Royals’ Eric Hosmer claims MVP honors as American League wins All-Star Game 4-2

In the moments after the second inning was over, after two baseballs had soared 762 feet into the cool sea air, after the American League had seized control of this All-Star Game, Eric Hosmer bounced around inside the first-base dugout. He clapped his hands three times and nodded his head. He found his manager leaning on a railing near the bat rack.

As the Royals’ first baseman approached Ned Yost, he stuck out a fist and looked toward no one in particular. In this moment — his first All-Star Game, his first opportunity to test himself in the midsummer classic — he could not hide his jubilation.

“We’ve been on a big stage before!” Hosmer said, looking back toward Yost. “We’ve been here before. We’ve been on a stage before!”

The scene was captured by a Fox network microphone and beamed out to the world Tuesday night. The snapshot moment summed up a night for an entire organization. As the sun kissed the skyline in downtown San Diego, the Royals took command of baseball’s midseason showcase, leading the American League to a 4-2 victory in front of a crowd 42,386 at Petco Park.

For Hosmer and Kansas City, the script was nearly perfect, like Yost had sketched it out beforehand. When the night was over, Hosmer and teammate Salvador Perez had crushed homers off former Royal Johnny Cueto, the National League starter. Hosmer became the second Royal to win All-Star Game MVP honors, joining Bo Jackson in 1989. And baseball’s defending champions made sure that home-field advantage in the World Series again belonged to the American League.

When the night was over, Mike Hosmer found himself standing on the infield as Major League Baseball officials hauled out two shimmering cars for the MVP ceremony. When Eric Hosmer was a boy, his father had taught him the game of baseball while taking on grueling shifts as a firefighter and first responder in Miami. Tuesday night, he watched his son finish 2 for 3 with a game-tying solo homer in the second inning and an RBI single in the third.

As the family stood on the field, the MVP award came with a trophy and a choice — a new Chevrolet Camaro or a midnight black Chevy truck. As Eric Hosmer mulled the decision, he looked toward his dad.

“I had no clue there was even a car involved,” Mike Hosmer said afterward, standing in the American League clubhouse. “And he goes: ‘Which one pops?’ I was like, ‘What?’ I just thought it was some advertising.”

Eric Hosmer opted for the truck, a decision that came with some gentle barbs. He joked that he chose the truck so his dad could “stop stealing all my cars.” Mike Hosmer conceded that was partially true.

“He had a Ford-150 Harley Davidson, and he left it home one year, and he never got it back,” Mike Hosmer said, smiling. “I’ve had it ever since. I might need to give that back.”

As Mike Hosmer stood in the clubhouse, his son pushed through a crowd of reporters and headed to his locker, rushing to catch late-night flight. On one side stood Perez, who had appeared in his fourth straight All-Star Game at age 25. On the other stood Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera, who needed just eight pitches to cruise through the sixth inning for the American League.

Everywhere you looked, a Royals All-Star was doing something. Eight months after hoisting the 2015 World Series trophy in New York — and just days after finishing a frustrating first half of the 2016 season at 45-43 — they used Tuesday night’s exhibition as a national encore, vanquishing an old teammate in the process.

“It was crazy,” Herrera said. “I feel so happy for Eric because he’s a hard worker — such a great teammate.”

In the span of minutes in the second inning, Hosmer and Perez each had put a home run into the seats beyond the left-field wall. The blasts came off Cueto, the San Francisco Giants starter and former Royal who left a complicated legacy in Kansas City.

Hosmer pounced first, jumping on a 90-mph cutter with one out in the inning. The baseball exploded off Hosmer’s bat at 100 mph, an opposite-field shot that traveled 389 feet. The homer tied the score at 1. As Hosmer rounded the bases, he became the first Royal to homer in an All-Star Game since Bo Jackson’s iconic leadoff homer in 1989. After waiting 27 years, the next Royals homer came just two batters later.

After Boston’s Mookie Betts singled to center field, Perez unloaded on a 93-mph fastball that stayed up in the strike zone. The ball soared 373 feet, the crack of the bat followed by a dramatic hush from the partisan National League crowd. The American League led 3-1.

“I felt like a proud papa there in the second inning after those two guys gave us the lead,” Yost said after the game.

Moments after his homer, Hosmer stood in the dugout, preparing to be interviewed on Fox’s broadcast. As Fox reporter Ken Rosenthal shared the Jackson trivia, Hosmer watched Perez’s bomb leave the yard.

