NEW YORK — Cleveland’s Cliff Lee is expected to start for the American League in Tuesday night’s All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, an incredible turnaround for a pitcher who was demoted to the minors last year.
“I haven’t heard who is starting and it isn’t something I can control, so I don’t worry about it,” Lee said Sunday in Cleveland. “When I was a kid, I watched games on TV and dreamed of pitching in the majors. I watched the All-Star game and had the same dream.”
The 29-year-old left-hander is 12-2 with a 2.31 ERA after compiling a 0.67 ERA during his first seven starts. He was 18-5 in 2005 but went 5-8 with a 6.29 ERA last year, when he was optioned to the minors for more than a month.
“Last year taught me a lot,” Lee said. “I can’t put my finger on it other than to just say I’m more experienced. To stick in the big leagues, you have to make adjustments. Everybody else is figuring you out, watching video, and learning what you do. You have to stay ahead of the curve, adjust, and make them readjust again.”
WILD WEEK: Matt LaPorta capped a hectic week by playing first base for the United States in the Futures Game.
The touted minor league slugger was traded from Milwaukee to Cleveland last Monday in the CC Sabathia deal and had his baseball gear packed in a Brewers bag Sunday.
LaPorta said his luggage was lost when he flew to Ohio the day after the trade. Two days later, his grandfather died.
“Really, it’s been a roller-coaster week,” he said.
LaPorta went 1-for-3 with a single, a walk and a strikeout during a 3-0 loss to the World team.
LIKE A ROCK: Tim Raines was selected MVP of the All-Star legends celebrity softball game after his go-ahead grand slam sent the National League to an 8-7 victory over the AL. Raines also was MVP of the 1987 All-Star game in Oakland when he was playing for the Montreal Expos. Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers also homered. Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal turned a nifty double play for the American League.
CUBS FEST: The Cubs tied the NL record for most players on an All-Star team when reliever Carlos Marmol was selected Sunday to replace injured Chicago teammate Kerry Wood.
Marmol, the eighth Cubs player chosen, was picked because he was the relief pitcher with the highest vote on the player ballot. He is the only pitcher in the game who isn’t a starter or a closer.
His selection was announced one day after he squandered a 7-2 lead at Wrigley Field against San Francisco in a game the Cubs won 8-7 in 11 innings.
Marmol, booed when he left the mound Saturday, is 2-3 with a 4.13 ERA and three saves. He had a 1.69 ERA in April and 1.93 in May, but it was 7.36 in June and 13.50 in July.
The NL record was set by the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals, and equaled by the 1956 Cincinnati Reds and 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Before this year, the most All-Stars for the Cubs was six in 1936 and 1988. The 1958 Yankees hold the major league mark with nine players on an All-Star team.
Outfielder Alfonso Soriano (broken hand), who was voted to the NL starting lineup, will miss the game because of a broken hand.
DERBY: Minnesota’s Justin Morneau was selected for All-Star Home Run Derby, completing the eight-man field for tonight’s contest at Yankee Stadium. He joins Tampa Bay rookie Evan Longoria, Texas’ Josh Hamilton and Cleveland’s Grady Sizemore from the American League. The NL derby lineup has Houston’s Lance Berkman, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, Florida’s Dan Uggla and Philadelphia’s Chase Utley.
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