ASG - Bucco Edition

First, let's get the game highlights covered:

• The AL won its third in a row 6-3, so they get home field for the WS again. Mike Trout was the MVP and Prince Fielder looked pretty all-starish, too. 
• The NL did have a couple of very nice performances on the hill - Jacob DeGrom became the first pitcher to strike out the side on 10 or fewer pitches when he did it in the sixth - and without so much as a foul ball. Aroldis Chapman also punched out the side in the ninth. It took him 14 pitches, all four seamers with a dozen at 100+, touching 103 and averaging 101.
• Other trivia: The NL became the first AS team in the game's history to have a starting lineup representing nine different teams. There were three home runs knocked out of the launch pad known as GABP, the most since 2007. And NL pitchers set a record for whiffs in a nine inning game with 15.
• Our thoughts: Whoever designed the unis, and especially those caps, stole money from MLB.

Cutch connects (image from MLB.com)

Now for the Buccos:

• Cutch went 1-for-3 with a homer, (first pitch slider off Chris Archer) a pop out (Dallas Kuechel) and a whiff ("King Felix" Hernandez). He was the first Pirate to homer in an ASG since Dave Parker way back in 1981, and earned high fives from odd bedfellows after his blast into the second tier at GABP - Todd Frazier & Bryce Harper.
• Gerrit Cole followed Zach Greinke in the the third inning. He gave up a couple of fly outs, a walk, and K'ed Mike Trout, feeding him heaters and putting him away with a slider. It was the first relief appearance he made since his freshman year at College (he told the press gang that he blew the save).
• Mark Melancon worked the eighth. He struck out the first two hitters he faced (including old bud Russ Martin), catching them looking, and then gave up a homer on a 1-2 cutter to the Twins Brian Dozier, a noted high-ball hitter who drilled a low delivery into the seats; so much for scouting.
• AJ, sadly enough in his first and presumably last ASG, didn't get in; he and Shelby Miller were the insurance policies last night.