ATLANTA – Kyle Schwarber went 3 for 3 in the first All-Star Game home run swing-off to put the National League ahead 4-3 following a 6-6 tie in which the American League rallied from a six-run deficit on Tuesday night.

In baseball’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shootout, the game was decided by having three batters from each league take three swings each off coaches. The change was agreed to in 2022 to alleviate the concern of teams running out of pitchers.

Schwarber was named All-Star MVP.

Players from both teams stood outside their dugouts during the swing-off, jumping and shouting after each homer from their side. When Jonathan Aranda’s last swing for the AL fell short, NL players circled around Schwarber to celebrate.

“It was awesome,” Schwarber said. “The guys were really into it. They were yelling, screaming, cheering me on every swing. And then when that last one goes over, they were all pumped. It was a lot of fun.”

It‘s the third time the game was held in Atlanta, the first time in 25 years and the first time at Truist Park.

The National League led 6-0 early, but the American League climbed back to tie it in the ninth, leading to the mini-derby.

Managers had to declare their swing-off orders before the game, although Kyle Stowers subbed for Eugenio Suárez for the NL after Suárez was hit on the hand by a pitch late in the game.

Brent Rooker put the AL ahead by homering on his last two swings, and Stowers hit one.

Randy Arozarena boosted the AL lead to 3-1, and Schwarber was successful on all three tries, going down to a knee as he sent the one into the Chop House seats in right.

Aranda failed on all three tries, hitting the right-field wall with his second, and the NL didn’t have to use its last batter, two-time Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso, as it won for just the second time in the last 12 All-Star Games. The AL leads 48-45 with two ties.

Manager Aaron Boone of the AL selected Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda and manager Dave Roberts of the NL selected Kyle Stowers, Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso.

Rooker hit two, Arozarena hit one and Aranda hit zero. That wasn’t enough to top the NL’s four after , giving the National League the win.

Three Braves got the call for the Midsummer Classic, led by star Ronald Acuña Jr – who was voted as the starting right fielder for the National League and went 1-2 with a single and a strikeout. He was joined by pitcher Chris Sale and first baseman Matt Olson. Sale wasn’t able to play due to a fractured rib suffered in June.

Two former Braves are also at the game, but wearing different uniforms. Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman started for the National League and New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried was in attendance for the American League but did not play.

Freeman was removed for Alonso with two outs in the third inning, giving the crowd of 41,702 a chance to cheer a player who spent 12 seasons with the Braves and helped win the 2021 World Series title.

Robot umpire debuts

Four of five challenges were successful in the first use of the robot umpire in the All-Star Game

Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh signaled for an appeal to the Automated Ball-Strike System in the first inning, getting a strikeout for Detroit’s Tarik Subal on San Diego’s Manny Machado.

Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson also was successful as the first batter to call for a challenge, reversing a 1-0 fastball from Washington’s MacKenzie Gore in the fifth inning that had been called a strike. Mets closer Edwin Díaz and Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk also won challenges, and Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers lost one.

Styling

Teams were back in their regular-season club jerseys — whites for the NL, mostly grays for the AL — after four years of special All-Star uniforms that were much criticized.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. arrived in a Valentino smoking jacket and Christian Louboutin shoes. Instead of having players line up on the foul lines as they were introduced, they walked to a four-level red podium stretching across the infield dirt with flashing lights, smoke a DJ and dancers.