The American League All-Stars broke a 4 year losing streak to their National League counterparts by hanging on for a 3-2 win in Kansas City. This marked the 3rd time in the 6 games that a total of 5 runs were scored, but the winning total of 3 is the lowest so far in the series.
Pitching was definitely the name of this game as no one had more than 1 hit. Starters Bert Blyleven and Paul Splittorff only allowed one hit each, although Splittorff allowed 4 walks in his 3 innings of work. The NL threatened in both the 2nd and 3rd innings but came away with nothing against the KC southpaw, pitching in front of the home crowd. Walks to Perez and Evans started the 2nd but Splittorff got Simmons to hit into a double play before striking out Russell to end the inning. In the 3rd, the NL had men on first and second with one out before Bonds and Stargell struck out. The AL in the meantime could only manage a single by Otis in the first in Blyleven’s 2 innings of work. Dave May pinch hit for Splittorff and got the AL’s second hit of the game but Carew and Otis ground out against Reggie Cleveland to end the inning.
In the fourth, the NL threatened yet again against Jim Palmer. Perez singled, Evans doubled and Simmons walked to load the bases with no one out. Russell forced Perez at home and then a pinch hitter ground into a double play to end the inning. The AL finally broke through in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a Reggie Jackson homer off Don Gullett. For this feat, Jackson was named the game's MVP. The NL got it right back in the fifth, again loading the bases, this time with one out. Tony Perez managed to hit a sacrifice fly to plate a run, but Evans grounded out this time to end the inning. The AL then quickly took the lead back. Bert Campaneris hit a lead off double and scored when Rod Carew grounded a single through the hole with one out. The 6th inning went by quietly as the reserves started making their way into the game.
The NL went 1-2-3 in the 7th and the AL tacked an insurance run on thanks to sloppy play by reserve catcher Fran Healy. Don Kessinger led off with a double and Bill Robinson reached base thanks to 2 errors. First, Healy dropped his foul pop, then Richie Hebner misplayed his grounder. Healy couldn’t handle a Koosman curveball and was charged with a passed ball that allowed Kessinger to score. Koosman was able to retire the next 3 hitters to avoid more trouble. In the 8th, the NL couldn’t take advantage of a 2 out Rusty Staub double, while the AL went down quickly to 3 different pitchers. In the top of the 9th, the NL looked out of it as the first 2 batters went down quickly and pitcher Mike Marshall stepped into the box. Bob Reynolds fielded his swinging bunt and threw wildly to first, allowing Marshall to get to second base. Nate Colbert singled to drive home Marshall to close the gap to a run. Reynolds then got Al Oliver to ground out to end the game.
Pitchers Mike Caldwell for the NL and Bill Singer of the AL were the only 2 players not to get into the game.
