All-Star recap

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Here's a recap of the last two days at the All-Star Game in Milwaukee:

Home Run Derby:

AL: Denny Moss (Sea), Wilton Petrick (Bos), Julio Diaz (Buf), Trever Russell (Bos)
NL: Monte Duvall (Hou), Nate Cox (Sal), Osvaldo Johnson (Chi), Calvin Chang (SJu)

Round 1

Round 1 was highlighted by Duvall's back-to-back monster shots (487 feet and 512 feet)- he tied Denny Moss for first with 10. Nate Cox hit 8 to put himself safely into round 2. The drama came as Johnson and Petrick both finished with 7 to tie for the last spot, necessitating a sudden death swing-off. After both hitters homered on their first overtime swing and missed on their second, Petrick homered to left-center to put himself into round 2, leaving Johnson, Chang, Diaz, and Russell behind.

Round 2

Round 2 was the Denny Moss show. He hit 5 homers on his first 5 swings, then closed the show with a towering 528 foot shot to rightfield. This capped a Josh Hamilton-like performance in which he hit a total of 17 for the round. His 27 homers for the two rounds combined easily put him into the finals. Duvall hit 9, as did Cox, but Duvall's total of 19 trumped Cox's 17, so Monte went on the the finals against Moss.

Finals

Duvall and Moss may have both tired themselves out in the previous rounds. Duvall managed 5 homers (two of them massive shots), but Moss only could manage 4. So the story of the Derby was Moss's second round, but Duvall took home the title.


All-Star Game

Seattle's Junior Bennett and Fargo's Javier Henriquez drew the starting assignments for the game. Things looked good early for the National League, as a 2nd inning Calvin Chang (San Juan) home run gave the NL a 2-0 lead. But it was all AL after that, as a 6-run outburst in the 5th was the death blow for the National Leaguers. Amp Palmer (Louisville) led off with a solo shot to tie the game at 2, then RBI singles from Luis Martinez (Milwaukee), James Dixon (Anaheim), Kevin Kim (Helena, 2-run single), and Steven O'Malley (Louisville) blew the game wide open. The American League finished with a 9-3 win. Daryl Cashman (Boston) got the win; Lonny Gates (Houston) wound up with the loss. Louisville's Ernest Montgomery also homered and was named the game's MVP.