Fielder blast lifts NL All Stars to 5-1 win

PHOENIX, July 12 (Reuters) - Prince Fielder(notes) smacked a three-run homer to lead the National League to a 5-1 win overthe American League in Tuesday's All Star Game and clinch home

field advantage in this year's World Series.    
Milwaukee Brewers slugger Fielder connected off Texas
Rangers lefty C.J. Wilson(notes) in the bottom of the fourth, sending
the ball off the top of the wall in left-center to score Carlos Beltran(notes) of the Mets and Matt Kemp(notes) of the Dodgers.    
The victory gave the National League their first
back-to-back All-Star Game wins for 15 years.    
Fielder, whose usual game-face scowl turned into a broad
grin by the time he got back to the dugout after his homer, was
named Most Valuable Player of the game.
"That was a lot of fun," Fielder said in a mid-game
interview. "I'm just glad I could help out."    
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips(notes), whose team
battle the Brewers in the NL Central, said he was used to seeing
Fielder come up with big plays.
"He's MVP, man," said Phillips even before Fielder was
officially announced as the award winner. "He's MVP of this game
and the way he's been playing he can be the MVP of the National
League, period. I'm happy that he came through for us today."
The game was played in good spirits, with some fine
defensive plays and some playful fun punctuating the action.
Blue Jays right-fielder Jose Bautista(notes) made a fine sliding
catch in foul ground, and Houston Astros left-fielder Hunter Pence(notes) threw a strike to home plate to nail Bautista trying to
score on an Adrian Beltre(notes) single.    
Relief pitcher Heath Bell(notes) of the San Diego Padres provided
some levity.    
Bell plopped down next to some young fans behind the dugout
during the game, chatting with them and giving them some
mementos of the game.    
Later when he was summoned to pitch in the eighth, the beefy
Bell sprinted in from the left-field bullpen, going into a slide
on the infield grass just before reaching the pitcher's mound,
much amusement of the infielders awaiting his entrance.    
The game started on a sombre note, with a moment of silence
for the victims of a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, in
January that wounded 14 people and killed six.    
National League starter Roy Halladay(notes) and his AL counterpart
Jered Weaver(notes) kept the bats quiet early, with Phillies hurler
Halladay retiring six batters on just 19 pitches.    
Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez(notes) put the first run on
the board with a solo homer to right-center off Philadelphia's
Cliff Lee(notes) in the third for the American League's first hit.    
Fielder answered that with his three-run smash. Andre Ethier(notes)
of the Dodgers and San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval(notes) also drove in
runs to pad the NL's lead before a crowd of 48,000 that included
Muhammad Ali.    
Nine National League pitchers limited the AL to just six
hits with Brian Wilson(notes) of World Series champions San Francisco
getting the last two outs for the save.    
Wilson said winning home field advantage for the World
Series was worthwhile.    
"It really is beneficial to have those first two games in
front of the home crowd," said Wilson. "It really helped us last
year."
Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett(notes) felt discomfort in his knee as
he warmed up to enter the game and sat out as a precaution, and
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera(notes) left the game after feeling
soreness in his side after an at-bat.