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MINNEAPOLIS -- Mike Matheny had quite the choice for the National Leagues All-Star starter. Dillon Brooks Jersey . 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." Mike Miller Jersey . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. Wholesale Grizzlies Jerseys . These teams will see plenty of each other in the next few weeks as three of the Canucks next nine games are against the Wild (after today they meet February 9th in Minnesota and again February 16th at Rogers Arena). https://www.cheapgrizzlies.com/ . James Jones got his turn Sunday. And the lift he brought, combined with the expected playoff showings from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, have the Heat off and running in these playoffs. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Vancouver Canucks are at the point in the season where every loss could end their playoff hopes. Those hopes are still alive after a big road win over Minnesota. David Booth scored two unassisted goals and Eddie Lack made 29 saves to lead Vancouver over the Wild 5-2 on Wednesday. Zack Kassian, Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler also scored for Vancouver as the Canucks try to make a late push to overtake Phoenix and Dallas for the Western Conferences final wild-card playoff spot. "Its huge, were in a do-or-die position," Alexandre Burrow said. "If we would have lost this game we probably would have been out of the race." Minnesota outshot Vancouver 31-19 and got goals from Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter, but lost its third straight at home. Booth scored for the second consecutive game after going scoreless in his previous 32. On his first goal, Booth took the puck the length of the ice after a faceoff and fired it past Darcy Kuemper. Booths second goal broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and came after Jared Spurgeon whiffed on a pass in the Wild zone, leading to a bad turnover and a point-blank look for Booth. "We didnt generate a ton of shots, but we were able to capitalize on the ones we did," Booth said. Minnesota, currently holding the first wild-card spot in the West, controlled play for most of the first two periods, but failed to capitalize on four power plays and fell behind 3-1. Even though his team was generating chances early, Wild coach Mike Yeo was nervous. "Especially in that first period, were out chancing them, were outshooting them, but still. Just didnt quite have the right feel," he said. Ilya Bryzgalov took over for the slumping Kuemper after two periods. Kuemper allowed three goals in 12 shots, the fifth time in his last seven start hes allowed at least three goals. "Dont feel good about that one," Kuemper said. "Obviously we were controlling the play and to finnd ourselves down 3-1, yeah Ive got to help the guys out a little bit better. Allen Iverson Jersey. quot; The switch didnt get Minnesota going. Vancouver killed an early third period power play, and then put the game away on Sedins goal at 11:12 to make it 4-1. "I didnt think we played great, but we stuck with it and at the end we came out with a big win," Sedin said. "For sure, its something to build." The goal was Sedins first in his last 23 games and his first point in his last 13. Coyles goal was his third in three games. The centre had scored only once in his previous 24 games. Lack got a little help in the second period from Alexander Edler. Zach Parise stuffed the puck between Lacks pads, but just before it crossed the goal line, Edler swept it away. "We know its do-or-die now and we got to come up with the same kind of effort tomorrow," Lack said. Vancouver has won six of its last nine after losing 11 of 12. Both Phoenix and Dallas were idle on Wednesday. The Canucks now have 78 points, Dallas 79 and Phoenix 82. Henrik Sedin missed the game with a leg injury and didnt make the trip. As Minnesota tries to hang on to its playoff position, Yeo has to answer questions about his goaltending situation. "I want to be careful on that one. Im not saying that we cant be any better between the pipes, but at the same time theres some quality chances that were giving up," he said. "Obviously, we have to do our part to make sure those guys are in the right frame of mind." NOTES: Wild G Niklas Backstrom and F Jason Zucker each underwent successful surgeries yesterday and should be ready for the start of the 2014-15 season. Backstrom had core muscle surgery and Zucker had a tendon in his left quadriceps repaired. ... F Alexandre Burrows played for Vancouver after missing Sundays game with a hand injury. ... The Sedins have only played in two games together in March. ... The Wild beings a four-game road trip in St. Louis on Thursday. ' ' '