Of the four Giants players making the trip to Kansas City, none were spared of at least a little bit of flak prior to the All-Star game. Melky Cabrera, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Matt Cain all had their doubters, especially after the three position players made unprecedented surges in the fan voting in the final week.
Sandoval had the entire league, and especially Mets fans, on his back. After missing over a month of the season, he took the starting role at third base from David Wright, who is having an MVP-caliber season for the surprising Mets. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson even took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction.
Cabrera got the start in center field, a position he hasn't played all season, over another MVP-candidate Andrew McCutchen. The Pirates' five-tool star has been nothing short of stellar this season and missed out on the starting spot due to another meteoric rise in the fan voting. Cabrera didn't have to deal with quite as much, as he is having a career season and carried the Giants offense for the entirety of May.
Because of the fan voting system, it's hard to argue with their roles as starters. Fans have the power to vote for the players they want to see, and if one fan base is more active than another, this will always be the result. Despite the mostly negative media attention, the Giants players came out hot.
Cabrera recorded the first hit of the game, a single to left-center field. He scored on Ryan Braun's double in the next at-bat. After two walks, to Carlos Beltran and Posey, Sandoval hit the first bases-loaded triple in All-Star game history. To cap the five-run first inning, Sandoval was knocked in by Dan Uggla's single.
The NL went on to hit two more triples, becoming the first team to hit three of them in one All-Star game.
''I don't get many triples,'' said the not-so-fleet-footed Sandoval. ''We had some fun with that in the dugout.''
The first-inning outburst gave the NL a 5-0 cushion right off the bat, allowing Cain to breathe easy as he took the mound in the second half of the inning. Cain, who pitched the 22nd perfect game in MLB history earlier this season, wasn't the popular choice to start the game. Despite what seemed to be a great pairing with Posey behind the plate, fans were hoping to see R.A. Dickey, the Mets' knuckleballer, take the mound in the first inning.
It turned out to be the right decision to start Cain. The starting battery of Cain and Posey was effective, allowing just one hit over two innings. Cain also had a strikeout. The move also allowed Carlos Ruiz, the NL's only other catcher on the roster, to warm up with Dickey and get accustomed to his knuckle ball.
In the fourth inning, Cabrera hit the only home run of the game, scoring Matt Holliday. The performance earned him All-Star game MVP honors. With home-field advantage in the World Series on the line, the Giants players showed up ready to play and proved they were deserving of their starting roles.
Though there were very valid arguments for all four of the Giants All-Stars to come off the bench, it turned out that the four of them played important roles in the NL's success. Cain got the shutout started, Posey caught five quality innings and scored a run, Sandoval had three RBI and a run, and Cabrera's MVP performance included a two-run home run and scoring one additional run. With showings like that, it is hard to argue that those players shouldn't have started.
Justin Verlander took the loss after allowing five runs in the first inning, a deficit the AL was never able to come back from. For the game NL pitchers only allowed six hits, earning the NL their third All-Star game victory in three years.
Connor Rose is a Chat Sports senior writer. E-mail him at: connorarose@gmail.com or reach him on Twitter: @connorarose.
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