American League Extends All-Star Dominance, Defeats National League 4-0
- John Nielsen
- Jul 15
- 3 min read
by John Nielsen
July 15, 2026
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The 96th Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and the American League continued its recent dominance with a 4-0 victory over the National League. The win marked the AL's 11th victory in the past 13 All-Star Games, with two Yankees playing pivotal roles in the decisive first inning.
The American League loaded the bases with two outs in the opening inning as Yordan Alvarez singled and both Shea Langeliers and Bobby Witt, Jr. drew walks. Facing National League starter Christopher Sánchez (0-1), Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger—starting in right field in place of the injured Aaron Judge, who had been voted into the lineup by the fans—grounded a hard-hit 2-2 pitch into center field to score two runs.
Ben Rice, making his first All-Star Game appearance and starting at first base, followed with an RBI single to nearly the same spot in center, giving the American League an early 3-0 lead.
That proved to be more than enough offense.
American League starter Dylan Cease (1-0) walked one batter before striking out the side in the first inning. He was followed by 10 American League relievers, who combined to allow just three hits and one walk while striking out 12 National League hitters. The National League's three hits tied for the second fewest ever recorded by one team in an All-Star Game.
Bellinger finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs, earning the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award. He became the fourth Yankee to win the honor, joining Derek Jeter (2000), Mariano Rivera (2013), and Giancarlo Stanton (2022).
Rice went 1-for-2 in his All-Star debut. He entered the starting lineup after the fan-selected first baseman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., declined to participate because of a lower back injury, choosing to use the break to recover. Nick Kurtz, the next player in line to start, was placed on the injured list last week, opening the door for Rice's first All-Star start.
Judge, meanwhile, remained sidelined by injury. Yankees ace Cam Schlittler, who entered the break leading the American League with a 2.06 ERA, was the only AL All-Star who dressed but did not appear in the game. After throwing 99 pitches over 6 2/3 innings in Saturday's victory over Washington, Schlittler acknowledged before the game that he would pitch only if needed.
"If they need me to throw, I'm going to throw. I'll leave it at that," Schlittler said.
The call never came, leaving the right-hander well rested for this weekend's series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
Challenging Stretch Awaits
As the Yankees return from the All-Star break, they enter what may be the most demanding portion of their schedule.
Their next 22 games feature a string of opponents with winning records, including home series against the Dodgers (61-36), Pirates (50-47), Cardinals (50-45), and Braves (55-40), along with road trips to face the Phillies (54-43), White Sox (50-45), and Cubs (54-42).
The next opponent currently below .500 is Seattle (48-49), which visits Yankee Stadium Aug. 12-14 and could easily climb above the break-even mark before then.
With Aaron Judge expected to remain sidelined at least until late August, this part of the schedule could be determinative for the Yankees' fortunes in the 2026 season.
Yankee Bullpen a Strength?
For much of the season, the Yankee bullpen had been viewed as inconsistent at best. In recent weeks, however, the unit has quietly turned things around and now owns the best bullpen ERA in the American League at 3.06.
Despite those impressive numbers, the perception remains that the bullpen is a potential weakness and that the Yankees should add one or two relievers before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. That outstanding ERA—and the bullpen's overall depth—will be put to the test during the Yankees' upcoming stretch against some of baseball's top teams.
For now, though, credit is due to four Yankees relievers who have provided consistent, dependable performances:
RELIEVER ERA WHIP IP (W-L) SV
David Bednar 2.70 1.10 40.0 (3-3) 18
Brent Headrick 1.55 1.19 46.1 (5-1) 0
Fernando Cruz 2.25 1.22 40.0 (4-3) 1
Paul Blackburn 2.22 1.09 48.2 (2-1) 1
Yovanny Cruz (ERA 0.00), Yerry de Los Santos (ERA 1.04), Angel Chivilli (ERA 1.17), have each been making quiet, positive contributions shuttling back and forth between Triple A and the Bronx.
Swinging from that position would probably result in a lot of foul balls. Also, replacing home plate with a pitching rubber would result in a lot more called strikes (though this one looks like maybe it was chopped in half, as I'm guessing Belli's foot isn't two-feet long; in that case, it'll be a lot more walks). Probably not a good idea all around.
Yes, I make fun of AI slop, but on a much more serious note, let's remember that somewhere it stole images and/or art without paying the human creator for it. And that's before we get to the energy costs and environmental effects of LLM data centers. I respectfully urge the writers and editors here (some …
Does Bradley Hanner (1.99 ERA in AAA) get added or will her exercise his opt out today?
The biggest bullpen issues at this point are Jake Bird, Camilo Doval & Tim Hill. With Will Brian now in AAA, and with Hanner no longer in the AAA pen, Ben Grable or Trent Sellers will get promoted. Brian is a lefty reliever & I'm gonna assume Grable gets the promotion. Now, while those guys don't have to be added at the trade deadline, but the more AAA outings they have between then & now could determine if one or both of them could be possible answers. Their deadline is Augst 31. Oh, and I'd pitch them literally every other day, as allo…
Not exactly a time capsule game. Great to see yanks contribute. Not too sure what happened with the great Patty Labelle. Big decisions loom over next 3 weeks. The two biggest acquisitions will be judge and fried!