How Ohtani, Skenes dazzled but AL triumphed: 5 takeaways from MLB All-Star Game

ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Judge had not yet finished his compliment of Shohei Ohtani during a midgame interview in the third inning of Major League Baseball's 94th All-Star Game when the unicorn he was describing interrupted. 

"It's incredible what he does year in and year out," Judge began on the broadcast, "and you think about this year, where he's recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he's hitting .316 with 30 homers. It's just incredible …"

THWACK!

Judge might be clairvoyant. Ohtani was actually at 29 home runs on the year at the time of the interview, but the three-run, 400-foot blast Ohtani lifted off Tanner Houck in the middle of Judge's conversation in the third inning gave him 30 since Opening Day. 

It also started — and ended — the scoring for the National League as the American League stormed back to reclaim its All-Star reign. 

Here are three takeaways from the AL's 5-3 win. 

1. Jarren Duran takes home MVP, continuing Boston's surge through the break

Appropriately, the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP went to a Boston position player. Winning the award required besting one of the hardest-throwing starters in the sport. 

Duran was hoping to get a first-pitch fastball so he could see just how hard Hunter Greene throws. He watched a fastball go by, then took advantage when he saw something softer, turning on an 0-1 splitter from the Reds flamethrower that caught too much of the zone for a go-ahead, 413-foot home run in the fifth inning. 

That would be the difference in the game. 

"There's so many good players in this league, and I'm just thankful I can play against these guys," Duran said. "It's hard to put into words. I feel like it won't hit me until I try to go to sleep tonight."

After the homer, Duran —