Recapping the Royals in the MLB All-Star Game

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

If you didn’t tune in to the MLB All-Star Game last night, you missed quite a bit of action. The broadcast honored Derek Jeter. Then Adam Wainwright honored Derek Jeter. Then Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera happened. Later on, Wainwright kind of dishonored Jeter. Then he honored Jeter again. It was a fun time.

Of course, those weren’t the only things that happened. Three Royals players were elected to the game, and two of them participated. Salvador Perez started for the American League, and played 4 defensive innings. He caught a popup that seemed to displease Carlos Gomez quite a bit, and nearly threw out Andrew McCutchen stealing third base.

Perez only had one plate appearance, though, and in that plate appearance, he had to face Clayton Kershaw. I suppose it is a game full of the sport’s biggest stars, but I’m guessing Perez would’ve preferred facing someone else in his only at-bat. He grounded out to third on a nice play from Aramis Ramirez.

Alex Gordon wasn’t able to play, but he was able to relax in the social media room at the stadium.

No word on if he was watching the game or if he was catching up on the latest season of The Bachelorette.

As far as the Royals were concerned last night, Greg Holland was the star. He pitched the 7th inning, and while that’s not his role, Holland did not spontaneously combust. He retired Josh Harrison on a fly ball, then struck out Charlie Blackmon with his signature slider, and completed his perfect inning by inducing a groundout from Hunter Pence. Holland was his usual dominant self, although the television broadcast was more focused on the interview with John Farrell, so not as much attention was paid to the best closer in the league.

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All in all, it was a pretty good night for the Royals. They didn’t lose any ground in the standings, and thanks to a couple of Cardinals’ pitchers, the Royals have locked up home field advantage for the World Series. I’d call that a win.

One disappointing thing about the game I wanted to mention, though, was the lack of a tribute to Tony Gwynn and/or Don Zimmer. I understand they wanted to honor Jeter in his last midsummer classic, but all the broadcast had to do was switch one of those Jeter spots, or a couple of the – literally – 100 mentions of Jeter, to a quick note on Gwynn and Zimmer, two men who were legends in the game of baseball, and who had a huge impact on many players there. MLB and FOX both dropped the ball.

Still, last night’s All-Star Game was an entertaining one, and the Royals who played represented themselves well. Now Perez, Gordon, and Holland can return to the team and get rested up before beginning yet another crucial part of the schedule, starting Friday night against the Red Sox.