“We both look up and see Salvy hit one,” Hosmer said. “It couldn’t have worked out any better.”

Hosmer would follow with an RBI single in the third inning off Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez. Cueto would take the loss, allowing three earned runs in 1  2/3 innings.

Nearly 45 minutes after departing the game, Cueto moved through the bowels of Petco Park, stopping in front of a throng of media for a brief postgame interview. A reporter asked Cueto about the significance of allowing homers to Hosmer and Perez, his former teammates in Kansas City. Cueto offered an awkward smile.

“I left two pitches up, and I paid the price,” Cueto said.

Cueto had earned the start after recording a 13-1 record and a 2.47 ERA during the season’s first half. The performance had helped lift San Francisco to the best record in baseball and quieted any lingering concerns after a turbulent stay in Kansas City.

But history is history, of course, and last fall Cueto had been an enigma. He helped the Royals to a championship with dominant outings in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros and Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Mets. Everything else was a borderline debacle.

In 13 regular-season starts for the Royals, Cueto posted a 4-7 record and 4.76 ERA. As his performance waned, he blamed the positioning of Perez’s glove.

In 2016, Cueto located his mojo in San Francisco. In 18 starts during the first half of the season, he had lasted fewer than six innings just twice. On Tuesday, he was tripped up in the second inning, allowing two homers before Terry Collins, the Mets skipper managing the National League, summoned Fernandez.

After the game, Perez was diplomatic.

“He’s a nice guy,” Perez said of Cueto. “I like him a lot. He was a part of the team. He was a World Series champion.”

And yet, the result was still curious: Did the Royals have a good plan for Cueto?

Not really, Hosmer said.

“I just told myself, honestly, with Johnny Cueto, to be ready for the quick pitch,” Hosmer said. “And I was just going to swing and let it loose and have some fun. You know, you really don’t have much of a game plan.”

When the night began, the focus had been on to two people: The late Tony Gwynn, the patron saint of the hometown Padres, and Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who was competing in his final midsummer classic.

In the hours before the first pitch, a throng of bodies and cameras emerged from the first-base dugout in unison, pushing out toward the field. In the middle was Ortiz, preparing to take his spot in the cage during batting practice.

This was Big Papi’s 10th All-Star Game. He has said he will retire when the 2016 season is over. In a tribute, Yost sent Ortiz out to deliver the lineup card to the umpires.

Four hours later, the stage — the big stage — belonged to Hosmer, the talented 26-year-old who now can count an All-Star Game MVP award among his growing list of accolades. As Hosmer changed into slacks and a blazer, his father searched for the easiest way to transport the MVP trophy — a crystal baseball bat — back home.

Last fall, Mike Hosmer and his wife, Illeana, had stood on New York’s Citi Field after the Royals won the World Series. But this? Even this felt different.

“Completely different,” Mike Hosmer said. “You’re surrounded by the best of the best, on both sides. It’s just crazy.”

American League 4

National League 2

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a-reached on error for Zobrist in the 5th. b-flied out for Harper in the 5th. c-out on fielder’s choice for Bryant in the 5th. d-popped out for Bogaerts in the 5th. e-flied out for Myers in the 8th. f-singled for O.Herrera in the 8th. g-struck out for Seager in the 8th.

1-ran for Ortiz in the 3rd.

E: Seager, Altuve. LOB: NL 10, AL 7. 2B: Harper, Myers, Bogaerts. HR: Bryant, off Sale; Hosmer, off Cueto; Perez, off Cueto. RBIs: Bryant, Ozuna, Hosmer 2, Perez 2.

Runners left in scoring position: NL 8 (Bryant 2, Russell, Ramos 2, Arenado, Diaz 2); AL 2 (Lindor 2). RISP: NL 1 for 8; AL 1 for 5. Runners moved up: Donaldson. GIDP: Arenado, Betts. DP: NL 1 (Fernandez, Zobrist, Rizzo); AL 1 (Donaldson, Nunez, Cabrera).

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Holds: Betances (1), Hamels (1), Harris (1), K.Herrera (1), Miller (1), Sanchez (1), Quintana (1). Inherited runners-scored: Fernandez 1-0, Melancon 2-0, Harris 3-0. WP: Betances.

Umpires: Home, Mike Winters; First, Kerwin Danley; Second, Marty Foster; Third, Bill Welke; Right, Dan Bellino; Left, Adrian Johnson. Time: 3:05. Att: 42,386.

This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Royals’ Eric Hosmer claims MVP honors as American League wins All-Star Game 4-2."