Dan Connolly

Britton gets save as AL wins All Star Game, 4-2

The Orioles didn’t do much offensively in the 2016 All Star Game, but in the end, Zach Britton and Matt Wieters were shaking hands on the Petco Park mound as the American League won, 4-2.

Britton, who has converted all 27 of his save opportunities in the regular season, came on with a two-run lead and allowed a single up the middle to Washington’s Daniel Murphy to begin the ninth.

But, throwing to his usual battery-mate, Wieters, Britton induced a comebacker from Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt and then a double play off the bat of Colorado’s Nolan Arenado to end the night. He threw 15 pitches, 12 for strikes.

Britton became the first Oriole in 30 years to close out the Midsummer Classic since Don Aase in 1986.

Britton’s bullpen-mate, Brad Brach, did not pitch, but the other three Orioles did appear in the game.

Third baseman Manny Machado started and went hitless in three at-bats, but made a nice play in the field. Wieters struck out in both of his at-bats and Mark Trumbo, playing left field, was 0-for-1, but reached base on an error by Los Angeles Dodgers’ shortstop Corey Seager.

Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer won the MVP Award with a solo homer and a RBI single. The American League, which will get home-field advantage in the World Series, has won four straight All Star Games and 16 of the last 20.

Dan Connolly

Dan Connolly has spent more than two decades as a print journalist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Baltimore native and Calvert Hall graduate first covered the Orioles as a beat writer for the York (Pennsylvania) Daily Record in 2001 before becoming The Baltimore Sun’s national baseball writer/Orioles reporter in 2005. He has won multiple state and national writing awards, including several from the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2013 he was named Maryland Co-Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. And in 2015, he authored his first book, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die." He lives in York, with his wife, Karen, and three children, Alex, Annie, and Grace.

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