UPDATE: It's now official.
The 2011 MLB All-Star Game is continuing on, and Washington Nationals representative Tyler Clippard has already made a brief appearance. Clippard entered in the fourth inning to replace Cliff Lee with the NL trailing 1-0. He faced Adrian Beltre, who singled to left field on Clippard's third pitch of the at-bat. Luckily for Clippard, Hunter Prince gunned down Jose Bautista at the plate to end the inning. That was it for Clippard, who was in line to be replaced by Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.
Then, in the bottom of the inning, Prince Fielder mashed a home run to center field to give the NL a 3-1 lead. Suddenly, Clippard was in line to get the win. One batter, three pitches, and he could win?
Nationals fans should remember this scenario.
Why? It's exactly the same thing that happened with the team's lone representative in last year's All-Star Game. Matt Capps, who is now with Minnesota, entered in the bottom of the sixth inning with his team down 1-0 and in a jam. He struck out David Ortiz to get out of the inning in the only batter he faced. In the top of the seventh, Brian McCann hit a three-run double, and Capps got the win.
Will history repeat itself? We'll have to see, but so far, it looks like it will.