Carl Crawford also made it in 2010, but this was memorable because for the first time in franchise history, multiple Rays were in the starting lineup for the American League as David Price was the starting pitcher for this game while Longoria and Crawford were in the starting lineup. In fact, more Rays were in the starting lineup than Yankees for the first time in history. .
Price's first half of the season was amazing as he went 12-4 with a 2.24 ERA and struck out 100 batters while allowing just 95 hits in 115.1 innings of work to earn the opening nod from manager Joe Girardi. Longoria's first half was impressive at the plate as his slash line was .324/.403/.527 with 34 extra base hits, 42 runs scored, 43 driven in, and ten stolen bases that was fueled mostly by a red-hot start to the season.
Price made the most of his first appearance as an All-Star throwing two scoreless innings, striking out Ryan Howard on five pitches before allowing a single to David Wright who was quickly erased on a double play started by Evan Longoria off the bat of Ryan Braun.
Longoria was given two plate appearances in this contest and in his first at bat, he doubled off Ubaldo Jimenez who was the starting pitcher for the National League and walked in his next appearance while facing Hong-Chih Kuo. That walk led to the American League's first run of the game as Longoria scored on a sacrifice fly from Robinson Cano with no outs in the bottom of the 5th.
Their overall impact in the game took a back seat to what both represented. The most important part of that event is that Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford made the team in the first round of fan voting becoming the first Rays to accomplish such a feat. Previously, Longoria's victory in the final fan voting of 2008 was the only other Rays player to make the team via the voting process. Additionally, a Rays pitcher was named the starting pitcher for the American League for the first time in franchise history.