Tigers shine as American League shuts out National League, 3-0

Miguel Cabrera scored the first run of the game and the American League pitching staff, managed by Detroit's own Jim Leyland, took it from there for a 3-0 shutout win over the National League in the 84th All-Star Game at Citi Field in Flushing, New York.

Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer started the game off by retiring the side in order in the 1st inning, which would be his only inning of play. N.Y. Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, in his ninth and final All-Star appearance, blanked the NL in the 8th inning and became the only reliever in MLB to ever win the All-Star MVP.

Prince Fielder got his first at-bat in the 9th inning and knocked it in for his first triple since May 31st of last season. As for the other Tigers, Jhonny Peralta entered the game in the bottom 7th inning, Torii Hunter grounded into a double play after pinch-hitting for L.A. Angels' Mike Trout, and Justin Verlander stood with his AL teammates enjoying the show.

With the American League having home-field advantage in this year's World Series, the Tigers will now focus on being in the top five of the league when the season's over. Currently, Detroit (52-42) has a game & a half lead in the AL Central division. In front of them are division leaders Boston (East: 58-39) and Oakland (West: 56-39) while Tampa Bay (55-41) & Texas (54-41) hold the wild card spots. Meanwhile in the National League, the top five teams are St. Louis (Central: 57-36), Atlanta (East: 54-41), Arizona (West: 50-45), Pittsburgh (56-37), and Cincinnati (53-42).

The Tigers will open up the 2nd half of the season with a 7-game road trip, starting this Friday night when they face the Royals in Kansas City at 8 pm.