AL comes through in clutch

Elsa, Getty Images

Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals fields a bunt off the bat of Joe Mauer during the 2009 MLB All-Star Game.

The Twins' Joe Mauer doubled in a run and Joe Nathan worked through a precarious eighth inning to preserve a one-run lead.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: July 15, 2009 - 1:20 PM

ST. LOUIS - For the fourth consecutive year, baseball's All-Star Game turned into a last-inning nail-biter Tuesday night, and the Twins were right in the middle of the drama again.

Joe Mauer delivered the game-tying double in the fifth inning, and Joe Nathan pitched out of a huge eighth-inning jam, as the American League edged the National League 4-3 at Busch Stadium.

The victory stretched the AL's unbeaten streak to 13 games, which means home-field advantage in the World Series again.

Afterward, Mauer, Nathan and Justin Morneau could kid each other about some of the game's tensest moments.

The AL trailed 3-2 with two outs in the fifth when Mauer came up against the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley.

Mauer lined a double down the left-field line, scoring the Yankees' Derek Jeter. Another opposite-field hit for Mauer -- what's new?

Mauer said he told Morneau, "I tried to pull so many balls in that Home Run Derby [on Monday], I've gotta get back to what I do,'"

Leading off the seventh inning, the Rockies' Brad Hawpe looked like he had put the NL back in the lead, but Tampa Bay left fielder Carl Crawford made a leaping catch against the wall to rob Hawpe of a home run. Crawford was later named the game's MVP.

The AL regained the lead in the eighth, when the Tigers' Curtis Granderson tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by the Orioles' Adam Jones off Padres closer Heath Bell.

With a 4-3 lead, the AL turned to Nathan to start the eighth. He retired Brian McCann and Ryan Zimmerman before Adrian Gonzalez walked and Orlando Hudson singled, putting runners at the corners for pinch hitter Ryan Howard of the Phillies.

An announced sellout crowd of 46,760 came to its feet, pulling for Howard, a St. Louis native. Nathan worked through a tense battle as Hudson stole second base, putting the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.

But with a 2-2 count, Nathan got Howard to chase a nasty slider in the dirt to escape the jam.

"I was able to get some pitches in on his hands and get him to swing at a slider in the dirt," Nathan said. "I think everybody in the park was waiting for it. I got into the dugout and all the guys were giving me heat because I should have thrown it probably four pitches before that."

Morneau said he wasn't worried.

"I've seen [Nathan] do it a million times," he said. "I have confidence that he's going to get out of any jam he gets into."

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth inning to record his fourth All-Star save, a new record.

Morneau entered the game at first base in the bottom of the sixth inning and went 0-for-2, including a flyout to the center field warning track in the ninth inning.

But he was relishing another close AL victory.

In 2006, Michael Young delivered his lead-changing two-run triple off Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the ninth inning.

In 2007, the AL took a 5-2 lead into the ninth and escaped with a 5-4 victory in San Francisco.

In 2008, at old Yankee Stadium, the AL needed 15 innings to defeat the NL 4-3, with Morneau scoring the winning run.

"It's fun to watch," Morneau said. "There's so many weapons in our lineup."

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