NEWS » Case in point: a sequence late in

SAN DIEGO -- No matter the names, the AL dominates the All-Star Game in the 21st Century and starts the World Series at home.Back in 2003, when a This Time It Counts sign was put up in right at Chicagos U.S. Cellular Field, the stars included Roger Clemens and Hank Blalock. This year, the key names were baseball Royalty: Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez.And because they came up big Tuesday night, Kansas City would open the World Series at home again if it wins a third straight AL pennant -- a big if.It just brings that sense of comfort to the team and gives you a jump-start for the whole Series, Hosmer said after homering, driving in two runs and earning the MVP Award in the American Leagues 4-2 win over the Nationals.The Game 1 Series host has won six of the last seven titles and 24 of the last 30.I would have loved to have that seventh game last year in San Francisco, manager Dusty Baker said in 2003, thinking back to when his Giants lost Game 7 at Anaheim the previous fall.Home teams have taken a 2-0 Series lead in six of the last 13 years. No visiting team has won the first two games since the 1999 New York Yankees, who swept Atlanta.Hopefully this is something we can all rally upon for the second half and find a way to use that home-field advantage, Hosmer saidHosmer and Perez homered in a six-pitch span, and the Kansas City duo drove in all the ALs runs. The defending World Series champion Royals are languishing at 45-43, seven games off the AL Central lead and in the middle of the wild-card race.Before the game, Royals manager Ned Yost told the AL team of the importance of earning home-field.We dont know who is going to be in the World Series. We dont know who is going to be representing the American League, but we know how much that home-field advantage helped us, Hosmer recalled his manager saying.The AL cut its deficit to 43-42 with two ties -- including the infamous 7-7, 11-inning game at Milwaukee in 2002 that sparked baseball officials to link Series home field to the All-Stars the following year.After two decades of NL domination starting in the early 1960s -- 20 wins in 21 games -- the AL has nearly caught up. The NLs scoring lead is just 360-359.Even the three NL players who became All-Star MVPs in the last 13 years now play for the AL -- Prince Fielder, Brian McCann and Melky Cabrera.Of course, home-field isnt everything. Speaking in 2005, then-Cardinals manager Tony La Russa thought back to Bostons Series sweep the previous year.I think that if we had started the series in St. Louis, he said, maybe we would have lost in five. 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DENVER -- While his counterpart was kept under constant duress, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask had a relatively breezy night.Very few defensive breakdowns, hardly any penalties and a puck-controlling offense will do that.Rask stopped 21 shots and David Krejci scored in the first period, lifting Boston over the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 on Sunday night.The difficult-to-solve Rask showed no signs of fatigue despite being in net for a second straight night. He made 31 saves in a 2-1 win over Arizona on Saturday. Rask got his 33rd career shutout and moved to 7-0 on the road this season.Thats how you win a road game -- a pretty much mistake-free game, Rask said. We kept them on the outside and really limited their scoring chances and rushes. And then we kept the puck in the offensive zone and made some plays and created chances.Krejci scored his second goal of the season on a wrist shot midway through the first period -- a big development for a team fighting some exhaustion.We didnt have to overwork, said Rask, whose 10 wins this season are tied with Montreal goaltender Carey Price for the league lead.The Avalanche pulled Semyon Varlamov with about a minute remaining but couldnt generate much offense. Dominic Moore sealed it with an empty-net goal with 27.2 seconds remaining.Varlamov turned out to be the hard-luck loser, stopping a season-high 43 shots.Varly was outstanding, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. He was the best player on the ice.An already struggling Avalanche offense was missing leading scorer Matt Duchene, whos dealing with concussion-like symptoms stemming from a hit against Winnipeg on Friday. It was the fourth time Colorado has been shut out this season.Passed up on a lot of shots early in the game, too much east-west plays, and then we didnt get a lot of our point shots through, a lot of them got blocked, Bednar said. Its kind of Bostons M.O., they do a good job in that regard, but we certainly made it too easy for (Rask).Boston didnt commiit a penalty until midway through the third period, when rookie defenseman Brandon Carlo was called for holding.dddddddddddd Recent call-up A.J. Greer tried to wrap in a shot and then slid into the net with Rask. The officials took a quick look at the play on video to see if the puck crossed the line.It didnt.Carlo then had a breakaway out of the penalty box, only to be thwarted by Varlamov.Its frustrating that we didnt win, Varlamov said. It doesnt matter how you play. Im not happy that we lost because we need the two points. Thats the most important thing for us.Boston dominated the second period, outshooting the Avalanche by a 23-7 margin. The only thing keeping this from a blowout was Varlamov. Case in point: a sequence late in the period when Brad Marchand lined a shot that bounced off Varlamovs left pad and back to Marchand. The Bruins left winger quickly lined another shot that Varlamov, who caught it with his glove.Krejci got the best of Varlamov at 9:30 of the opening period off a pass from David Backes. That was all Rask needed.Just another great game. Cant say enough about that guy, Krejci said. Hes been great so far and keeping us in the game every single game. Sometimes, we only need one or two goals to win the game.Game notes Boston is five goals shy of scoring the 20,000th goal in franchise history, according to the team. The Bruins will join Montreal as the only teams in NHL history to reach that milestone. ... Carlo is from Colorado Springs and grew up a big Avalanche fan. ... Avalanche LW Blake Comeau missed a fourth straight game with a groin injury. ... Greer played in his first NHL game after being recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.UP NEXTBruins: At Minnesota on Thursday night to finish a three-game trip.Avalanche: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday night to wrap up a four-game homestand. ' ' '