AL Takes Midsummer Classic

CLEVELAND: Sandy Alomar and Edgar Martinez came around with their bats last night to lift the American League to a 3 to 1 victory over the National League in the All-Star game. The win ends the AL's three-game losing streak in the midsummer classic and cuts its series deficit to 40 to 27 and 1. The AL jumped out to an early lead in the second after Seattle's Martinez strong-armed a Greg Maddux fastball into the left-field seats. Atlanta's Javy Lopez tied the score in the seventh with a monster shot which almost cleared the left-field foul pole. But the solo slam wasn't enough. In the bottom of the seventh, Alomar took San Francisco's Shawn Estes downtown with a two run shot which put the AL up for good. The homer, the first by an All-Star player in his hometown since Hank Aaron hit one in Atlanta in 1972, earned Alomar MVP honors. Kansas City's Jose Rosado earned the win and Yankee closer Mariano Rivera came through with yet another save.