2014 MLB All-Star Game: Torch passed as Derek Jeter and Mike Trout star in 5-3 AL victory

On a memorable night in Minnesota, Major League Baseball was treated to a superb All-Star Game as both its oldest and youngest participants highlighted the festivities. Derek Jeter and Mike Trout both had two hits, and the American League ended up on top by the score of 5-3.

Mariners ace Felix Hernandez started the game with a fine top of the first, and Jeter received a roaring ovation from his fellow players and the fans as he stepped in for his first at-bat in the bottom of the first. He laced Adam Wainwright's second pitch the opposite way for a double, and Trout brought him home shortly afterward with a booming triple over Yasiel Puig's head in right. Robinson Cano struck out, but Miguel Cabrera followed with a two-run homer to right to give the AL a decisive 3-0 lead. Although the AL never trailed in this game, the National League put up a fight when AL manager John Farrell oddly decided to yank Felix after just one frame. In came Jon Lester, and in came a couple of NL runs, courtesy of three straight hits in the second--an Aramis Ramirez single and RBI doubles from Chase Utley and Jonathan Lucroy.

Jeter added another hit in the third when he dunked a single to right against the Reds' Alfredo Simon. The Yankees captain was removed from the game in the fourth inning after the FOX commercial break, and he received yet another long round of applause. Jeter ended 14 years of All-Star game play with a crazy .481 batting average (13-for-27). Not bad at all, Cap.

The NL tied it up in the third against Chris Sale when the White Sox lefty grazed Utley with a pitch and again Lucroy belted an RBI double. Had the NL won, the Brewers' catcher would have been a fine choice for All-Star MVP. Too bad, so sad, I suppose. Cardinals lefty Pat Neshek entered in the fifth, and with one out, he surrendered back-to-back singles to Derek Norris and Jeter's replacement, Alexei Ramirez. Trout was due up next and he promptly crushed another RBI extra-base hit. His double to left gave the AL the go-ahead run, and they added a fifth when Jose Altuve brought ALEXEIIIIII home on a sacrifice fly. The AL bullpen (sans Dellin Betances, who did not play and received a day of rest, which I don't hate) shut the NL down the rest of the way, and the final score was 5-3.

The tributes to Jeter were all well and good, but it really is a damn shame that the broadcast couldn't take three seconds to honor another upper echelon Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn. Not a word was spoken about the late Padres great. Alas. MLB could have done a much better job with that.

Although baseball Twitter seemed convinced that Jeter would be named All-Star Game MVP and it apparently would ruin everything, Trout was the true winner for his two-for-three, two RBI, five total base performance. The game certainly had a passing-of-the-torch feel, as the 40-year-old Jeter departed the national stage, and the 22-year-old Trout, who's become an Internet darling and baseball's best player since 2012, has arrived to fans who might not have known him yet. The AL will receive home-field advantage in the World Series by virtue of the victory.

Box score.

PSA Book Giveaway Results

The winner of the predictions contest is PSA member andrewmin, who earned a leading six points by guessing that Jeter would get a hit, that the teams would combine for eight runs, that Trout would be MVP, and that the AL would win. He wins the How the Yankees Explain New York book, so congrats to him! Thanks to everyone for participating!