Derek McDermott Powers NL to Win in Extra-Innings All-Star Game Classic

By KYLE KEOUGH
Double Day Daily

In the midst of a star-studded affair, a forgotten man shown brightest.

Chicago Whales Catcher Derek McDermott, coming off a forgottable two-homer performance in the Home Run Derby, made the most of his third career All-Star Game with a 2-for-3, 3-RBI perforance to lead the NL All-Stars over the AL in a game filled with big innings, timely hitting, and late-game heroics.

McDermott, who had been chastized for his last-place finish in the Derby the previous night, made good by setting the pace for the NL All-Stars with a line-drive single in the first inning to put the National League up 1-0. AL starter Cory Glynn's struggles, however, seemed miniscule in comparison to Rafael Pena's uncharacteristic collapse.

Pena, the man pegged as a frontrunner for the NL Cy Young, made it out of trouble in the first inning but wasn't so lucky in the second. AL 1B Oswaldo Navarro and LF Philip Maxwell started the inning off with a pair of singles, and with runners on the corners, Juan Contreras tied things up with a single that scored Navarro.

At the outset, the AL refused to let up.

Timothy Simpson brought both Phil Maxwell and pinch-runner Justin Dodd in on a weak blooper to right field, and Spike Logan added two more runs to the scoreboard with Gary Mann in to pitch for Pena.

The AL would add another run in the third, and after four frames led 6-1.

Then, with a slew of substitutes, the NL crawled back with a potent fifth-inning rally. Robert Robinson and All-Star Game Most Valuable Player McDermott each had two RBIs, and the NL All-Stars pulled within one run, with the score after five at 6-5.

It was thanks to heroics from Juan Ibanez and Keith Lee that NL pulled back into a tie with the AL in the eighth inning. With top closer Christopher Champion in, both Ibanez and Lee hammered the AL reliever with solo homers. For Champion, who has allowed only 18 home runs over the course of his career, the home runs were indeed uncharacteristic.

Three-time All-Star Pete Relaford arguably had the biggest hit in All-Star Game history in the tenth frame, a ground-rule double with one out that put the National League ahead 9-7. To close it out, Scot Raines of the Tampa Bay Seminoles pitched the game's final two outs.

On the heels of an outstanding one-inning effort, San Diego Electrics pitcher Bartolo Mota earned the win for the National League.