Troy Tulowitzki put a beautiful swing on a 95 MPH Max Scherzer fastball in the 5th inning of Tuesday night’s All-Star game.

That is not necessarily unexpected; when you match an elite hitter up with an elite pitcher, each guy will win his share of the battles. With a patented Tulo swing in which he hit the ball hard the other way, Tulo won this battle against the defending Cy Young award winner.

On a night that Tulowitzki’s incredible individual season was acknowledged by a national audience, he showed why he is one of the best in all of baseball, narrowly missing what would have been an even more incredible home run.

The Swing

What made this play even more impressive was the slide into second base. American League right fielder Jose Bautista got a perfect bounce off the wall and was immediately locked and ready to throw. Faster runners than Tulowitzki would have been at risk of getting thrown out at second in this spot.

The throw did beat Tulo comfortably, but fellow shortstop Alexei Ramirez had a hard time finding Tulo when he turned to his left to make the tag. This allowed Tulo to use a swim move, avoid the tag, and reach second safely on a headfirst slide without breaking, straining, or tearing any of his fingers.

The Slide

It was a successful two days for Tulowitzki in Minneapolis. He will now turn his attention to the second half of the season for the miserable Rockies and the trade rumors that are starting to heat up in a significant way.