MINNEAPOLIS — Derek Jeter soaked in the adulation from fans and players during one more night on baseball’s national stage, set the tone for the American League with a pregame speech, and then delivered two final All-Star hits.
On a summer evening filled with reminders of generational change, the AL kept up nearly two decades of dominance by beating the National League 5-3 on Tuesday for its 13th win in 17 years.
A 14-time All-Star who was MVP of the 2000 game in Atlanta, Jeter announced in February that this will be his final season. His hits left him with a .481 All-Star average (13-for-27), just behind Charlie Gehringer’s .500 record (10-for-20) for players with 20 or more at-bats.
Mike Trout, perhaps the top candidate to succeed the 40-year-old Yankees captain as the face of the game, seemed ready to assume the role with a tiebreaking triple and later a go-ahead double that earned the 22-year-old MVP honors.
Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer to help give the AL champion home-field advantage for the World Series.
The AL improved to 9-3 since the All-Star Game started deciding which league gets World Series home-field advantage; 23 of the past 28 titles were won by teams scheduled to host four of a possible seven games.