Mariners, American League fall to National League in All-Star tiebreaker

ATLANTA – One day after Seattle’s Cal Raleigh stole the show by winning the Home Run Derby, the Mariners had another good – if less spectacular – night on Tuesday in the National League’s tiebreaker victory at Truist Park.

All four Mariners at the game – Raleigh and outfielder Randy Arozarena, and pitchers Bryan Woo and Andrés Muñoz played, with both pitchers not allowing a run in a game that was tied at 6 after nine innings.

Arozarena was one of three American League participants in the swing-off tiebreaker, along with the Athletics’ Brent Rooker and Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda. Arozarena hit one home run on three swings, but Kyle Schwarber and the National League won the tiebreaker 4-3.

Raleigh, who became the first Mariners catcher to start in an All-Star Game, excelled again Tuesday, following up his dramatic derby win in which father Todd pitched and 15-year-old brother Todd Jr. caught.

Raleigh was 1 for 2 Tuesday before coming out in the sixth inning, and his good judgment led to an out in the bottom of the first inning.

The automated balls and strikes (ABS) challenge system, that has been used in the minor leagues, was in place, and Raleigh challenged a 0-2 pitch to Manny Machado that was called a ball.

The replay showed Raleigh was correct, so Machado was out, and the AL retained their two challenges.

Not long after, Raleigh led off the second inning and hit a line drive down the left-field corner that Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker made a sliding catch on to take away a would-be double.

In the fourth inning, he laced a two-out single into the gap in right-center, and decided to stay at first after taking a wide turn around the base,

Woo said Monday that he hoped to pitch while Raleigh was still in the game and he got his wish, entering the game in the bottom of the third and tasked with the tough assignment of facing crowd favorite Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Arizona’s Ketel Marte and the Mets’ Pete Alonso.

No problem. He retired the three in order even though he said he entered after having his worst bullpen session of the year.

Woo struck out Acuña on four pitches, retiring him swinging on a 98 mph fastball.

“It definitely settles you a bit … being able to get a strike out right away,” Woo said, “It kind of calms the nerves a little bit. You can kind of just treat it like a normal game after that.”

Woo then got Marte to ground out to second on his first pitch, then retired Alonso on a soft line out to first base.

Eight pitches and Woo’s night was over.

“You try to keep the game moving, to make sure to have any slow innings,” Woo said. “(Eight pitches) was all we needed.”

Woo said it was special to share the experience with Raleigh.

“It was really cool to be able to do it in both of our first times (in the All-Star Game),” Woo said. “Obviously, (Raleigh) is well deserved of everything he’s done this year, then to cap it off with the derby yesterday and all that stuff.

“For me, it’s just been fun to watch, take a step back and see all the great stuff that he’s doing, but to enjoy it as a duo, and as a team with Randy and (Muñoz) here as well. It has been a ton of fun. I could not have asked for a better experience.”

Mt. Spokane High graduate Drew Rassmussen, representing Tampa Bay, pitched a scoreless fifth inning for the American League.

Muñoz was an All-Star selection last season – as a late replacement for Mariners starter – but did not pitch. This year he was part of the original selection of pitchers and entered the game with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning with a runner on first and one out.

Muñoz walked his first hitter, Arizona’s Corbin Carroll, a Seattle native. He then got Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz to fly out and struck out Miami’s Kyle Stowers to finish off a scoreless two-thirds of an inning.

Arozarena was an All-Star replacement for teammate Julio Rodríguez and was 0 for 3 after entering the game in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Arozarena led off the top of the eighth inning against Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski and flew out to the warning track in center field.

He also struck out to end the top of the ninth after the NL had tied the score.