ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) 鈥� Speedy Jarren Duran describes himself as a player who keeps his head down, works hard and never thinks of himself as 小蓝视频 better than anybody else.
Duran turned some heads in his first All-Star Game, for the American League and 小蓝视频 named after Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams.
鈥淭hat's an honour. Who else would I want to try to follow in the footsteps of besides a guy like that, who is not just a great baseball player but a great human 小蓝视频,鈥� Duran said after becoming the fifth Red Sox player selected All-Star Game MVP. 鈥淭hat guy was awesome, and I鈥檓 honoured to be able to have his award.鈥�
The decisive homer came in the fifth inning Tuesday night as the AL beat the National League 5-3 for its 10th win in the past 11 All-Star Games.
pitched a hitless first for the NL, twice hitting 100 m.p.h., and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers also went deep in Texas with a three-run homer to give the NL a 3-0 lead.
Juan Soto hit a two-run double and scored on David Fry鈥檚 single to tie the score in the AL third, and Duran went deep off Cincinnati鈥檚 Hunter Greene.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a surreal moment. So I鈥檓 just thankful to be here,鈥� said Duran, who was one of 39 first-time All-Stars this year.
Oakland right-hander Mason Miller got the win after throwing a 103.6 m.p.h. pitch, the fastest in the All-Star Game since tracking began in 2008. Hard-throwing Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase struck out two in the ninth for the save.
The 22-year-old Skenes, who has pitched only 11 big-league games since 小蓝视频 the No. 1 overall pick in the draft last July, became the first rookie starter since 1995 and had the fewest games played for any player to make an All-Star team. The right-hander threw a hitless first, with a two-out walk to Soto before his Yankees teammate Aaron Judge grounded into a forceout on the next pitch.
Skenes threw 11 of 16 pitches for strikes, with seven fastballs up to 100.1 m.p.h.
鈥淔rankly, I wish I鈥檇 had a few more pitches to do that today,鈥� said Skenes, who has a good mix of pitches to go with the hard stuff. 鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to bring eyes to the game.鈥�
Ohtani, who has gone deep 29 times in the first season of his record $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers, off Tanner Houck. That came after the Boston right-hander allowed singles to the first two batters he faced: No. 9 batter Jurickson Profar and leadoff hitter Ketel Marte.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 really hit well in the All-Star Game, so I鈥檓 just relieved that I put the ball in play,鈥� Ohtani said. 鈥淚 just focused on having a regular at-bat as if I was in the regular season.鈥�
When Ohtani went against Miller in the fifth, he struck out on an 89.2 m.p.h. slider well inside and out of the strike zone. That was after twice taking strikes on fastballs of more than 100 m.p.h.
Ohtani鈥檚 first All-Star homer made him the first Dodgers player to go deep in the Midsummer Classic since Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza in 1996. Eleven days after his 30th birthday, Ohtani was an All-Star for the fourth time 鈥� his first with the NL.
Baltimore鈥檚 Anthony Santander, after taking over for Soto in right field, had a two-out single in the fifth before Duran鈥檚 413-foot homer to right-centre after he had replaced Judge in centre. Duran took a 95.9 m.p.h. fastball before going deep on an 86 m.p.h. splitter.
鈥淚 knew he threw really hard so I was just praying he would throw me a first pitch fastball so I could see how hard it was. After that, I was hoping to get a pitch up,鈥� Duran said. 鈥淗e happened to leave a pitch up. I happened to put a good swing on it.鈥�
The last Red Sox player to be the All-Star MVP was J.D. Drew in 2008, following Pedro Martinez in 1999, Roger Clemens in 1986 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1970.
Duran was voted by his peers as an All-Star after 小蓝视频 the first AL player to go into the break with at least 100 hits, 10 triples, 10 homers and 20 stolen bases.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays went 0-for-2 at the plate, but made some strong defensive plays at first base for the AL.
The AL has a 48-44-2 record in the All-Star Game, and had won nine in a row before the National League's 3-2 victory last year in Seattle.
arrived in Texas the morning of the game after spending time at home with his newborn twin daughters. The Baltimore right-hander allowed a walk and then a two-out double to Bryce Harper before getting out of his inning on a comebacker by William Contreras, his catcher last season in Milwaukee.
After his underhand toss of the ball to first base, Burnes had a big smile on his face when he kept jogging and wrapped his arm around Contreras on the baseline.
QUICK GAME
Played in 2 hours, 28 minutes, it was the shortest All-Star Game since 1988, a game that the AL won 2-1 in Cincinnati that took only two minutes less.
BOCHY DOUBLES UP
Bruce Bochy of the host Rangers became the first manager to win World Series titles and All-Star Games in both leagues. Bochy is now 2-3 as an All-Star manager, leading the NL to a win in 2011. He won the World Series three times with the NL's San Francisco Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014, then led the Rangers to their first championship in his debut season with them last year.
UP NEXT
The MLB regular season resumes Friday when 14 games are scheduled, with Milwaukee and Minnesota the only teams that won鈥檛 play until Saturday. Philadelphia (62-34) has the best record in the majors and Cleveland (58-37) has an AL-best .611 winning percentage, though Baltimore and the New York Yankees also have 58 wins.
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AP MLB:
Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
