2017 MLB All-Star Game: Cubs’ Wade Davis allows game-winning homer

The defending World Series champion Cubs got only one player representing them in the All-Star Game, and it wasn’t even a guy who played for that World Series team.

Wade Davis had allowed exactly one home run over his previous 80 appearances (88 if you include the 2015 postseason).

And that homer was served up to a guy who was hitting .143 with no extra-base hits at the time he hit it (Mac Williamson of the Giants in this game. The Cubs won anyway).

So, of course, what happens in this one?

Robinson Cano’s solo homer off Davis, hit on a hanging breaking ball, gave the American League a 2-1 win over the National League in 10 innings Tuesday night.

Good thing it doesn’t count anymore, not that the Cubs have much of a chance of having home field in the World Series in 2017 even if they somehow manage to get there.

Fun facts about Cano’s homer:

Lieber wound up having a very good year in 2001 — 20 wins, 3.9 bWAR and fourth place in Cy Young voting.

We don’t know if, or whether, Davis will get any Cy Young votes this year, but let’s hope that’s the last home run he allows in 2017.

The rest of this game was pretty dull, as pitchers dominated hitters. That should be no surprise, as only two pitchers (Chris Sale and Carlos Martinez) threw more than one inning, and they were able to go all-out against hitters who rarely see them.

So let’s talk about Fox-TV’s game gimmick, talking live to players during the game. Some of it was OK — hearing from Bryce Harper while play was going on was interesting, though it would have been even more interesting if he’d have made this catch while Joe Buck was asking him questions:

That hair flip is destined to become a meme, I’d say.

Having Alex Rodriguez walk onto the field to talk to infielders before an inning started: that seemed distracting and uninteresting. There wasn’t enough time to have any sort of meaningful question asked or answer given and having A-Rod in a suit talking to players in uniform looked just odd.

Give Fox credit for trying something different.

And give Nelson Cruz and Yadier Molina credit for trying to have some fun:

This, really, is what the All-Star Game should be about. Fun. Credit to Rob Manfred, most of whose ideas I think are strange, for ending “This Time It Counts.” I did find myself wondering whether Yadi had any sticky stuff on this thing:

Anyway, thought you’d like a recap thread to discuss this game, especially since a Cub was the “goat” of the game. At publication time I couldn’t locate a boxscore with WPA numbers, but I’d guess Davis’ was pretty high in the negative column.

The season resumes Friday. Let’s hope Cubs players took the time to rest and recharge and are ready for a great second half.