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WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11) -- The West Division continued its dominance of the Midsummer Classic tonight, topping the East 3-1 in a close-fought contest at Griffith Stadium. Chicago's Gary Sheffield was the star of the game, walking twice, and contributing a RBI single.  The win was the West's fourth straight, 5th of last 6, and 8th of last 11. The game marked the first time in UL history that brothers faced off as starting pitchers in the All-Star Game, with Brooklyn's Ramon Martinez starting for the East and Atlanta's Pedro Martinez for the West. Sheffield is the second Colt in a row, and third in the last six games, to earn All-Star MVP honors.

The West took the lead early, with Barry Bonds' RBI double off Ramon in the first plating Ivan Calderon. The East knotted it up in the bottom of the second on a solo homer by Jose Canseco off Steve Trachsel. The West recaptured the lead in the third when 2-3-4 hitters Calderon, Bonds, and Gary Sheffield strung together consecutive singles off  Detroit's Alex Fernandez.  The visitors added an insurance run off  Scott Bankhead in the seventh: a Rafael Palmeiro single that scored Albert Belle, who had singled and stole second base.

West pitchers handcuffed East batters all night, allowing just three hits until the ninth inning. Trailing 3-1 with Calvin Schiraldi staying in for a two-out save, the East threatened. After retiring the first two batters, the St. Louis reliever gave up singles to Chris Sabo and Fred McGriff, bringing the winning run to the plate. After a wild pitched move the runners up and put the tying run in scoring position, Schiraldi induced a feeble groundout to short by Canseco to end the game.

Barry Bonds and Fred McGriff were the only batters with two hits, and Canseco's was the lone home run and the first All-Star home run by a Cleveland Baron since Cecil Cooper in 1979.

The top pitching performers were Chicago's Erik Hanson and Boston's Pat Hentgen, who both had 1-2-3 innings with a pair of strikeouts.

It was the third Midsummer Classic in the nation's capital, after 1965 and 1976. The next three games will be played in relatively new stadiums: Denver's Ralph Carr Field in 1994, Toronto's Ed Werenich Stadium in 1995, and Florida's Ponce de Leon Stadium in 1996.

CHICAGO (July 25) -- Atlanta closer Steve Howe notched his 16th save of the year today in a 4-1 win at Comiskey Park. The save was the 395th of his 14-year career, moving him one ahead of Hall of Fame candidate Joe Sambito for the most saves in league history. Signed through the 1995 season, the 34-year-old shows no signs of slowing down and could threaten 450 saves before his career is over.

• Seattle's David West turned in the season's second no-hitter on July 8, topping Boston's Ryan Bowen 1-0 in a pitcher's duel. The no-hitter was the first in club's 31-year history. [The Rainiers entered the league in 1962 as the Dallas Texans.]

• The July heat must be to blame for a league-wide power surge. Three batters hit homer hat tricks within a week in early July: Tim Salmon (KEY) on July 2, Ryan Klesko (DET) on July 3, and Barry Bonds (STL) on July 8, a day after teammate Lenny Dykstra hit the season's third cycle.

• Speaking of Klesko, he leads all rookie batters in WAR (1.4), but trails Boston SP Ryan Bowen overall. Bowen, the 32nd overall pick in 1991, is 6-9, 3.47 with a 2.3 WAR.

• On the milestone front, Seattle's Willie McGee got his 500th stolen base on July 8; he is the 18th to reach that mark. And Barry Bonds became the 42nd player to reach 300 home runs on his 28th birthday.

• Manhattan was the hottest team in the league in July, going 19-6, including an 11-game win streak to close the month. Matt Young had 5/6 quality starts and a 2.59 ERA in the month and Heathcliff Slocumb had 10 shutdowns, 7 saves, and a 0.00 ERA in 14 appearances. Manhattan is just five games out of the playoff zone heading into the final two months.

• The West race is a proverbial dog, cat, and bird fight, with Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis in a virtual three-way tie at the top, though Stats+ give the Outlaws a 52 percent chance to win the division.

• Atlanta has the rare distinction of being best and worst: best at pitching and worst at hitting. A team hasn't ranked first and last since... okay, last season. Toronto.