The Latest: Freeman comes up short, AL takes 1-0 lead

DENVER (AP) — The Latest on the All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Coors Field (all times local):

6:55 p.m.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman joked that Yankees slugger Aaron Judge made him look short, then had a ball bounce right over his head.

Freeman, wearing a mic for Fox’s broadcast, bemoaned having to look up at the 6-foot-7 Judge when he reached first on a leadoff walk against Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes in the scond inning. Boston’s Rafael Devers then skipped one right over the 6-foot-5 Freeman that went for a double.

Judge scored the game’s first run a batter later on Marcus Semien’s infield single.

Freeman said the highlight of his All-Star week was introducing his son, Charlie, to Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. Charlie Freeman had been begging his dad to make the All-Star team so he could finally meet Tatis.

White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn replaced Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the AL in the bottom of the second inning. He worked around a walk to Cincinnati’s Jesse Winker to throw a scoreless inning.

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6:35 p.m.

Shohei Ohtani followed up his groundout to start the All-Star Game with a perfect inning on the mound.

The first player in major league history to make an All-Star Game as a pitcher and position player led off with a roller to second base in a 1-2-3 top half of the first inning.

The AL’s designated hitter and starting pitcher then took the mound for the bottom half and retired leadoff hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. on a flyout to left, Max Muncy on a groundball to second and Nolan Arenado on a groundout to short.

Six up and six down, and Ohtani had a hand in four of the outs.

Arenado received a standing ovation and waved to fans on his way into the batter’s box. The longtime Rockie was traded to St. Louis over the offseason.

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6:20 p.m.

American League starting pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani led off the All-Star Game with a grounder to second.

The Los Angeles Angels standout hit a roller to Pittsburgh’s Adam Frazier off Washington starter Max Scherzer to get things under way at Coors Field on an 84-degree night.

Ohtani is the first player in major league history to make the All-Star Game as a pitcher and position player. He leads the league with 33 homers.

It’s been a busy two days for the 27-year-old from Japan. Ohtani also participated in the Home Run Derby the night before, where he lost in the first round.

Nolan Arenado gave a shoutout to the fans in an interview at third base before the opening pitch. Now with St. Louis, he started his career with Colorado.

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6:15 p.m.

Major League Baseball paid tribute to the late Hank Aaron just before the start of the All-Star Game.

Aaron died on Jan. 22 at age 86. Billye, the wife of the record 25-time All-Star, was accompanied to home plate by the Braves’ Freddie Freeman and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.

Just before the national anthems, she was presented a Braves’ jersey in the 1974 style used when Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record, a shirt signed by all All-Stars. She also was given a portrait of Aaron created by Colorado-based artist Kaylee Bender.

A video tribute to Aaron included Willie Mays doffing his cap.

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6:10 p.m.

Peyton Manning still has some zip in his right arm. He’s lost some accuracy in retirement, though.

The former Denver Broncos quarterback bounced the ceremonial first pitch before the All-Star Game. Rockies great Todd Helton smiled as he stood near the mound.

Rockies pitcher German Márquez was behind the plate for the throw and made a sensational save to keep Manning’s toss from going down as a wild pitch.

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5:50 p.m.

Put launch angles and wins above replacement aside for a moment: the All-Star Game at Coors Field features a throwback to the days of Babe Ruth.

For the first time since the inaugural All-Star Game in 1933, the National League players aren’t wearing their own team’s jersey.

The American Leaguers are wearing AL uniforms for the first time ever at an All-Star Game.

The AL is wearing blue getups and the NL white. Each player has a three-letter abbreviation for his team in red lettering down the left side, partially obscured by his team’s logo.

Credit — or blame — Major League Baseball’s billion-dollar contract with Nike, whose swoosh is displayed prominently on the right side of the uniform just below the collar.

Players still have their regular logos on their caps, displayed over a star.

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5:20 p.m.

There were a pair of late additions to the AL All-Star team: Tampa Bay right-hander Andrew Kittredge and Minnesota left-hander Taylor Rogers.

They replaced New York Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole and Seattle left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Cole said the Yankees did not want him to pitch. Kikuchi went on the COVID-19 injured list Sunday, tested negative twice and was activated Monday. Cole and Kikuchi were in Denver but were made inactive for Tuesday night.

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4:20 p.m.

The skies were gray overhead and there was occasional drizzle during batting practice ahead of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Coors Field.

There was a chance severe weather would come through Denver ahead of the scheduled first pitch at 6:15 p.m.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was set to become baseball’s first two-way All-Star, hitting leadoff for the American League as its designated hitter and also the AL’s starting pitcher.

The AL entered with seven straight wins and 19 of the last 22, with the infamous 2002 tie thrown in.

This year’s game originally was scheduled for Atlanta but was moved by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred in response to a Georgia voting law that critics say will negatively affect communities of color.

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