Garner can’t garner a victory for the N.L.

PITTSBURGH – Phil Garner managed an All-Star game in Pittsburgh the same way he played in the city a quarter-century ago. His National League players got their uniforms dirty, ran the bases aggressively, even pushed each other out of the way to get to popups.

The man once known as “Scrap Iron” was tired of hearing how the American League had a tremendous advantage in talent and motivation, and he pushed nearly every button possible to try to squeeze out a surprise win.

It almost worked, too, until what appeared to be his top asset, his late-inning bullpen, failed him with the N.L. within one strike of winning.

Michael Young’s two-run triple in the ninth off Trevor Hoffman gave the A.L. a 3-2 victory Tuesday night and extended the N.L.’s winless streak to 10 games, including the tie in 2002.

“It looked like we had it all locked up,” Pirates outfielder Jason Bay said. “It looked like it was over. It looked like it was done. But that triple just sucked the air right out of us. That burst our bubble, especially when Mariano Rivera came out of the bullpen.”

And especially when Hoffman, who is closing in on the career saves lead, blows a save opportunity for only the second time all season.

“I couldn’t have scripted it any better,” said Garner, the Houston Astros manager. “We had the lead. You’re going to turn it over to Trevor Hoffman, who has been golden over the years.”

Living up to his promise to bring back the aggressive style that the N.L. was known for back in the days it dominated the All-Star game – remember Pete Rose running over Ray Fosse at the plate? – Garner managed the game like it was the World Series, not an exhibition.

Maybe it was having his old manager, Chuck Tanner of the 1979 World Series champion Pirates, by his side as a special coach, but Garner set the tone early after the A.L.’s Vladimir Guerrero and the N.L.’s David Wright each hit solo homers in the second.

In the third, Alfonso Soriano stole second immediately after he singled, taking advantage of Garner’s decision to allow his players to run on their own. Garner also told them during his pregame talk that after so many years of A.L. dominance, this was their game to shine.

Reflecting that aggressive tone, N.L. third-base coach Jerry Narron, the Reds manager, sent Soriano home on Carlos Beltran’s single and Soriano was thrown out at the plate on center fielder Vernon Wells’ strong throw.

But that allowed Beltran to take second, and he then pulled off the first steal of third base in an All-Star game since 1998. That put Beltran in position to score on Roy Halladay’s wild pitch, a manufactured run if there ever was one. The N.L.’s problem was it didn’t get any more runs.

“I just went in there and told him he managed a great game,” said Tanner, who stood at Garner’s side throughout the game after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. “What a great job. He did everything he could to win that game.”

Garner didn’t let up as a pitching staff that lacked the A.L.’s big names – guys like Brian Fuentes, Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Webb, Derrick Turnbow – pitched shutout inning after shutout inning.

“We did have something to prove,” said Turnbow, Milwaukee’s closer. “We played our hearts out.”

Rather than designating which inning a pitcher would go beforehand, as if often done in All-Star games, Garner tried to gain favorable matchups with each reliever he brought in.

Fuentes, the strike-throwing Colorado reliever, came in when two left-handed hitters were due up, and he quickly got through the inning by throwing only nine pitches, eight for strikes.

Hey, what was Garner thinking – this is supposed to be play-it-for-fun game, right?

Garner’s attitude was evident in the field, too, with Pirates spark plug Freddy Sanchez actually shoving third baseman Wright out of the way to catch a foul popup.

Sanchez, playing shortstop, also went high into the air to make an excellent catch of Mark Loretta’s line drive to end the fifth.

“Perhaps they had a little more power than we did, but there’s nobody grittier on a ball diamond than (David) Eckstein and Sanchez,” Garner said. “If we had to do battle again, I’d be comfortable going in with all these guys.”

The attitude was there. The hustle was there. All that was missing, as usual, was an N.L. victory.

“Everybody here is upset,” Wright said. “The pitchers came out and dominated. But it all came down to that last inning.”