MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Matheny had quite the choice for the National Leagues All-Star starter. There was his own Adam Wainwright, the St. Louis Cardinals ace with a 12-4 record and a 1.83 ERA. And there was the Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, 11-2 with a 1.78 ERA and fresh off a 41-inning scoreless streak that ended last week. He chose Wainwright, who will start Tuesday night at Target Field against the Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez. "Its going to be great catching them," said Milwaukees Jonathan Lucroy, the NL starter behind the plate. "A lot more fun than facing them." When baseballs elite met at Citi Field last year, NL batters managed just three hits in a 3-0 loss. A year earlier in Kansas City, the AL had just six hits in an 8-0 defeat. Never before had consecutive All-Star games ended in shutouts. "Guys are throwing harder. Guys have more pitches," said Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley, making his sixth All-Star appearance and first since 2010. The big league batting average is at a 42-year low. Strikeouts are at an all-time high. Wainwright and Kershaw are on track to become the first pair of qualifying pitchers in one league with a sub-2.00 ERA since the Mets Dwight Gooden and the Cardinals John Tudor in 1985 -- the last time Minnesota hosted the All-Stars. "Aside from having the ability to win two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals, I think this has to be one of the highlights of my baseball career to this point," Wainwright said. "One of the coolest things I can say I did is to start a big league All-Star game." Kershaw understood Mathenys decision. "If Im him, Im probably going to pick Adam, too. Its his guy and he had the best half," Kershaw said. Hernandez, the first Venezuela pitcher to start for the All-Stars, also has sterling credentials: an 11-2 record with a 2.12 ERA. He described his task pretty simply: "Just throw zeroes out there and get my team to win. Thats all I got to do," he said. Back in the great pitching era of the 1960s, the game was different. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal expected to finish what they started. Now, flame-throwers come out of the bullpen in the middle of games. "Youre not getting three, four at-bats off of the starter unless youre in trouble and youre losing the game," said Baltimores Matt Wieters, elected as a starting catcher but sidelined following elbow surgery. "I think for a while it was trying to get the starter out of the game so you can get to that fifth, sixth, seventh-inning guy. And now those fifth, sixth, seventh-inning guys are throwing upper 90s with a good breaking ball." In addition to pitchers, the spotlight will be on New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter. The shortstop, who turned 40 last month, is playing his final season and was selected for his 14th All-Star game. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera got an emotional sendoff last year, the All-Stars giving him a solo bow. When Rivera entered in the eighth inning all other players left him the field to himself. Cal Ripken Jr. was given a tribute at the start of the 2001 game at Seattles Safeco Field when Alex Rodriguez told Ripken just before the first pitch to switch positions and move from third base to shortstop, where the Baltimore star spent most of his career. The 40-year-old Ripken then homered in the third inning. And two years ago, Atlantas Chipper Jones was feted with a standing ovation at Kauffman Stadium when he pinch hit in the sixth inning and singled. What will Jeters All-Star finale be like? "I dont go into things with expectations," he said. "Im looking forward to playing the game. Ive pretty much stopped it right there." The game is being played in Minneapolis for the third time, following the NLs 6-5 win at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965 and a dull 6-1 NL victory indoors at the Metrodome in 1985. Oakland, a big league-best 59-36 at the break, has seven All-Stars for the first time since 1975. It got another win on Monday night when Yoenis Cespedes beat Cincinnatis Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round to become the first repeat champion of the Home Run Derby since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998 and 99. The Athletics have some incentive for an AL victory in the All-Star game; since 2003, the winners league gets to start the World Series at home, and 23 of the last 28 titles were won by teams scheduled to host four of a possible seven games. "I dont think you can ever underestimate the home-field advantage in a post-season," said AL manager John Farrell, who led Boston to a six-game win over St. Louis last year. "To have that final game potentially in your home ballpark, that goes a long way to affecting the outcome." Adidas NMD Human Race NZ . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. AMIR JOHNSON (Raptors): I cant figure out what the issue or problem is, but based upon what Im seeing, hes not right. Stan Smith Shoes NZ . -- Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick shot a second-round 69 to take the lead after 36 holes and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam and Chad Pfeifer, who lost his left leg above the knee serving in Iraq, are among several players in contention in the American Century Championship tournament on Saturday. http://www.nmdshoesnz.com/adidas-nmd-xr1-cheap-nz.html. DArnaud hit one of three doubles for the Mets as they took a 4-0 lead in the first. Then the catchers seventh home run of the season broke the game open in the fifth. The 41-year-old Colon (10-8) retired the first 20 batters in his last outing Wednesday against Seattle, eventually allowing two runs on three hits in 7 1-3 innings in a 3-2 win. NMD Shoes NZ . It will be their 15th head-to-head meeting and fourth in the post-season (Sunday at 2pm et/11am pt on CTV) and for his part, Brady isnt downplaying just how big the game is for him. "Im excited - Its everything you could ask for as an athlete," the New England Patriots quarterback told WEEI Radio in Boston on Monday. Superstar Shoes NZ . "It was a little weird looking over and seeing all the green uniforms," he said of his first game against the Boston Celtics.Most Senators fans are still reeling from Saturday nights epic collapse against the Montreal Canadiens, when their team became the first in NHL history to lose a game in which they had a three-goal lead in the final five minutes. The loss was painful on so many levels and seemed to put a definitive nail in the coffin when it came to the Senators playoff chances. And while its easy to point to that loss as the one that killed the teams post-season hopes, it was merely the final straw in a season-long string of disappointments. That collapse against Montreal was spectacular and historic (for the wrong reasons), but it wasnt an anomaly when it comes to the 2013-14 Ottawa Senators. On too many occasions this season, this team squandered opportunities to get two points – either settling for one or being blanked altogether. Here is a look at the 10 games that will likely cost the Senators a playoff spot this season: 1) October 5th – 5-4 shootout loss at TOR Just 24 hours after shutting out the Buffalo Sabres in the season opener, the Senators jumped out to a 4-2 lead against the Maple Leafs midway through the second period. But with time running out in that frame, Joffrey Lupul scored a goal to pull the Leafs to within one goal heading into the third period. And in what would become an eerie preview of what to expect defensively throughout the season, the Senators would allow the Leafs to tie the game – and then win it in a shootout. 2) November 1st – 5-4 shootout loss vs NYI The Senators managed to blow a two-goal lead twice in this game, squandering 2-0 and 4-2 advantages. And knowing what we know about the 2013-14 New York Islanders now, this loss looks even more ridiculous in hindsight. Adding to the lunacy of this night was the fact the Senators surrendered 57 shots on goal to New York. Thats not a typo. 3) December 10th – 2-1 shootout loss at BUF Granted, the Senators played the night before and beat the Philadelphia Flyers in a spirited shootout on home ice. But the Sens looked pretty average against the NHLs worst team the very next night and managed to score only a single goal. The offensive malaise even extended into the shootout, which required 10 rounds before the Sabres eventually won it. 4) December 19th – 4-2 loss vs FLA This was another costly loss to an Eastern Conference lightweight – only it was more damaging because it occurred in regulation time. The Senators led this game 2-1 after the first period and should have been sparked by a brilliant highlight reel goal from Jason Spezza. Instead, the Panthers scored twice in the final 2:32 of the game to stun the Sens with a 4-2 victory. Ottawa was on the power play with a chance to tie the game in the final 90 seconds, but allowed a 2-on-1 the other way and Tomas Kopecky buried them with a shorthanded goal. 55) December 21st – 4-3 overtime loss vs PHX Former Senator Antoine Vermette killed the Senators in this matinee game, as he scored a hat trick – which was capped off with the overtime winner.dddddddddddd The Senators actually held a 2-0 lead in this game and also had a 3-2 advantage with under three minutes to play in the third period. This game may have been the best microcosm for the Sens penchant for sloppiness in afternoon games. 6) January 8th – 4-3 overtime loss at COL Once again, the Senators were less than three minutes away from a regulation time victory, only to have disaster strike. Paul Stastny scored the tying goal with just over two minutes left and then Tyson Barrie scored the overtime winner 33 seconds into the extra frame. The Sens allowed two goals in the span of about three minutes with the game on the line. Instead of skating out of Denver with two points, they had to settle for just one. 7) January 16th – 5-4 overtime loss vs MTL You can actually make a sound argument that the Senators were fortunate to take one point out of this game, considering the Habs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. But Ottawa fought back with four straight goals and appeared to be in complete command of this game – until Jared Cowen accidentally put the puck into his own net after Craig Anderson stopped Tomas Plekanec on a breakaway. PK Subban then scored just 23 seconds into overtime, with a celebration that seemed to irk the Sens. Sadly, this was not the most painful 5-4 overtime loss they would endure against the Habs this season. 8) February 1st – 6-3 loss at TOR In a case of déjà vu, the Senators once again found themselves with a two-goal lead at the Air Canada Centre – only to watch it evaporate quickly. The Senators had a 2-0 lead, but Toronto tied the game in the second period, thanks in large part to a controversial play. Nazem Kadri drilled Sens defenseman Cody Ceci behind the net with a hit that many felt was illegal, but play went right on and Kadri took the puck and set up Joffrey Lupul for the tying goal. The Sens never seemed to recover from that turn of events and the Leafs scored four times in the third period to beat Ottawa. 9) March 4th – 3-2 loss at EDM Like every other game on this list, the Senators held the lead – jumping out 1-0 early thanks to a Jason Spezza goal. Fresh off a win at the Heritage Classic in Vancouver two days earlier, the Senators should have had some momentum for this game against the lowly Oilers. Instead – in what turned out to be a damn good audition before the trade deadline – Ales Hemsky scored twice to pace the Oilers to a 3-2 victory. 10) March 15th – 5-4 overtime loss at MTL Its still a little too soon to talk about this game. ' ' '