National League starting pitcher Brad Penny set the tone for the evening, striking out Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter, and David Ortiz to start the game. His fastball had uncharacteristic speed, never going below 96 miles per hour, and – aside from a lone curveball – was the only pitch he threw in the first inning. American League pitcher Kenny Rogers wasn't as overpowering as Penny, but still escaped the first relatively unscathed. The AL would get to Penny in the second as Vladimir Guerrero hit an opposite-field home run that just cleared the right field fence, giving the AL a 1–0 lead. The NL would respond in the bottom of the inning with David Wright hitting his own home run to left field, tying the game at 1–1.