Americans Win Home Run Derby, Drop Nationals 8-6; ASG & Pirate Notes

After six innings of home run or no count (Aaron Judge & Mike Trout for the AL, Willson Contreras for the NL), Felipe Vazquez got the call for his first AS visit to the bump in the seventh.  After two outs, including a whiff, he gave up a bloop single that Christian Yelich apparently lost in lights. That was followed by a full count walk that was an ump's gift. No diff; Felipe cruised out with another whiff. He was followed by ol' bud Charlie Morton in the bottom half. Ground Chuck gave up a line out and then another solo shot (so what else is new?) to Trevor Story. A walk, bop and wild pitch put him in a two-out jam, but he wiggled out.

Another long fly put the NL on the brink; Josh Hader gave up a couple of singles before Jean Segura dropped one into the stands after Joey Votto gave him new life by dropping his foul pop. Bad week for Milwaukee. Charlie served up another fan souvenir to Christian Yelich in the eight. The AL went down quietly in the ninth before Edwin Diaz tossed another ball that was launched by Scooter Gennett after a walk to tie it. It's bonus baseball time. Alex Bregman and George Springer lost baseballs back-to-back against Ross Stripling. Consecutive singles and a sac fly sent another AL'er home. Anther former Buccaneer, JA Happ, came in and of course Joey Votto greeted him with a dinger. Happ settled down and rode the game into the sunset with the AL taking an 8-6 win.

Felipe did the Bucs proud (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Felipe Vazquez got a warm welcome from his old homies before the game. Asked earlier if there was any player he would like to meet during the ASG, he mentioned Yadier Molina. Looks like he got his wish - he was standing beside Yadi during the intros. Adam Berry of MLB.com posted an article on Vazquez's All-Star visit.
• The seven homers tonight set the AS record for a single game, breaking the old mark of six from 1971; it's been that kinda season. Then they added three more in the 10th, inviting questions about the balls being juiced. The two squads also combined for 25 strikeouts and nine walks.
• Amazing stat: after 88 ASGs going into tonight, the record is 43-43-2, with both sides scoring 361 runs. (s/o to Fox Sports)
• Asher Feltman of MLB Prospects checks the return value of the Cole/Cutch trades to date; he's not too impressed.
• If you were wondering, S-Rod is 9-of-36 (.250) at Indy with two homers, eight walks and 16 K.
• SS Manny Machado is paperwork/physicals away from joining the Dodgers. Prospect OF Yusniel Diaz is part of the return; the rest of the deal is still TBA.