will enjoy it, "said Bieber. "Really, I just tried to fill the area as much as I could and go out there and get three outs.This was the main program.

The 1-2-3 heat earned the Bieber MVP honors. "Shane Bieber, he showed them something today," teammate Francisco Lindor said after the match.

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Shane Bieber eliminated Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte and Ronald Acuna Jr. in the fifth round of the All-Star Game.

2. Congratulations to Carrasco: The Indian starter has not launched since May 30 while fighting leukemia. According to the latest reports, it is expected to resume operations by the end of July. His teammate Carlos Santana said that it was a moving moment. Former teammate Michael Brantley has remained in contact with Carrasco since he was diagnosed. "He has an excellent support team around him, he will fight for it and come back to the mound," he said.

Bieber said it was an incredible moment. "Cookie, I've only known him for a year, but I can say with certainty that he's one of the best teammates and best people I've ever met. what he is doing in a positive light and is going to the children's hospital and he is spending time with them and he is overthrowing him in some way.We are here for him, we are there. love and we are at his side. "

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Carlos Carrasco, who is being treated for leukemia, stands alongside his Indian teammates against cancer during the All-Star Game.

3. Jose Berrios against Javier Baez: It was not just a typical match between players from different leagues:

Berríos gave Marte a double, but then showed that he could be a competitor to Cy Young before the end of the season. He caught Acuña on a curved ball and forced Yelich to watch a fastball to organize the confrontation with his brother-in-law. Berríos has faced 481 batters so far in the regular season and has only started 26 0-0 changes. So of course, he started a first step change to Báez, which made it appear on the shallow left field.

4. The bomb of Joey Gallo: In his only game of the match, Gallo faced Giants forward Will Smith in the seventh inning, with the AL leading 2-1, a runner and two outs. Smith had allocated two innings to left-handed batters in the past three seasons. It's probably not where he wanted his pitch:

Gallo sent a ball into the right center field at 111.5 mph, the hardest-hit home run of a Star Match of the Statcast era (since 2015). "When I ran in the basics, I did not really understand the scale of the problem." I was like "It's a star game." "I watched this game grow and now I hit a home run in it."

Gallo even felt the All-Star celebration during pre-game introductions. "I kept hearing the announcement of all the names of these superstars then they said my name and I thought," I'm in a training with Mike Trout, George Springer, Mookie Betts and these guys. "It's pretty special."

5. Max Muncy plays the second goal in a match of the stars: We mentioned the story of Bieber. Muncy is no less remarkable. At the start of the 2017 season, after the A's released after 2016, he was on the job for two months before finally joining the Dodgers. He spent all year 2016 in the minor, but then scored 35 circuits and last year. His 22 circuits at the break make him a star player for the first time.

That's pretty amazing, but Muncy was primarily a minor first or third player, starting just 12 games a second. He started 31 games here for the Dodgers in 2019 – then paused in that game and threw Santana to deprive him of a base shot. With the help of much of Pete Alonso, who was imitated on the game:

6. Players taken back: It is an exhibition game. It's funny! It works. At one point, Alex Bregman, George Springer and Michael Brantley were interrelated. At another time, Yelich and Bellinger. Here's Freddie Freeman batting in the first run:

7. Big ovation for Brantley: Yes, another Cleveland moment. Brantley has been a three-time star for the Indians before signing with the Astros as a free agent. He received a big ovation during the pre-game introductions and another before his second-round match against Clayton Kershaw – when he doubled a brace in the left-back to score the goal. Bregman in the first leg of the match. .

"It's one of the things I'll always remember about Cleveland," Brantley said after the match. "They always supported me when I was here, organizing such a reception and a warm ovation is very special."

8. Gaffes of the dashboard: OK, everything was not easy, the dashboard operators misspelled the name of Willson Contreras. David Dahl was nicknamed "Davis Dahl", then the picture of Jacob deGrom was for his team mate, Jeff McNeil. The field player / field player is another good story, a guy who started last year finishing ninth in Double-A and became All-Star while leading the majors with a .349 average.

McNeil was not too happy about that. "It can not really happen, I do not think so," he said. "I'm working so hard to qualify for the All-Star Game.It's one of the things you look at, you know, what's going on?" You check everything, but it's what it is, I suppose. "

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9. All the bars: The AHL pitcher's staff finished with an All-Star record of 16 strikeouts in a nine-set match – a reminder that despite all the attention paid to home-based circuits this season, it remains still some throws good enough to appreciate.

"It's the star game," McNeil said. "I mean, everyone is going to be extremely good and extremely hard to hit – most star games are scant, so I'm not surprised."

"The pitching has changed completely compared to what it was seven or eight years ago from my beginnings," Brewers catches. Yasmani Grandal said, "I do not think it's surprising, we had good arms too, I think most of these guys have very good arms, I think our league has young arms that we're going to to be seen in the star game for a very long time. "

Red starter Luis Castillo is one of those young players and he may have had the most impressive round of the game. He caught two in his 1-2-3 run, averaging 98 mph with his fastball and getting seven swings-and-miss on 15 shots, including four out of the six trajectory changes that he made. he launched.

10. The AL wins again: When Aroldis Chapman ended up taking the lead on 4-3, Cleveland fans greeted him with a deafening chorus. Yes, he plays for the Yankees – but he played for the Cubs in 2016. "The fans here are very passionate," Lindor said. "They knew that he had beaten us in the World Series."

Chapman finished with three straight outings. It was the seventh consecutive victory of the AL. For some of us who grew up when both leagues hated each other, that would be a big problem. This is no longer a big problem, even if it brings some smiles to AL fans.

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