BOXSCORE: 1973 National League All-Stars At 1973 American League All 4/2/1973 All-Stars AB R H RBI AVG All-Stars AB R H RBI AVG P.Rose RF 4 0 0 0 .000 R.Carew 2B 3 0 1 1 .333 T.Seaver P 0 0 0 0 ---- H-D.Nelson 2B 1 0 0 0 .000 D.Giusti P 0 0 0 0 ---- A.Otis CF 3 0 1 0 .333 M.Marshall P 1 1 1 01.000 I-R.Smith CF 1 0 0 0 .000 J.Morgan 2B 1 1 1 01.000 B.Murcer LF 3 0 0 0 .000 M-N.Colbert 1B 2 0 1 1 .500 J-C.Yastrzemski LF 1 0 0 0 .000 B.Bonds CF 3 0 1 0 .333 R.Jackson RF 2 1 1 1 .500 F-A.Oliver CF 2 0 0 0 .000 D-C.Cedeno RF 2 0 0 0 .000 W.Stargell LF 2 0 0 0 .000 J.Mayberry 1B 2 0 1 0 .500 N-T.Foli SS 1 0 0 0 .000 J.Hiller P 0 0 0 0 ---- T.Perez 1B 1 0 1 11.000 R.Fingers P 0 0 0 0 ---- O-F.Healy C 1 0 0 0 .000 T-W.Horton PH 1 0 0 0 .000 D.Evans 3B 2 0 1 0 .500 D.Roberts P 0 0 0 0 ---- A.Messersmith P 0 0 0 0 ---- M.Cuellar P 0 0 0 0 ---- D.Wilson P 0 0 0 0 ---- B.Reynolds P 0 0 0 0 ---- J.Koosman P 0 0 0 0 ---- S.Bando 3B 2 0 0 0 .000 S-R.Staub PH,RF 1 0 1 01.000 D.Medich P 0 0 0 0 ---- T.Simmons C 1 0 0 0 .000 L.Tiant P 0 0 0 0 ---- K-B.Williams PH,LF 2 0 0 0 .000 P-B.Oliver PH,1B 2 0 0 0 .000 B.Russell SS 2 0 0 0 .000 T.Munson C 2 0 0 0 .000 L-T.Fuentes PH,2B 2 0 0 0 .000 Q-D.Porter PH,C 1 0 0 0 .000 B.Blyleven P 0 0 0 0 ---- B.Campaneris SS 2 1 1 0 .500 A-G.Maddox PH 1 0 1 01.000 R-D.Kessinger PH,SS 1 1 1 01.000 R.Cleveland P 0 0 0 0 ---- P.Splittorff P 0 0 0 0 ---- C-R.Garr PH 1 0 0 0 .000 B-D.May PH 1 0 1 01.000 D.Gullett P 0 0 0 0 ---- J.Palmer P 0 0 0 0 ---- G-R.Hebner 3B 2 0 0 0 .000 E-B.Robinson 3B 2 0 0 0 .000 -- -- -- --- -- -- -- --- Totals 32 2 8 2 Totals 32 3 7 2 A-Pinch Hit For Blyleven In 3rd Inning B-Pinch Hit For Splittorff In 3rd Inning C-Pinch Hit For Cleveland In 4th Inning D-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Jackson In 5th Inning E-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Palmer In 5th Inning F-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Bonds In 5th Inning G-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Gullett In 5th Inning H-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Carew In 6th Inning I-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Otis In 6th Inning J-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Murcer In 6th Inning K-Pinch Hit For Simmons In 6th Inning L-Pinch Hit For Russell In 6th Inning M-Subbed Defensively (1B) For Morgan In 6th Inning N-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Stargell In 6th Inning O-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Perez In 6th Inning P-Pinch Hit For Tiant In 6th Inning Q-Pinch Hit For Munson In 6th Inning R-Pinch Hit For Campaneris In 7th Inning S-Pinch Hit For Koosman In 8th Inning T-Pinch Hit For Fingers In 8th Inning NL All-Stars....... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 - 2 8 2 AL All-Stars....... 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 - 3 7 1 NL All-Stars IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET B.Blyleven 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 28 0.00 A1 A7 R.Cleveland 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 0.00 A8 B2 D.Gullett 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 19 9.00 B3 B7 A.Messersmit LOSS(0-1) 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 25 9.00 B8 C3 D.Wilson 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 15 0.00 C4 C7 J.Koosman 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 