DENVER – Nelson Cruz, the oldest player in Tuesday's All-Star Game, is now 0-for-8 in his seven career appearances.
"What can I do?" the Twins slugger shrugged with a rueful smile after a one-pitch ground out. "I try my best."
He can try to be more like the youngest player in the game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., just 22, crushed a Cruz-like missile 468 feet at Coors Field, leading the American League to a 5-2 victory, the league's eighth in a row.
Guerrero also drove in a run with a ground out, becoming the youngest player and first Blue Jay ever to win All-Star MVP.
"It means the world to me, and I just want to thank my dad," said Guerrero, son of a nine-time All-Star and Hall of Fame outfielder. "Dad, this is for you."
Tampa Bay catcher Mike Zunino also homered for the American League, and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto connected for the NL.
And the game may have been much closer — and involved Twins lefthander Taylor Rogers, playing in his hometown — if not for a sliding, bases-loaded catch of a Kris Bryant line drive by Angels first baseman , Jared Walsh to end the eighth. Had Walsh, who had never before played left field in the major leagues, not made the defensive highlight of the game, Rogers would almost certainly have been summoned to face on-deck hitter Omar Narvaez of the Brewers, a left-hander.
"That's usually my role. [AL manager] Kevin Cash and [Twins manager] Rocco [Baldelli] think similarly" about such situations, said Rogers, who was warming while Bryant batted against Boston's Matt Barnes. "It didn't take much to get loose. I really didn't get far into it enough to get the full adrenalin pump. But that would've been cool. A big-league moment."
Instead, Rogers sat and watched White Sox closer Liam Hendriks, the former Twins righthander, finish off the NL in the ninth. Not pitching was a disappointment, but only a mild one, he said.
"Just proud," he said of his enduring emotion. "This was a few years coming, [recognition for] more than just this first half."
Cruz was proud, too, even though his stubborn All-Star slump continued on a Craig Kimbrel fastball. He stayed busy during the game by directing the AL infield shifts, signaling from the dugout. And in the eighth, he was summoned to pinch-hit for J.D. Martinez.
He hit the first pitch, a sharp grounder directly at first baseman Jake Cronenworth of the Padres. A quick flip to Kimbrel, and the Twins' night was done. "I was looking for a fastball, and he gave that," said Cruz. "I hit it a little bit out front."
Cruz complimented the 98-mph pitch as he jogged past Kimbrel on his way to the dugout. "I told him, 'Hit it harder, so I can hit it a little better.' "
Nobody hit the ball better than Guerrero on this night. After nearly beaning NL starter Max Scherzer with a line drive that second baseman Adam Frazier turned into a first-inning ground out, Guerrero sent a Corbin Burnes middle-of-the-plate slider practically over the left-field stands in the third. He's the second-youngest All-Star ever to homer, trailing only 21-year-old Johnny Bench in 1969.
The game had been billed as a stage for Shohei Ohtani, baseball's first two-way star player since Babe Ruth. The Japanese sensation made history by serving as both the starting pitcher and designated hitter but grounded out in both of his at-bats. While he retired all three NL hitters he faced and even hit 100 mph with a fastball to Nolan Arenado, he didn't strike out a batter.
