Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies will start Tuesday night's All-Star Game in his home ballpark, taking the mound for the National League against Dylan Cease of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays announced Sunday that Cease will be the American League's starter. Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who is managing the NL, said Sanchez is his starter.
“I think he deserves it. He’s the hometown ballplayer and I think the city of Philly will enjoy watching him and supporting him,” Roberts said. “I had a conversation with him this morning. ... He was very grateful. In a time when guys are not wanting to participate, this guy in the Midsummer Classic for fans, I think this is a good thing. He’s very excited about pitching.”
Also Sunday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said New York right-hander Cam Schlittler is not planning to pitch in the All-Star Game. Schlittler will still be at the game and there is no replacement planned for the AL roster.
Sanchez is 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA this season. He's third in the major leagues with 144 strikeouts. The left-hander's streak of 50 2/3 scoreless innings was a highlight of the major league season so far.
Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski, who leads the majors in ERA (1.62), WHIP (0.76) and strikeouts (167), was replaced on the All-Star team earlier in the week, when it appeared he would be starting for the Brewers on Sunday. Then Milwaukee scratched him from that start because of arm fatigue.
Cease is 6-4 with a 2.56 ERA for the Blue Jays. He nearly threw his second career no-hitter Wednesday against San Francisco, but it was broken up in the ninth inning.
Cease is the first Toronto pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2009.
Cease got the word from his manager, John Schneider, who will skipper the AL squad, during a team meeting before Sunday’s series finale at San Diego.
“It’s pretty surreal. I didn’t know what to say. Everyone’s saying, ‘Give a speech,’ and I’m like, I was pretty speechless, so it was just a really cool experience,” Cease said.
“It’s really cool how all of these things have lined up, you know, even being able to pitch in it and having a good enough first half to be in the running for it and all that. And the fact that pretty much our entire staff is going, it’s really a really great recipe," Cease added.
Schlittler was a candidate to start, boasting an AL-leading ERA of 2.05, but he pitched for the Yankees on Saturday.
“Just feels like on his recovery day to go back out there throwing 100 mph is something that I think he felt a little apprehensive about,” Boone told reporters before New York's game at Washington. “Certainly support that decision and obviously I think he understands what’s at stake here in the second half too for us and for him.”
Schlittler could start the opening game of the second half against the Dodgers on Friday at Yankee Stadium.
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AP freelance writers Bernie Wilson in San Diego and Doug Padilla in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Noah Trister, The Associated Press
