ame 3 on Final Destination, but missed a crucial game-ending rest to seal it. Instead, Armada won and was now on cha

SAN DIEGO -- Weve seen this movie before. It was supposed to be Big Papis night. It was supposed to be the Chicago Cubs night. We had our All-Star scripts and our All-Star storylines written in our heads. And then ...As usual, when it was time to hit the big stage Tuesday night, it turned into the Kansas City Royals show.It turned into Eric Hosmers magical All-Star evening. It turned into Salvador Perezs magical All-Star evening. It may have been July, not October, but it all felt very familiar -- two men who have spent so much time on the big stage doing what theyve now done so many times.Hosmer sliced a second-inning homer to left field in the first All-Star at-bat of his life. Two batters later, Perez became the first catcher in Royals history to make an All-Star Game home run trot, bopping a towering two-run bomb to left off his friend, Johnny Cueto. An inning later, Hosmer would single in yet another run, on his way to an All-Star MVP award.And that was the story of the 2016 All-Star Game: Royals 4, National League 2. And it all made perfect sense -- other than the fact that a team that hit two home runs in the entire World Series changed the All-Star Game with two home runs in the same inning.Wow. Crazy, Perez said, with a smile as wide as Coronado Beach, as that news was delivered to his locker. Thats why baseball is crazy. You know that. But crazy good. Yessir.Crazy good. Yessir. The Royals are full of crazy goodness, every time they need it most. So here is more of the craziness they sprung on the world, on the way to handing home-field advantage to whoever the heck the American League representative in the World Series may turn out to be:? Never once, in the six seasons and 575 games they had started together as big league teammates, had Hosmer and Perez homered in the same inning of any game -- regular season or postseason. So of course they both went deep in the very first inning in which they both batted in an All-Star Game.? And who gave up those two homers? Didnt it make perfect, crazy-good sense that it would be Cueto, their teammate on the World Series Express last fall? Only once, in 86 previous All-Star Games, had any player hit a home run off a pitcher he had played with the year before. (The lone instance: Alfonso Soriano homered off Roger Clemens in the 2004 Midsummer Classic.) Then Hosmer and Perez did it in a span of three hitters in this game. Yeah, right. Of course they did.? And no catcher had ever hit an All-Star home run against a pitcher hed caught the year before. But you cant say never anymore, thanks to Perezs homer. (Never? Perez gulped when we passed along that bulletin, then let out a giant laugh. Thats why were tight, boys.)? And oh, by the way, this was all very strange on Cuetos end, too. He hadnt given up two home runs in the same inning of a regular-season game since July 8, 2014. That was 70 starts ago.? Meanwhile, just one other time before this had any set of teammates homered in the same inning of the same All-Star Game, according to research by Elias Sports Bureau. You have to go back more than four decades to find the last time it happened, to Steve Garvey and Jim Wynn hitting long balls off Vida Blue in 1975.? And finally, how rare is it for two teammates to drive in all the runs for the winning team in any All-Star Game? So rare, according Elias research, that it had never happened before.But Hosmer and Perez know all about what it takes to do stuff that had never been done. Or stuff that people kept telling them couldnt be done. Its the specialty of their house. And on this night, it was the American League that reaped the benefits, not just the long-suffering citizens of Kansas City.I enjoyed that, said AL starter Chris Sale, who had fallen behind, 1-0, on a Kris Bryant homer, before Hosmer and Perez took over. Because the last time I faced them, those same guys took me deep. So it was nice to see that for me and not against me.The only two teammates who had even homered in the same game in any of the previous 40 All-Star Games were David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, of the 2004 Red Sox. And its an excellent bet that Hosmer and Perez wont approach the same orbit as the 1,080 career homers Ortiz and Manny would go on to mash in their careers.But in their own way, Hosmer and Perez have become the faces of this generation of Royals, much the same way that Papi and Manny were the faces of the curse-busting Red Sox. So for these two men to share this moment, on this night, left both of them with a singular All-Star glow that is going to take a long, long time to fade.Couldnt have worked out any better, Hosmer said. Salvy and I go way back. A lot of you guys know we have been playing this game together for a long time. And to share that experience