Hosmer slugs way to All-Star MVP honors

Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer homered, singled, and drove in a pair of runs to help the American League defeat the National League, 4-2, at Petco Park on Tuesday, and secure All-Star Game MVP honors.

Hosmer's second-inning solo shot - off former Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto, no less - tied the game 1-1 and set the stage for teammate Salvador Perez, who smacked a two-run homer two batters later to give the AL an early 3-1 advantage. Incidentally, the Kansas City-themed heroics brought back bad memories for NL All-Star manager Terry Collins, whose Mets lost to the Royals during last year's World Series.

"I said the same thing," Collins told reporters when asked about fans having flashbacks to last October when Hosmer scored a pivotal run during the Royals' title-clinching win in Game 5. "I'm tired of seeing ... Eric Hosmer."

Hosmer and Perez became just the second pair of teammates to homer during the same inning of an All-Star Game, joining Steve Garvey and Jim Wynn of the 1975 Dodgers. They're also the only teammates to account for all of the winning team's runs in the Midsummer Classic.

One inning later, Hosmer singled in Edwin Encarnacion to help build a lead the AL would not relinquish en route to its fourth straight victory over the NL. Hosmer joins Bo Jackson (1989) as the only Royals to ever win the award.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)