Not available. Barely have the time to update the page. The thing at the beginning of the game where the players had their kids on the field with them for announcements was cool, though.
ATLANTA (TICKER) — It’s not the first time a Yankee celebrated in Atlanta.
Derek Jeter became the first member of the New York Yankees to earn All-Star Game Most Valuable Player honors, going 3-for-3 with two RBI and overshadowing a strong performance by Atlanta’s Chipper Jones as the American League All-Stars posted a 6-3 triumph over their National League counterparts.
“Taking into consideration all the great players that have been in the Yankee organization, you’d think in the past that one would win,” Jeter said. “But if you’re in a game like this, you have to be in the right place at the right time, and I was very fortunate.
“In due time, when I sit down and get a chance to reflect on it, then you realize how special it is. And I wasn’t aware that no Yankee, no other Yankee, had won this award, and it’s kind of hard to believe.”
Further frustrating the 51,323 in attendance at Turner Field, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera allowed a meaningless run in the ninth to preserve the AL’s fourth straight victory in the series.
Since Turner Field opened in 1997, the Yankees are 6-2 here, including two World Series wins last year.
The 26-year-old Jeter, a cornerstone of the Yankees’ three world championships over the last four years, had a pivotal two-run single off New York Mets lefthander Al Leiter in the fourth. It gave the AL a 3-1 lead which it never surrendered.
“We’ve been watching that ever since (Jeter) came to the big leagues,” National League manager Bobby Cox said. “And somebody in the clubhouse asked me if he was getting better. He was just good when he first came up, so you know why he is here, he’s an All-Star.”
“Derek Jeter is a Yankee,” said Yankees manager Joe Torre, who improved to 3-0 as head of the AL squad. “If there ever was a young kid that even the veteran players looked up to, it’s Derek Jeter. So I think it’s a very proud time for the New York Yankees, because their future did a good thing tonight.”
Jeter’s heroics offset a great night by fan favorite Jones, who also had three hits, including a homer in the third inning off James Baldwin of the Chicago White Sox, who ended up the winning pitcher.
“It was awesome,” Jones said. “I mean, it’s every little boy’s dream. I’ve said it so many times this week, it’s not often that a player gets to play on his home field in an All-Star Game, much less start. To go out there and hit a home run, it was just awesome. I can’t explain it. It was something I’ll never forget.”
Jeter hurt Leiter with a single in a two-run first inning on Friday night in the opener of the “Subway Series” and did so again tonight in a two-run fourth. Kansas City’s Jermaine Dye led off with a walk and Cleveland’s Travis Fryman lined a single past the glove of San Francisco’s Jeff Kent at second.
Mike Sweeney, another first-time All-Star, bounced a potential double-play grounder to shortstop that Cincinnati’s Barry Larkin booted to load the bases. Leiter got Cleveland’s Roberto Alomar to pop out but Jeter looped a single into shallow left-center field for a 3-1 lead.
“The cutter, he throws it every time I face him,” Jeter said. “I try to lay off it. I didn’t hit it well, I just hit it in the right place. He’s a tough pitcher.”
The NL got within 3-2 in the fifth and delighted the crowd in the process. Gary Sheffield opened the inning against Oakland closer Jason Isringhausen with a walk and one out later Jones singled to right field. Braves teammate Andruw Jones, in his first All-Star bat, singled softly into center field to slice the deficit in half.
Isringhausen preserved the lead by retiring Sammy Sosa on a fly to right and, after falling behind former teammate Edgardo Alfonzo, came back to retire the Mets second baseman on a foul popout.
Neither starter factored in the decision as Arizona’s Randy Johnson, who pitched on Sunday, needed just eight pitches to get through a scoreless first inning. AL starter David Wells of Toronto allowed two hits over two innings in his second career All-Star start.
“Pitching on Sunday, I didn’t know how I was going to throw,” Johnson said. “So you can go out there and throw eight pitches, and you have to be pretty pleased about that.”
Preceding the game was a celebration of family as the All-Stars took their positions with their children. With wives along the third-base line, players were introduced with their children at their sides. The biggest ovation was reserved for hometown hero Andres Galarraga, who has overcome non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma to earn a spot on the All-Star team.
Galarraga, named as a starter when St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire pulled out, was greeted with standing ovations when he was announced in the lineup and when he first came to the plate in the second inning. He wiped his eyes and tipped his cap to the crowd before hitting a rocket to left that was caught.
Galarraga earned a final standing ovation after a one-out single in the fourth. He was pulled for pinch-runner Todd Helton and the crowd roared as he left the field.
“No words can explain how happy, how excited I am today,” said Galarraga. “That’s a great moment in my career in baseball. Walking on to the field with my kids, and the ovation they gave to me, my fans here in Atlanta, that’s a really special moment.”
The AL used a three-run ninth against San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman to give Rivera some breathing room. Chicago’s Ray Durham and Boston’s Nomar Garciaparra opened the inning with singles and Minnesota’s Matt Lawton grounded an RBI single to right through a drawn-in infield. Chicago’s Magglio Ordonez lofted a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 lead before an error by Montreal second baseman Jose Vidro scored Lawton.
The NL countered with a run in the bottom of the ninth on Steve Finley’s RBI single but Rivera induced St. Louis’ Edgar Renteria to bounce into a game-ending double play.
Jeter got the first of his three hits in the opening inning, lining a double down the left-field line off Johnson. But the Arizona ace rebounded to retire Williams on a groundout and strike out Giambi.
Jones singled up the middle with one out in the first but Wells got Montreal’s Vladimir Guerrero on a line drive to second before striking out Home Run Derby champion Sosa looking.
“When you get ahead in the count you can throw anything,” Wells said. “If you have command of your pitches, they can’t sit on a certain pitch, and I had a good curveball working.”
The AL pushed across a run in the third against Kevin Brown, taking advantage of a rare bout of wildness by the Dodgers’ ace.
Pinch-hitter Mike Bordick of Baltimore was retired on a long fly ball to center field that Jim Edmonds of St. Louis ran down. Alomar walked and Jeter singled before Williams’ grounder forced Alomar at third. But Brown lost the plate, issuing consecutive free passes to Giambi and Boston’s Carl Everett to force home a run.
Brown had not issued a walk in his previous 3 2/3 All-Star innings before losing the plate tonight.
The NL got even in the bottom of the third on Jones’ first career All-Star homer. Jones became the 33rd player to record three hits in an All-Star Game, one inning after Jeter became the 32nd player to accomplish the feat.
Leiter took the loss for the NL, which still holds a 40-30-1 lead in the all-time series, which began in 1933.