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The 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 87th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The game was hosted by the San Diego Padres and was played at Petco Park on July 12, 2016. It was televised nationally on Fox. The American League All-Stars defeated the National League All-Stars by a score of 4–2 to win home field advantage for the 2016 World Series.
Contents
The host city was announced on January 15, 2015 by then-Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. This was the third time the city of San Diego hosted the All-Star Game and the first time since 1992.
Eric Hosmer, an infielder for the Kansas City Royals, was named the 2016 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.
Host selection
The Baltimore Orioles were also in line for hosting the game. Former Commissioner Bud Selig said that Baltimore was a prime candidate to host the event, but the Padres ended up with the game. Petco Park opened in 2004 and hosted the 2006 World Baseball Classic championship round. Because National League parks had been selected to host four straight games from 2015–2018, skipping an American League park in 2016 & 2018 in the traditional alternating system, the AL team was designated as the home team.
Starters
Balloting for the 2016 All-Star Game starters began online April 24 and ended on June 30. The top vote-getters at each position (including the designated hitter for the American League) and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 5. Salvador Pérez was the leading vote-getter with 4,965,838 votes.
Final roster spot
After the rosters are finalized, a second ballot of five players per league was created for the All-Star Final Vote to determine the 34th and final player of each roster. The online balloting was conducted from July 5 through July 8. The winners of the All-Star Final Vote were Michael Saunders of the American League's Toronto Blue Jays and Brandon Belt of the National League's San Francisco Giants.
Game summary
The NL got off to a quick start against Chris Sale when Kris Bryant homered in the top of the first to give the NL a 1–0 lead. In the bottom of the second inning, the AL got to Johnny Cueto when Eric Hosmer homered to left to tie the game. Two batters later, Salvador Pérez hit a two-run shot to give the AL a 3–1 lead.
In the bottom of the third, after walking, David Ortiz was replaced by Edwin Encarnación and left the field to a standing ovation in his final all-star game. The AL would tack on another run in this inning when Hosmer hit an RBI single off José Fernández, driving in Encarnacion to give the AL a 4–1 lead. The NL shrunk the lead with an RBI single by Marcell Ozuna in the top of the fourth off Aaron Sanchez. However, this would be all the runs scored in the game, as the National League stranded 10 baserunners throughout the game.
In the top of the eighth, the NL loaded the bases, but could not capitalize when Aledmys Díaz struck out looking against Will Harris to end the frame. In the ninth, Zach Britton got Nolan Arenado to ground into a double play to secure the 4–2 victory for the American League.
Line score
Umpires: Home Plate – Mike Winters; First Base – Kerwin Danley; Second Base – Marty Foster; Third Base – Bill Welke; Left Field – Adrian Johnson; Right Field – Dan Bellino; Replay Official – Sam Holbrook
Weather: Temperature: 72 °F (22 °C), clear; Wind: 9 mph from left to right
Time of Game: 3:05
Attendance: 42,386
Controversies
Prior to the game, The Tenors performed the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada". As in many previous years, the performance of the Canadian anthem was scheduled for a commercial break of the Fox broadcast in the U.S. prior to the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", but it was carried in Canada on Sportsnet.
During a solo, group member Remigio Pereira altered the lyrics to "O Canada" to reference the Black Lives Matter movement, singing "We're all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great". The English lyric normally sung at that point is "With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free;" however the remainder of the lyrics sung were in keeping with the official bilingual (English-French) version. Later that evening, Pereira, a co-founder of the group, was denounced by the group as a "lone wolf", leading to an announcement that he would not be performing with The Tenors until further notice.