NEW YORK | No place puts on a show like Broadway; and the pre-game pageantry Tuesday night turned the 79th All-Star Game at baseball’s highest cathedral into every fan’s field of dreams.</p><p> Then it got better. And better. And wouldn’t stop. The teams battled past midnight and into Wednesday. And still more.</p><p> It was almost as if Yankee Stadium refused to say goodbye.</p><p> The American League won, again — finally — when Texas shortstop Michael Young delivered a one-out sacrifice fly in the 15th inning for a 4-3 victory.</p><p> Young’s drive against Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge was just deep enough for slow-footed Justin Morneau of the Twins to beat the throw of Milwaukee’s Corey Hart to the plate.</p><p> The “safe” call of umpire Derryl Cousins came at 1:37 a.m. Eastern time and ended the longest game in All-Star history at 4 hours, 50 minutes. The 15 innings matched the 1967 marathon in Houston as the longest in terms of innings.</p><p> “We need a run,” Boston outfielder J.D. Drew said in summing up the AL mood as the game wore on. “That’s all we need. It would have been nice earlier on, but it worked out.”</p><p> If this turns out to be the last great night in the spotlight for the House That Ruth Built — and the Yankees are currently 5½ games out of a playoff berth _ it can stand as a fitting final hour.</p><p> More than 40 Hall of Famers took part in an extended pre-game ceremony brimming with emotional nostalgia and spiced heavily by Yankees tradition.</p><p> “A lot of guys, a lot of history,” Toronto pitcher Roy Halladay marveled. “Being able to be on the field with those guys is an honor. I felt like a kid in a candy store.”</p><p> Both teams used all 32 players on their rosters.</p><p> The AL extended its unbeaten streak to 12 years — 11 victories and one tie — and has now narrowed the NL’s once-formidable lead to 40-37-2. The victory ensures the AL champion will enjoy homefield advantage in the World Series for a seventh straight year.</p><p> Morneau began the winning rally with a leadoff single to center against Lidge.</p><p> Left fielder Ryan Ludwick of the Cardinals took away a single from Texas’ Ian Kinsler by making a diving catch, but Dioner Navarro of the Rays served a single into center.</p><p> Morneau stopped at second.</p><p> Lidge loaded the bases by walking Drew, whose two-run homer erased a 2-0 deficit in the seventh inning. Drew was later chosen as the game’s most valuable player.</p><p> Young lofted a first-pitch fastball to medium right. Hart made the catch and strong throw to the plate, but Morneau slid around the tag of Braves catcher Brian McCann.</p><p> Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir got the victory.</p><p> The AL forced extra innings by erasing deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 in the late going. Both leagues then proceeded to blow a series of opportunities to win the game.</p><p> The best chance belonged to the AL after loading the bases with no outs in the 10th inning against Colorado’s Aaron Cook. Two errors by Florida second baseman Dan Uggla fueled the threat. Uggla also had an error in the 13th inning.</p><p> Cook induced three straight ground balls; the first two resulted in force outs at the plate.</p><p> The AL missed another chance in the 11th inning against Cook when Pittsburgh outfielder Nate McLouth threw out Navarro at the plate.</p><p> Cook credited Royals pitching coach Bob McClure for instilling a no-panic approach when the two were in the Rockies’ minor-league system.</p><p> “Mac always told me to be calm,” Cook said. “Keep your emotions under wraps and make quality pitches.”</p><p> Cook did all three. So did just about every other pitcher as the game lurched through extra innings.