is just too nice. I mean, it's not really weather. It's more like an absence of weather. Not complaining, by the way. It's nice to walk out the door in the morning knowing you won't need an umbrella, layers, a coat, etc.

Nice night at the ballpark. Pitching dominated as the NL won for the first time since 1996.

Joe Mauer actually looked happy and relaxed when we saw him after the fifth inning, a day after looking frustrated and tired. The problem is, he's never been a great second-half player, so I can't see any kind of a transformation coming in the next two months.

Is there anyone slower than David Ortiz? Pretty much everyone in the park knew that bloop was falling in in the ninth, but David hesitated, then looked like he was running uphill as he got thrown out at second.

All-Star games are strange to cover. Like tonight. I cared about Mauer and Torii Hunter, and everyone else might as well have been a St. Paul Saint.

I admit it - it was hoping Torii would hit a game-winning home run. Although if that had happened I would have had to cancel my flight, because he would have talked until Thursday.