Major League Baseball

MLB All-Star Game 2022: Kershaw, Ohtani never stop competing

Updated Jul. 20, 2022 1:31 a.m. ET

By Pedro Moura
FOX Sports MLB Writer

LOS ANGELES — In a FOX on-field interview moments before the first All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in 42 years, Clayton Kershaw promised to throw the first pitch of his first All-Star start as hard as he could. He estimated it would travel 91 mph.

Shohei Ohtani, in a subsequent interview, promised to swing at that pitch. Both men did precisely as they said, and the result was a broken-bat single into center field.

What happened next underscored the unpredictability of even an exhibition game involving competitors such as Kershaw and Ohtani. Kershaw did not volunteer his plans to attempt a pick-off, and afterward, he maintained that he did it only to buy himself some time while he planned the ideal put-away pitch for Aaron Judge.

Shohei Ohtani vs. Clayton Kershaw showdown

Ben Verlander reacts to the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani facing the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in the first at-bat of the MLB All-Star Game.

Either way, after the Dodgers' lefty racked up two strikes on Judge, Kershaw calmly threw over to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who tagged out an unsuspecting Ohtani.

Ohtani was the only American League hitter to record a hit until the fourth inning, when Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton connected on back-to-back homers off Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin. The National League managed two first-inning runs and nothing else in what became yet another AL victory, by a score of 3-2, their ninth consecutive.

Not that any of that tarnished the day for Kershaw.

"I actually had a lot of fun pitching," he said. "Usually, I don't have a lot of fun until we win."

Dodgers and Angels players, past and present, were the focus of this week's festivities, from the decision to start Kershaw to leading off Ohtani to Mike Trout's Monday announcement that he would captain America's team in next year's World Baseball Classic. The Dodgers' Mookie Betts warmed up while wearing a T-shirt advocating for more Black fans at Dodger Stadium.

After he changed into uniform, Betts led a pregame chant wishing a happy 100th birthday to Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow. Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Happy birthday, Rachel

The Dodgers' Mookie Bets asks the crowd to wish Rachel Robinson a happy 100th birthday ahead of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.

Juan Soto was the lone exception to the local focus. Even Stanton, the MVP, grew up in the area. But Soto was the star of media day because of trade speculation, the hero of the Home Run Derby because of the show he put on and the talk of Tuesday's pregame pomp because of the celebratory chain Bad Bunny gifted him for winning the Derby. Players passed it around in the National League clubhouse, remarking on its weight while they signed baseballs and jerseys.

Once it began, the 2022 All-Star Game was, in many ways, a typical MLB game in 2022. The squads combined to wallop three homers but strike out 22 times. Even against the world's best hitters, the pitching dominated. And these weren't exactly long-established pitchers, either. These were young men experiencing newfound success at the highest level.

Together, the first four pitchers to take the mound for the American League on Tuesday entered this season with less than half of Kershaw's 13-plus years of service time between them.

Ohtani picked off!

Clayton Kershaw wiped out Shohei Ohtani's early single with a quick move to first base.

"That's a testament to the youthfulness of the AL and the talent coming through it," said Tampa Bay's Shane McClanahan, the AL's 25-year-old starter. Together, all 11 men who pitched for the AL have yet to earn one-third as much money as Kershaw has in his career. It really was the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer and a bunch of young men following him.

Only two of the 20 pitchers to appear Tuesday have accrued six years in the major leagues, the threshold that traditionally earns players the right to free agency: Kershaw and White Sox closer Liam Hendriks.

Of the 42 position players who played, 18 have reached that same threshold, and a few more will reach it before this fall. Their sizable edge in experience wasn't enough.

"That means the younger generation's way better than the older one, I guess," Hendriks, 33, told FOX Sports. "Especially as hitters, you learn from veteran experience, you learn to adapt and move forward. Pitchers, it's as much about stuff as about learning and moving forward. And if no one's ever seen you before, you can have that immediate success and run with it. All of the sudden, it's a confidence boost."

Give me that ball!

White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks begs Julio Rodríguez to give him the baseball after ending the eighth inning of the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.

The young arms clearly pitched with confidence, cutting, sinking and sliding the ball with ferocity.

Toronto's Alek Manoah, the first man out of Dusty Baker's bullpen, conducted an interview while pitching and still stuck out the side.

Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase nearly finished the game with an immaculate inning and settled for striking out the side.

The 10 young men who followed McClanahan surrendered one hit, total — or the same as Kershaw allowed to Ohtani on the game's first pitch.

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Dodgers for three seasons for The Athletic and, before that, the Angels and Dodgers for five seasons for the Orange County Register and L.A. Times. More previously, he covered his alma mater, USC, for ESPNLosAngeles.com. The son of Brazilian immigrants, he grew up in the Southern California suburbs. His first book, "How to Beat a Broken Game," came out this spring. Follow him on Twitter @pedromoura.