NL wins home field advantage...

A lot of things were at stake in last night's All-Star game  at Chase Field in Arizona between the National League and American League All-Stars. Not only did the players want to play well for their respective teams, but a win for one league would mean that league would have home field advantage throughout the World Series. Going into the top of the fourth inning, it seemed to me that this game might be low scoring, and a quick game. Which would mean for me an early night around 10.

But little did I know that homeruns would be the outcome of this game, as the NL had one more homer than the AL. National League out homered the AL to capture the 5-1 win. So back to the top of the fourth, with one of Philadelphia Phillies aces on the mound, Cliff Lee figured for a strikeout. But Boston Red Sox Adrian Gonzalez figured different as he belted a solo homer. Except for last year, the AL has dominated the All-Star game winning 13 out of 14. I knew how much power the AL had in their lineup, and even though the NL pitching was better, I figured that the hitting would be dominant. So as I started to get ready for bed in the bottom half of the inning, with two on, and Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder at the plate, there it goes. With the swing of the bat, NL up 3-1 as Fielder hits it to left center hitting the top of the wall and bouncing over. And that's all they would need, as they added two more runs to win their second All-Star classic in a row.

On the Atlanta Braves front, the three Braves pitchers were flawless, pitching 2 2/3 inning. Jair Jurrjens, Craig Kimbrell, and Jonny Venters represented Atlanta well. Starting catcher Brian McCann caught a good two inning, and with his only at-bat flied out to right in foul territory.

The Braves are only 3 1/2 games behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East. Even if the Phillies win the division, Braves could go as a Wild Card, then anything could happen. And home field advantage would be ours, which would be huge. There's 82 games left to play in the regular season, lets make it happen guys. The Braves are off for the next two days, then start a three game series Friday night at Turner Field. Game set for 7:35 pm est.