July 14, 2026
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Jesus Luzardo tossed a perfect six-pitch inning in the All-Star Game Tuesday.
Philadelphia hosted its fifth All-Star Game, had six All-Stars, and over 43,000 crazy fans amped to celebrate what has been a memorable and Philly-centric summer of sports so far. Citizens Bank Park was the place to be Tuesday night.
But the crop of Phillies players made very little impact — Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh, Cris Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Jhoan Duran — each of whom appeared in the game and none of whom factored into the result.
The American League won 4-0, for those who care, adding to their historic lead over the National League (49-45-2) over 96 of these exhibition games dating back to 1933. The 2026 NL All-Stars were blanked and held to just three hits (all singles).
Here's everything you need to know about the participating Phils, and what it was like to be there on that hot summer July in South Philly:
• As far as actual baseball goes, there wasn't much to be excited about. Unless you're maybe a Yankees fan, as Bronx hitters contributed all three of the game's RBI (more on that, later). Or if you like White Sox's Miguel Vargas who blasted an insurance homer in the top of the eighth. Aside from that, it was a lot of strikeouts and sometimes interesting, sometimes awkward interstitial between innings.
However the atmosphere and the production value, from a mid-game fireworks show to celebrities all over the place to a bevy of patriotic tributes, saw Philly do the Midsummer Classic proud. The best thing about what happens next, at least for this sportswriter, is MLB's unofficial trade season starts after the break with the deadline just over two weeks away.
But I digress, back to the 96th All-Star Game.
• How about a perfect inning from Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo? He has been absolutely on fire in recent weeks — he has a 1.45 ERA and 4-0 record over his most recent six starts. He elicited a strikeout and two weak groundouts when he took the mound in the fourth and needed just six pitches to do it. He also topped out at 98.9 MPH and was clearly feeling hyped to pitch in his home ballpark. He'll certainly be well rested when he's called upon next to face the Mets this coming weekend.
Jesús Luzardo making it look easy 🔥 pic.twitter.com/QMbAgTYPHl
— Philadelphia Inquirer Sports (@phillysport) July 15, 2026
1st-Sanchez pitching, Schwarber at bat
2nd-Marsh at bat
3rd-Schwarber at bat
4th-Luzardo pitching
5th-Marsh at bat
6th-Harper at bat
• The energy was pretty low with the NL being blanked with one out left in the ninth, but Duran entered to his typical flame and flash stoked intro. He gave up a single to Randy Arozarena, but handled Travis Bazzana and Ceddane Rafaela no problem to keep it a four-run game. In 32.2 innings during the regular season, Duran has 24 saves and a 1.38 ERA.
🔥 Phillies Closer Jhoan Duran Electric Entrance to the All-Star Game pic.twitter.com/BLgTAapEIA
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) July 15, 2026
• Cris Sánchez was shaky. He started well enough, with a strikeout to South Jersey native Mike Trout. Trout made some headlines this weekend as he more or less threw cold water on any possibility of him waiving his no trade clause to come to Philadelphia.
Yordan Alvarez hit a single up the middle and Shea Langeliers walked on four pitches to put him in a jam almost immediately. After a ground out, he walked Bobby Witt Jr. to load the bases and surrendered a two-run single to Cody Bellinger. Then came an RBI single to Ben Rice. By the time he walked off the mound his NL was down 3-0.
Was it nerves? The control wasn't there and seemingly neither was the confidence. Sánchez has been inconsistent lately, after months of being the best pitcher in baseball. His All-Star pitching performance is akin to that of Brad Lidge in 2008, whose only blemish in his perfect 48-save season came when he blew the All-Star Game. Here's hoping this ugly first inning was a similar blip.
• Schwarber struck out to lead things off for the Phillies. One of the overlooked flaws he has as a hitter, beyond the generational slugging and patience he shows, is that he's a true outcomes monster. He leads every single hitter in the majors with 144 strikeouts this season. He also grounded out in his second at bat.
Marsh wasn't much better when he was up in the second, striking out looking against lefty Parker Messick. He struck out a second time against righty Nick Martinez before he was subbed out.
Harper pinch hit in the sixth and struck out swinging. But not before he used the first ABS challenge of the game and lost. I was told he spent the entire at-bat being interviewed live on FOX — that probably didn't help.
• Despite all the negativity from the game, things are pretty good for the Phillies right now. They look poised for a fifth straight playoff berth and had six All-Stars Tuesday. But it wasn't long ago that the Phillies were being humored by the "every team gets at least one All-Star" rule. So I looked back through recent rosters and here is my "All-one-and-done-Phillies-All-Stars" roster:
C: Carlos Ruiz (2012)
1B: Von Hayes (1989)
2B: Mariano Duncan (1994)
SS: Babe Dahlgren (1943)*
3B: Dave Hollins (1993)
OF: Paul Byrd (1999)
OF: Odubel Herrera (2016)
OF: Dominic Brown (2013)
SP: Vicente Padilla (2002)
SP: Tyler Green (1995)
RP: Pat Neshak (2017)
RP: Ricky Bottalico (1996)
*I had to go really far back to find a one-time All-Star who was a shortstop
**I got to the game very early and had a lot of time to kill
• There are a few things about baseball's annual All-Star Game and weekend that make it the best in sports (we wrote about it here last week). A few were on display Tuesday. There's sort of this unspoken respect for the hosting team, and it's really cool and really classy. NL manager Dave Roberts giving Sánchez the start, and having Schwarber not only start but lead off. The fans had a Phillies player to root for for most of the game and it was pretty cool. He also decided to give the last two hitters to Duran, another smart move.
• Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt threw the honorary first pitch to Cole Hamels and Scott Rolen. Three of those four are Philly legends.
• Want to know the best way to make a Major League Baseball All-Star smile? Boo him. Relentlessly. That's what Phillies fans did Tuesday night, during the intros of — well, anyone they didn't particularly like. From Yankees to Braves to Mets to Dodgers, don't cross a Phillies fan. And all the players could do was smile, and laugh.
A nice Philly welcome for Juan Soto! pic.twitter.com/2YfQx30Icf
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 15, 2026
It's a badge of honor, as we wrote about from the Home Run Derby on Monday.
• The Mets decided to send not one, but two mascots to the All-Star Game. When all the mascots were introduced one-by-one pregame, it went as can be expected:
Mr. & Mrs. Met receive loud boos as they’re introduced in Philadelphia for the All-Star Game 😂 pic.twitter.com/3qhYPDM3WA
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 14, 2026
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