Cease, bullpen combine on 3-hitter
in AL's 4-0 win, first All-Star shutout since 2013
[July 15, 2026]
By RONALD BLUM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dylan Cease started a parade of pitchers that
shut down a slew of baseball's best batters in a display of the
pitching dominance that rules the sport.
“I thought before the game about starting with a changeup and I
thought it would be funny," he said.
He didn't. And the hitters were not laughing.
Cease struck out the side in the first inning, combining with 10
relievers on a three-hitter that led the American League over the
National League 4-0 in Tuesday night's All-Star Game.
Cease fanned Kyle Schwarber, Juan Soto and CJ Abrams around a walk
in the first inning, when he got six misses among 15 swings. He
became just the seventh pitcher to strike out three in an All-Star
opening inning after Carl Hubbell (1934), Warren Spahn (1949), Jim
Palmer (1977), Dave Stieb (1983), Pedro Martinez (1999) and Brad
Penny (2006) — four of them Hall of Famers.
After speaking with Justin Verlander, the senior AL All-Star, Cease
gave up the idea of starting with a changeup and instead threw
Schwarber a 96.9 mph four-seamer.
“Verlander talked me out of it," Cease said. “So we started with the
heater and then I was glad we did.”
Pitchers struck out 27, a record for a nine-inning All-Star Game, 15
of them by AL hurlers.
“That’s the game now. Guys’ stuff is unbelievable,” said AL manager
John Schneider, also Cease's skipper in Toronto. “I think the
bullpen guys kind fed off of it. They were all excited coming off
the mound. It speaks volumes to how good the pitching is, for sure.”
All-Star MVP Cody Bellinger hit a two-run single and Ben Rice
followed with an RBI single in the first against Cristopher Sánchez
of the host Philadelphia Phillies.
Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox added an eighth-inning home
run off the Los Angeles Dodgers' Justin Wrobleski, who was pitching
on his 26th birthday, for the game's only extra-base hit. The AL won
for the 18th time in 23 games and holds a 49-45-2 advantage overall.
“The pitching was just dominant today,” Bellinger said.
Singles by Soto in the fourth, Pete Crow-Armstrong in the eighth and
Otto Lopez in the ninth were the only hits by the NL, which failed
to advance a runner past first.
Parker Messick, Michael Wacha, Joe Ryan, Nick Martinez, Cade Smith,
Drew Rasmussen, Jacob Latz, Louis Varland, Aroldis Chapman and Bryan
Baker finished the 10th All-Star shutout and first since the AL’s
2-0 win in 2013 at New York’s Citi Field.
Some starting star power was missing, with Jacob Misoriowski, Paul
Skenes and Shohei Ohtani all unavailable. Just six pitches reached
100 mph, the fewest in an All-Star Game since 2021.
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Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Diaz loses control of the bat in the fifth
inning during the MLB baseball All-Star Game between the American
League and National League, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Philadelphia.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Bellinger and Rice both singled on up sinkers from
Sánchez, who struggled through a 34-pitch inning that included three
hits and two walks.
“It just took me a little time to soak it all in and enjoy it,”
Sánchez said through a translator.
Documenting the day
Managers and starters entered through replica Liberty Bells in front
of each dugout, walked to home plate and used a feathered quill to
sign an oversized lineup card, as if they were Founding Fathers
affixing names to the Declaration of Independence. MLB donated the
card to the Hall of Fame.
Dirt around the plate was surrounded by 13 stars, one for each of
the Colonies.
After the fourth inning, a video was played of kids bicycling to a
sandlot game with a narration by Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons.
As footage was played of Ray Charles singing “America the Beautiful”
at Game 2 of the 2001 World Series, the kids biked onto the field
and started interacting with the All-Stars as fireworks went off
above the ballpark.
“We were all one of those kids," NL manager Dave Roberts of the
Dodgers said. "Some of these kids might never get a chance to be on
a major league field. So for them to have that opportunity to be —
have a conversation with an All-Star is something that they might
never get that chance again, right?
Bellinger thought back to his youth.
“We’re all little kids at heart playing this game even though it’s a
challenging game," he said. “We’re all still those little kids with
big dreams.”
Early exit
Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero was hit on the outside of his left hand
by a 97.6 mph sinker from St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien in the
third inning and immediately left the game. The 23-year-old, fourth
in the major leagues with 28 home runs, stayed down for a few
moments before he popped up and ran straight into the clubhouse.
X-rays were negative.
Been a while
Mike Trout, a 12-time All-Star who hadn’t played in the game since
2019 because of injuries, went 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
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