and have the games we did tonight was really special.Moments after uttering those words, Hosmer strolled across the clubhouse to his locker, the MVP trophy tucked under his arm. Perez looked up in mid-interview and lurched toward his All-Star co-star, to deliver a high-five and a hug, saying: Whats up, my MVP?Hoz is the best, Perez said, after that little hug break was over. We play together a lot. And I feel so happy for him and for his family. And now hes MVP, so thats exciting.Their team has had a frustrating first half, thanks to an onslaught of injuries and rotation issues. But if youve had a tough time looking past the standings, you might have missed something: Both Hosmer and Perez have used that October glory for fuel. Theyre both headed for the best offensive seasons of their careers. So what they did on this night, on this stage, came as no surprise to their hitting coach.Its no surprise to me, because theyve done it the last two years, Dale Sveum said. For them, this might be a much smaller stage.This is kind of their setting, the Royals hitting coach went on. And Ive seen it the last two years. Theyre just special people when it comes to that stage.No Royal had hit a home run in an All-Star Game since Bo Jackson in 1989. And before this night, only Bo would know what it took to be an All-Star MVP. But not anymore. Because Hosmer and Perez would turn this into yet one more night when this generation of Royals rose up to rewrite the history of their franchise.It might not be enough to propel back toward another ride on the parade floats. But no matter where this journey leads them, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez will always have the memories of this crazy-good evening playing on the DVRs in their brains.Crazy good. Yessir.Sergio Alcantara Jersey . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. George Moriarty Jersey . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. https://www.cheaptigers.com/1919z-willi-castro-jersey-tigers.html .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. Jeimer Candelario Jersey . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. Custom Detroit Tigers Jerseys . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2.In their path to the winners finals, Adam Armada Lindgren defeated William Leffen Hjelte while Juan Hungrybox Debiedma defeated Joseph Mango Marquez. It only seemed appropriate that the two finalists from last years DreamHack Winter would meet again. More importantly, they were both vying to become the unofficial best player of the year and every tournament has become an important measure as 2016 comes to a close.In the winners finals, the first two games were close, but Armada narrowly squeaked by in both games to take a 2-0 advantage. Hungrybox started slow with missed punishes, but showed signs of life in Game 3, where he finally landed some crucial rests on Armadas Fox to win the game. In Game 4, Armada stuck to Final Destination, a strong counter-pick in the Fox vs. Jigglypuff matchup. Despite Foxs nerfs in the PAL version of the game, Armada played the matchup so fundamentally solid and sent Hungrybox to losers.After losing to Hungrybox, Mango defeated Justin Wizzrobe Hallett, but struggled against Leffen in losers semis. Mango looked to take the first game, but Leffen recovered with an intricate firefox angle that avoided Mangos suicide down-air to win Game 1. Leffen ran away with the rest of the set to a quick 3-0 victory as Mango finished in fourth place.In losers finals, Leffen and Hungrybox fought in an exciting five-game set. Hungrybox won the crucial Game 1 to take the counnter-pick advantage.dddddddddddd They both traded the next three games on their respective counter-picks to tie the set at two games a piece. In the final game, Hungrybox took the early lead and picked on Leffens movement with crucial reads to win the set and get a second chance against Armada in grand finals.Armada struck first in the grand finals set with a win on Battlefield. Now a game behind, Hungrybox needed to win to keep the set close in counter-picks. He fell behind, but found a crucial jab-reset into rest to win the game. Hungrybox found success in Game 3 on Final Destination, but missed a crucial game-ending rest to seal it. Instead, Armada won and was now on champion point to win DreamHack: Winter.In Game 4, Hungrybox mixed up the pacing of the match to little success as Armada controlled the center stage. Game 4 went to last stock, but there was no miracle comeback from Hungrybox; Armada sealed the set to win DreamHack Winter 2016 and the $15,000 first place prize in front of his hometown.After the win, Armada said, I was disappointed last year after losing DreamHack Winter, and I really want to win a major here in Sweden. Its not often that Mango and Hungrybox level players come to Sweden and I am happy to win it in front of everyone this time. ' ' '