2008 AAA All-Star Game

The 2008 AAA All-Star Game was played on July 16, 2008 in Louisville, KY. The event was hosted by the Louisville Bats, the AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

The International League served as the home team. The IL All-Stars were managed by Dave Miley of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. His assistants were Doug Davis of the Syracuse Chiefs and Rick Sweet of the Louisville Bats. The Pacific Coast League team was managed by Pat Listach of the Iowa Cubs. Terry Bradshaw of the Omaha Royals and Rick Rodriguez of the Sacramento River Cats served as his coaches. The game was broadcast on ESPN2 with Jim Kelch, Jonathan Mayo and Eduardo Perez calling the game.

Pitching dominated the early innings as the game was scoreless after seven and a half innings. In the bottom of the seventh Andrew McCutchen picked up an RBI single and Mike Hessman got a RBI groundout to put the IL up 2-0. That would be the score going into the top of the ninth when Toledo Mud Hens closer Blaine Neal took the mound trying to secure the win. That’s when the PCL exploded for six runs highlighted by an 2 RBI double by A.J. Ellis. A stunned IL would have to mount a bottom of the ninth comeback in order to avoid a shocking loss. McCutchen picked up a second RBI single to make it 6-3, then with two outs in the inning Chris Carter hit a 2-run homer to make it 6-5. But that was as far as the IL would get as the PCL took home the win. Luis Pena of the Nashville Sounds got the win despite giving up three runs in a 1 1/3 innings of work. The loss was given to Neal.

The Top Stars Awards were given to the game MVP from each team. The International League award went to Andrew McCutchen of the Indianapolis Indians who went 2-2 with 2 RBI. Matt Brown of the Salt Lake Bees won the award for the PCL going 2-3 with an RBI.

The game featured a number of future big leaguers including McCutchen, Carter and Nelson Cruz.

Starting Lineups

International League				Batting Order		Pacific Coast League
Player	Position	Team				Player	Position	Team
Joe Thurston	2B	Pawtucket Red Sox		1		Christian Colonel	2B	Colorado Springs Sky Sox
Darnell McDonald	RF	Rochester Red Wings		2		John Gall	RF	Albuquerque Isotopes
Mike Hessman	3B	Toledo Mud Hens		3		Terry Tiffee	LF	Las Vegas 51s
Chris Carter	DH	Pawtucket Red Sox		4		Nelson Cruz	RF	Oklahoma Redhawks
Jeff Bailey	LF	Pawtucket Red Sox		5		Jamie D'Antona	DH	Tucson Sidewinders
Brent Clevlen	CF	Toledo Mud Hens		6		Matt Brown	3B	Salt Lake Bees
Clayton Richard	1B	Durham Bulls		7		Mark Saccomanno	1B	Round Rock Express
Jason Jaramillo	C	Lehigh Valley IronPigs		8		Jason Smith	SS	Omaha Royals
Brian Bixler	SS	Indianapolis Indians		9		Vinny Rottino	C	Nashville Sounds
David Purcey	P	Syracuse Chiefs		SP		Willie Collazo	P	New Orleans Zephyrs

Box Score

Sources

AAA Baseball