21 0.00 C8 D3 T.Seaver 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0.00 D4 D4 D.Giusti 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 9 0.00 D5 D5 M.Marshall 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 D6 Totals 8 7 3 2 1 5 1 AL All-Stars IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET P.Splittorff 3 1 0 0 4 5 0 54 0.00 A1 B4 J.Palmer 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 13 0.00 B5 B9 D.Medich WIN(1-0) BS(1st) 1 2 1 1 1 0 0 22 9.00 C1 C6 L.Tiant HOLD(1st) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 9 0.00 C7 C9 J.Hiller HOLD(1st) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 15 0.00 D1 D3 R.Fingers HOLD(1st) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 11 0.00 D4 D7 D.Roberts HOLD(1st) 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 D8 D8 M.Cuellar HOLD(1st) 0 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0.00 D9 D9 B.Reynolds SAVE(1st) 0 1/3 2 1 0 0 0 0 9 0.00 E1 Totals 9 8 2 1 6 10 0 ATTENDANCE- 42,164 DATE- Monday, April 2nd 1973 TIME- Night T- 2:31 LEFT ON BASE- NL All-Stars:10 AL All-Stars: 6 DOUBLE PLAYS- NL All-Stars: 0 AL All-Stars: 2 ERRORS- F.Healy, R.Hebner, B.Reynolds DOUBLES- D.Evans(1st), R.Staub(1st), B.Campaneris(1st), D.Kessinger(1st) HOME RUNS- R.Jackson(1st) STOLEN BASES- J.Mayberry(1st) SACRIFICE FLIES- T.Perez WALKS- J.Morgan-2, W.Stargell, T.Perez, D.Evans, T.Simmons, J.Mayberry STRIKE OUTS- N.Colbert, B.Bonds-2, A.Oliver, W.Stargell-2, T.Foli, B.Russell, R.Hebner-2, A.Otis, C.Cedeno, W.Horton, S.Bando, B.Oliver GIDP- T.Simmons, R.Garr PASSED BALLS- F.Healy One run was the difference at Municipal Stadium as the American League team defeated the National League ballclub 3 to 2. Doc Medich(1-0) pitched in relief and was credited with the victory. He surrendered 2 hits and 1 walk in 1 inning. National League threatened in the 9th but their rally came up short. Bob Reynolds got the save, his 1st. Andy Messersmith(0-1) suffered the loss in relief. He surrendered 2 hits and no walks in 1 inning. SCORESHEET: 1973 National League All-Stars at 1973 American League All-Stars P.Rose-A1 A1:G/63 B1:G/63>1 *5*:G/3 *7*:F/7 E1:Si+E/1 T.Seaver-D8 2 D.Giusti-D8+ J.Morgan-A1 A2:W>b1 B2:W>b1 C2:Si D2:K E2:Si>2# N.Colber-D1 B.Bonds-A1 A3:K B3:K C3:Si>12 D3:K E3:G/43 A.Oliver-C7 W.Starge-A1 A4:K B4:K C4:W>23 1 *8*:K T.Foli-D1 2 b1 T.Perez-A1 *2*:W>b1 *4*:Si C5:SF/7>3 D5:L/5 F.Healy-D1 # D.Evans-A1 A6:W>12 b B6:Do>13 C6:G/43 D6:Do A.Messer-C7 1 D.Wilson-D1+ T.Simmon-A1 A7:G-DP/6 B7:W>b1 *6*:G/13 D7:P/2 B.Willia-C7 43>23 1o B.Russel-A1 A8:K B8:Force/ C8:F/8 *9*:F/9 T.Fuente-C8 42>3o 23 12 b1 B.Blylev-A1 *3*:Si B9:G-DP/6 C9:K D9:K G.Maddox-A9 43>1o R.Clevel-B5+ R.Carew-A1 A1:G/3 B1:G/43>1 C1:Si>2# D1:PB>3# D.Nelson-C4 2 12 F/8 A.Otis-A1 A2:Si B2:G/63 C2:K D2:L/3 R.Smith-C4 B.Murcer-A1 A3:F/9 *4*:G/43 C3:G/31 D3:F/9 C.Yastrz-C4 R.Jackso-A1 A4:G/43 B4:HR>b# *6*:P/3 *8*:K C.Cedeno-B8 J.Mayber-A1 *2*:F/7 B5:Si C5:W>b1 D5:K J.Hiller-C8 R.Finger-D4+ S.Bando-A1 A6:G/63 B6:SB>12 C6:K D6:P/2 D.Medich-B8 K L.Tiant-C4+ T.Munson-A1 A7:F/9 B7:G/23 C7:P/4 D.Porter-C7 B.Campan-A1 *3*:G/31 *5*:Do *7*:Do D.Kessin-C8 P.Splitt-A1 A9:Si B9:P/6 C9:E(foul D.May-A9 )/2 E/5>2 J.Palmer-B3+ 3