Chooch entered in the sixth to catch knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, doing an admirable job with a pitch that’s hard to corral. In the seventh, Ruiz caught his every-fifth-day battery mate Hamels, teaming up for a 1-2-3 inning.
Hamels was bringing the goods, touching 96 on the radar gun. The radar did not seem juiced, either, because Stephen Strasburg was hitting 97, which is normal for him. It took Hamels just 14 pitches to get through the seventh.
Jonathan Papelbon closed out the game, getting the final out as Tony LaRussa elected to use three pitchers to get the final three outs of the game Papelbon got Matt Wieters of the Orioles to fly out to right field.
At the plate, Ruiz finished up 0-for-1 with a flyout to left field.
Notes:
–Mike Trout is just ridiculous. It’s a shame the South Jersey native plays on the west coast, because he’s fun to watch.
-Hat tip to Chipper Jones in his final all star game. The man had a hell of a career and made it hell on the Phillies for many of those 19 seasons with the Braves. Cool moment with his single through the right side.
-If you’d told me before the game that Justin Verlander would give up five runs in the first inning, I’d have slapped you. But it happened.
–Melky Cabrera and Pablo Sandoval go 3-for-5 with 5 RBI. Yeah, you saw that coming, too.
-I’ve driven by Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and it looks very cool from the outside. Also looks like a great place to be on the inside.
