The American League All-Stars won the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday night, beating the National League All-Stars 5-3 behind Juan Soto and Jarren Duran.
It was pure teamwork, though: of the nine pitchers that saw action for the AL All-Stars, eight held the National League scoreless.
Only Tanner Houck allowed some damage, in the form of a three-run home run by Shohei Ohtani.
One of the eight pitchers who kept the NL off the scoreboard was, of course, Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase.
In typical fashion, he was given the ninth inning in a save opportunity.
Suffice it to say, he took advantage of the chance and nailed his second career All-Star save.
“Emmanuel Clase’s All-Star Game career: 2 innings, 1 tiny little hit, 0 runs, 5 strikeouts, 2 saves,” Guardians insider Zack Meisel tweeted right after the game.
Emmanuel Clase’s All-Star Game career:
2 innings
1 tiny little hit
0 runs
5 strikeouts
2 saves— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) July 17, 2024
On Tuesday, Clase faced four hitters.
He struck out Pete Alonso and Bryan Reynolds, conceded an infield single to Jackson Merrill, and got Elly De La Cruz to ground out.
If we add that up to what he did in 2022 (a clean inning with three strikeouts and another save), you could say Clase is starting to stand up even among the game’s brightest stars.
He has been absolutely fantastic this season for Cleveland, accumulating 28 saves with a career-best 0.81 ERA in 44.1 innings of work, striking out 39 hitters against just five walks.
He is just too hard to hit, and opposing batters have no answer for his combination of velocity, movement and control.,
Clase is in a tier of his own when it comes to MLB closers.
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