Orange County Register

They announced the AL and NL starting lineups for tomorrow’s All-Star Game in a news conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel this morning.

No real surprises other than Brewers right-hander Ben Sheets being selected as the starting pitcher for the National League. NL manager Clint Hurdle was handcuffed a bit by the fact that Tim Lincecum and Brandon Webb had each pitched on Sunday, taking them out of the running, and Edinson Volquez threw 114 pitches on Saturday. Reds manager Dusty Baker let it be known he wouldn’t be too keen on seeing his young right-hander start tomorrow.

So Hurdle went with Sheets based on some first-hand scouting.

“First and foremost, we had to take a look at the workload of the pitchers that were taken,” Hurdle said. “I got a chance to see Ben up close a few days ago. He struck out 11 of us in five innings. That kind of got my eye. I’m pretty smart like that. I pick up on those things pretty quick.”

As a career National Leaguer (thanks to the Brewers’ switching leagues), Sheets said he has never been to Yankee Stadium. He’ll make his first appearance there as one of the starting pitchers in the final All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.

“I’m going to try to get there early today (for the off-day workout) and try to take everything in,” Sheets said. “I’m definitely going to do a sight-seeing tour today, take in the monuments. And I’m going to enjoy every moment of it.”

The lineups:

American League

CF Ichiro Suzuki

SS Derek Jeter

RF Josh Hamilton

3B Alex Rodriguez

LF Manny Ramirez

DH Milton Bradley

1B Kevin Youkilis

C Joe Mauer

2B Dustin Pedroia

P  Cliff Lee

And for the National League:

SS Hanley Ramirez

2B Chase Utley

1B Lance Berkman

DH Albert Pujols

3B Chipper Jones

RF Matt Holliday

LF Ryan Braun

CF Kosuke Fukudome

C Geovany Soto

P Ben Sheets

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