Yankee All-Stars and AL pitchers power a SHUTOUT WIN in the 2026 All-Star Game!

Baker throws. And a big bouncer. Wait for it to come down. And the American League has pitched the first shutout in the All-Star Game in 14 years. From MOP.com, this is the Morning Lineup Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Monaghan. Today is Wednesday, July 15th, and entering last night's All-Star Game, the American League has owned the National League of Late. That did not change. And a seemingly easy 4-0 win, the first All-Star shutout in 13 years. We'll run through some of the top moments from the contest and all the other news from Tuesday, all in less than 10 minutes. Let's go. A pair of yanks get the All-Star scoring started in America's special year. Americans, for most of their 250 years as a country, have been referred to as many things. Rebels, revolutionaries, cheesesteak-eating monsters. But the most popular has to be, and has been, yankees, or yanks. Fittingly enough, in the All-Star Game in America's 250th year, two guys from that team got the scoring started. With the bases lowered in the first inning on two walks and a hit by Jordan Alvarez, Cody Bellinger delivered. Ben Rice, next up to the plate, added another RBI single up the middle to make it 3-0 American League after 1. A hot star for the AL, who had won 10 of the last 12 Midsummer Classics going into this one. Dylan Cease and the AL pitchers absolutely dominated. People thought John Snyder was playing favorites when he chose to star Blue Jays hurler Dylan Cease in the All-Star Game. He wasn't playing favorites. He was just starring the best pitcher on the field. Cease joined Brad Penny, Pedro Martinez, Dave Steeve, Jim Palmer, Warren Spahn, and Carl Hubbell as the only pitchers to strike out three batters in the first inning of an All-Star Game. After that, AL pitchers pretty much just kept doing the same thing. Eleven pitchers struck out 15 batters, giving up just three hits, that's tied for the second fewest ever, and zero runs. Hitting is hard. Hitting against the best pitchers in the world? Even harder. This was a scary moment for Junior Caminero. In the top of the third inning, with the score still 3-0 AL, Junior Caminero stepped up to the plate, and the Cardinals' Riley O'Brien got one a little bit too high, and a little bit too inside. Yes, a hit-by-pitch is not something you want to see happen in an exhibition. Caminero was hit in the hand, and dropped down to the ground before jogging off the field. Miguel Vargas came in to replace him. X-rays were, fortunately, negative, and the city of Tampa Bay took a collective sigh of relief. The movie moment that will make you wonderfully nostalgic. You know that scene in the sandlot when Benny, Ham Porter, Smalls, and the rest of the gang bike out to the field to play baseball under a firework show on July 4th? Well, before the fifth inning on Tuesday, that kind of happened at Citizens Bank Park. Video boards showed kids biking through the city, and then they arrived at the actual Citizens Bank field. Fireworks went off, players came out to stand with the kids, and Ray Charles' gorgeous rendition of America the Beautiful took all of us back to that scene that we've always dreamed of being a part of. Go check out the full video on MLB's social accounts when you have time. It's worth the 5-minute watch. A home run with a fantastic mic'd up reaction. After pretty much zero offense for 7 innings, the White Sox's Miguel Vargas, playing in his first All-Star game ever, stepped up to the plate in the top of the 8th inning. And, well, he got a hold of one. Just listen to a mic'd up Pete Crowe Armstrong's reaction from center field. I haven't spoken in months about it, but that was to end the game on a, oh God. Vargas, the first time All-Star, one of the biggest surprises, the biggest surprise in this sport. I mean, Chicago White Sox tees off and makes it 4-0. 433 feet to the upper deck at Citizens Bank Park, up where Junior Caminero and Wilson Contreras were hitting balls the night before in the home run derby. The Dinger gave the AL a 4-0 lead, plenty enough with the way their pitchers were going all night long. Tell me what it felt like running around the bases after that home run. You know, I don't have a word to describe that moment, man. You know, I kind of feel like when I made my debut kind of moment, you know. It's an unbelievable experience. I have no word for describe, but, you know, I'm glad to be here and, you know, being around all these superstars and, you know, spend the time today here. A ground ball single wins the MVP award. If they could give the MVP award to the entire AL pitching staff, they probably would. But there just aren't enough trophies. We need more trophies. So Cody Bellinger, after his ground ball single in the first inning to score two runs, won the MVP award. He was the fourth Yankee all-time to take home the hardware, joining Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Giancarlo Stanton. Yankee fans, they really do have it all, don't they? Coming up, a preview of some big, fun, fantastic series coming up later this weekend. That's after the break. Probably the best series to watch this weekend, Yankees-Dodgers, two of the best teams currently in the sport, two of the best teams historically in the sport, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Rookie Betts, Justin Wroblewski, Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler, Cody Bellinger. Is that enough stars for you? The Dodgers and Yankees will play in a three-game set starting Friday on MLB Network at 7.05 p.m. Eastern, a rematch of the 2024 World Series, and will finish up on NBC's Sunday night game. The break can seem long, but this one will be worth the wait. A Rays-Red Sox doubleheader. The first game at 1.35 p.m. Eastern, the second at 7.10 p.m. Eastern on Friday. Boston is the hottest team in baseball right now, winners of nine in a row. There's still 10 games back in the ALEs to the Rays, but could they continue winning and win four more in a row to get to just six games back? Tampa's pitching has devastated hitters, and their offensive stars like Junior Camanero and Yandy Diaz have shined at the plate. I guess you'll have to watch to find out what happens. Finally, how about some Marlins Brewers action? Anybody? Miami has been the surprise of the season so far, closing out the last couple months before the break as the best team in baseball. But coming right out of All-Star, they'll face off against the Brewers. Pat Murphy's team is once again atop the NL Central. Can the Marlins keep their magic going? They're just four games back in the NL East and have a wild card spot if the season ended today. Is this the year of the fish? Will the second half smell like fish? I don't know. It might. That's all for today's morning lineup. We will be on hiatus with no podcasts tomorrow or Friday. Feel free to call me and I can deliver any baseball news directly to you over the phone. Don't actually do that though. I will be back on Monday to get you going on the second half of the season. And please, don't forget to leave us a rating and a review, share this episode with the baseball lovers in your life, and enjoy your week.