The NL had gone ahead against Papelbon when AL refugee Miguel Tejada of the Astros, formerly of the Orioles and Athletics, dumped an opposite-field single into right field. Papelbon struck out Dan Uggla of the Marlins, but with Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres at the plate, Tejada stole second and continued to third when catcher Dioner Navarro of the Rays threw the ball into center field.
Gonzalez then lifted a fly ball to left deep enough to score Tejada.
There was some grumbling in the ninth when Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez emerged from the AL bullpen. Rodriguez walked the first batter he faced, Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs, but retired Corey Hart of the Brewers on a fly to right.
At last, Francona satisfied the masses, summoning Rivera, who was making his ninth All-Star appearance. With the crowd chanting, "Let's go, Yankees," Rivera fell behind Ryan Ludwick of the Cardinals, 3 and 2, but then in the night's storybook moment, Ludwick swung and missed and Navarro threw out Ramirez to end the inning.
The game was scoreless through the first four innings, the first time since 1990 that neither team had broken through to that point in the game. Cliff Lee of the Indians struck out three in his two-inning start, as did Ben Sheets of the Brewers in his two innings.
Matt Holliday of the Rockies gave the NL a 1-0 lead when he lined a home run off Ervin Santana of the Angels to start the fifth. The NL doubled its lead in the sixth against Athletics pitcher Justin Duchscherer when Hanley Ramírez of the Marlins singled, went to third on a single by Chase Utley of the Phillies, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lance Berkman of the Astros.
The NL sent the game into extra innings when Ryan Dempster of the Cubs struck out the side, whiffing Ian Kinsler of the Rangers, Navarro, and Drew in succession.
