The Rundown: American League Wins All-Star Game, Bryant and Rizzo Go Hitless, Jonathan Papelbon Would Like to Reunite With Jon Lester, Could Cubs Trade for Justin Upton?

The American League downed the National League 6-3 last night in the All-Star game.

And because of the ridiculous rule in MLB, the American League now will have home field advantage in the World Series.

The AL led from the first batter of the game, after Mike Trout took Zack Greinke deep with a line shot to right field. They didn’t look back after that.

The Chicago All-Stars had a pretty quiet night. Anthony Rizzo, who got the start as the designated hitter, went 0-2 with a weak groundout with a man at third (he didn’t get an RBI) and a flyout to center field.

Kris Bryant entered the game as the left fielder in the middle innings. He drew a walk in his first at-bat and then flew out to the warning track. As we have seen quite a bit with the Cubs so far, he showed a great deal of discipline in the AB in which he walked. He worked the count full and actually fouled off a pitch he probably should have crushed. But he correctly laid off a tough pitch for ball four.

White Sox All-Star Chris Sale did not appear in the game.

If the Cubs happen to make it to the World Series this season, they will not have home-field advantage when they get there. MLB made some good changes to the Home Run Derby on Monday night. Hopefully they can change this home-field rule as well (Yes, I would say the same thing if the National League had won tonight).

Other notes

* Jonathan Papelbon wants out of Philadelphia. That’s pretty clear. The Phillies closer, who has ties to the Cubs’ front office (Theo Epstein drafted him in Boston), said on Monday that he’d like to be reunited with Jon Lester. “But the decision is not up to me,” he said. “Believe me, I wish it was.” While I admit you can never have too much bullpen depth, I’m not sure that another reliever will be the Cubs’ top priority at the deadline. I would think a starting pitcher and/or extra bat would take precedence. That said, Papelbon would be a nice piece to add (assuming the Cubs believe he would be a good fit).

* Could the Cubs target outfielder Justin Upton in a trade with the Padres? Joel Sherman writes that team executives say this might be the case. Upton would be a free agent after the season, but would still likely require a quality prospect or two heading back to San Diego. I don’t see the Cubs making this type of move in the position that they’re in currently. If they believed they were one bat away from a World Series, then maybe. But I don’t think they’re there just yet.