slugger made his way through the scrum of players, h

SAN DIEGO -- David Ortiz ended his All-Star Game career with quite a walk off.The popular Big Papi was embraced outside the dugout by nearly every member of the American League roster Tuesday night when he was replaced by a pinch runner and strolled back to the bench.Miguel Cabrera playfully tousled Ortizs hair. As the Boston slugger made his way through the scrum of players, he wrapped his Red Sox teammate Jackie Bradley Jr. in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground.Ortiz called the embraces something Ill never forget. ... You see all your boys.Catcher Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants clapped his bare hand against his mitt as Ortiz left the field.The American League beat the National League 4-2.Ortiz helped the Red Sox end their 86-year World Series title drought in 2004, and then helped them win the Series in 2007 and 2013, when he was chosen as MVP.Ortiz announced on Nov. 18 -- his 40th birthday -- that 2016 would be his final season.Things are getting harder. ... As you get older, it gets a little difficult, he said after coming out of his 10th All-Star Game.The designated hitter leads the majors in slugging percentage, on-base average and extra-base hits this year. Hes batting .332 with 22 home runs and 72 RBI.The Red Sox are two games behind Baltimore in the AL East at the break.Ortiz drew a walk in the third inning from Miamis Jose Fernandez, who said a day earlier that hed groove a pitch for the slugger. Ortiz kidded with Fernandez on his way to first base after taking ball four.I was supposed to hit a home run in my second at-bat. My boy told me he was going to throw me a fastball and the first pitch was a changeup, Ortiz said. I was like, `I thought it was going to be a fastball?He told me yesterday all he was going to throw me was fastballs. He told me it was the catchers fault -- he called it. Then 3-2 he threw me a slider and Im like, `Are you trying to break my back? But he said it was the catchers fault.Fernandez called it an amazing experience. At first I was just throwing fastball, fastball, fastball, so I thought I should mix it up with a breaking pitch and he took it. I was nervous. I couldnt believe that I was actually pitching to him. We both looked at each other and smiled. We knew what was going on. It was great. He signed the jersey I brought for him. It was just special.A few moments after Ortiz reached first, AL manager Ned Yost sent in Edwin Encarnacion to run and Ortiz left to a nice ovation.Yost said he told Ortiz before the game that he was going to get two at-bats, and if he reached on the second one, he would come out. If Ortiz hadnt reached, Yost planned to send him up for a third at-bat, wait for him to be announced and then send up a pinch-hitter.But what he didnt know is I wanted the team to go out and meet him. So that was a cool moment, I thought.Big Papi addressed his teammates earlier in the day.I told them that it takes a lot of work to get to the All-Star Game. You dont get here with a good name or a good family. You have to put up the numbers. I told them that they have to do that for their whole career.Asked about his career overall, he said: I have learned so much about this game, I would like to spread it out to the young kids in the game.Ortiz grounded out hard in his first at-bat in his finale.Its an unbelievable feeling to be around this guy, said Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez, who homered for the AL. Thats the guy we want to be. Cheap Brooks Robinson Jersey . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Cheap Orioles Jerseys China . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. http://www.cheaporiolesjerseys.com/ . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. Cheap Baltimore Orioles Jerseys . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Wholesale Orioles Jerseys . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. ST. LOUIS -- Standing in front of his locker Sunday after the St. Louis Cardinals lost another series to a last-place team, right fielder Brandon Moss wasnt about to slap a Chuck Tanner happy face on this one.We go through our ups and we go through our downs, and we are consistently inconsistent, he said. Thats all there is to it.Moss and his teammates will continue the season-long search for consistency Monday night when they welcome the Cincinnati Reds to Busch Stadium for a three-game series.At 58-53, St. Louis remains among the contenders for a National League wild-card spot, even though it trails Miami for the second wild-card spot by a half-game, pending the outcome of the Marlins game in Colorado.But theres no denying that the Cardinals have mostly missed a prime chance to bank some wins in the last week. In the first six games of a nine-game stretch against Cincinnati and Atlanta, two of the NLs three last-place teams, St. Louis went 2-4.Poor starting pitching has been a problem. The Cardinals got just one quality start in those six games -- Jaime Garcias eight shutout innings on Friday night against the Braves -- and have had to run through their bullpen consistently.St. Louis series loss at Atlantas hands continued a season-long trend of failing to win at home, where it is a shocking 26-32.I feel like every month is the month to watch out for things, Moss said. We have a good team. We still have two months left, so to be honest, a lot of things work themselves out in the last week of the season.TThe Reds fate is already worked out.dddddddddddd At 45-65, they will miss the playoffs for the third straight year and are looking toward 2017 and beyond, having dealt NL RBI leader Jay Bruce to the New York Mets.But Cincinnati at least deserves credit for not mailing in the first 3 1/2 weeks after the All-Star break. It won six straight series before dropping two of three in Pittsburgh during the weekend, although it salvaged a 7-3 win Sunday.These guys have not turned their backs on the fact that we expect to go out there and play hard and win games, Reds manager Bryan Price said. Its a tribute to the guys in the clubhouse.Monday nights pitching matchup is a repeat of the Cardinals 5-4 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday night in the Great American Ball Park.St. Louis Michael Wacha (7-7, 4.35) is 6-1 with a 1.97 ERA in 12 career games against the Reds. Only Texas pitcher Cole Hamels 1.93 ERA against Cincinnati is lower among active pitchers than Wachas.Cincinnati counters with rookie left-hander Cody Reed (0-6, 7.30), who was touched for five runs in five innings by the Cardinals. Reed, who hacked up four first-inning runs, has permitted 13 runs in the first inning of his eight starts.Tuesday nights game will pit former Red Mike Leake (8-9, 4.80) against Brandon Finnegan (7-8, 4.65), and Garcia (8-8, 4.04) opposes Anthony DeSclafani (6-0, 2.94) in Wednesday nights series finale. ' ' '