Dodgers prospect De Paula hits 3-run homer to lift NL to 4-2 win in All-Star Futures Game
ATLANTA AP Josue De Paula hit a three-run homer in a four-run fourth inning and the National League beat the American League - on Saturday in the All-Star Futures Competition featuring top prospects The National League is - - since the Futures Match moved from a U S vs World format to AL vs NL in Noah Schultz a left-hander in the Chicago White Sox s organization gave up four hits and four runs including the line-drive homer by De Paula that traveled feet to right-center De Paula an outfielder plays for Class A Great Lakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization De Paula selected the tournament s Preponderance Valuable Contestant declared the homer is definitely a motivator in his path to the major leagues For me mentally a big moment De Paula explained It proved to me especially to myself who I really am Schultz then gave up a single to LuJames Groover who scored on Owen Caissie s double to left field New York Yankees infield prospect George Lombard Jr the son of Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard walked stole second base and scored on Braden Montgomery s groundout in the third to give the AL a - lead Lombard also had a double Josue Brice o a Double-A catcher for Detroit tripled and scored on Sebastian Walcott s sacrifice fly in the fourth to push the lead to - Chill bumps for Chipper Two former Atlanta stars Chipper Jones and Marquis Grissom were the managers for the NL and AL respectively Jones was an eight-time All-Star third baseman who spent his entire career with Atlanta before becoming a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in Jones and Grissom were teammates on Atlanta s World Series championship band Grissom caught a fly ball in center field for the clinching final out in the win over Cleveland You can t measure my chill bumps right now with a yard stick Jones commented when sought about the memory of watching Grissom just glide to it and knowing that he s got a bead on it and this puppy s over it was like it was happening in slow motion For starters Right-hander JR Ritchie am Atlanta prospect who has pitched for High-A Rome and Double-A Columbus this season because the th pitcher to start a Futures Event in his organization s home park Ritchie had two strikeouts in a scoreless first inning Ritchie commented he received a phone call from Jones telling him he would start It was unbelievable Ritchie commented I never thought Chipper Jones would call me Left-hander Parker Messick who is with Cleveland s Triple-A Columbus had a scoreless first inning for the AL Father and son Grissom s son Marquis Grissom Jr a right-hander for the Washington Nationals Triple-A Rochester gave up one run in one inning for the NL while his father was in the opposing dugout He explained he was looking forward to bragging about the win to his father He lost Grissom Jr disclosed He took the L so he better be ready when I get home I m just happy to be a part of this and get a chance to see my son all the work he s put in to be a part of this and excel his baseball career the elder Grissom explained adding the chance to be around the future stars of the encounter it doesn t really get any better than that for me Switch-pitcher skills Seattle minor leaguer Jurrangelo Cijntje established off his switch-pitching skills in his scoreless second inning for the AL He recorded a strikeout against Jes s Made while pitching from the right side when threw from the left side while coaxing a fly ball from De Paula before giving up a single to LuJames Groover again from the right side and then switching yet again to strike out Joe Mack and end the inning AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source
