National League All-Stars 8, American League All-Stars 0: Eleven National League pitchers combined on a rare shutout as the Senior Circuit won its third straight All-Star Game in a one-sided affair at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium.

Starter Matt Cain kicked it off with two scoreless innings and a host of others - including Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and Nationals fireballer Stephen Strasburg - were just as stingy as the NL posted the first All-Star Game shutout since 1996, when they blanked the AL 6-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The AL mustered only six hits.

Melky Cabrera went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs and was named the game's Most Valuable Player, Ryan Braun doubled and tripled and Pablo Sandoval added a bases-clearing triple - the first in All-Star history - as the National League victimized AL starter Justin Verlander. The defending AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner was lit up for five first-inning runs, needing 35 pitches to get out of the frame.

The win gives the NL home-field advantage in the World Series.

The National League jumped out quickly, scoring the game's first run on a one-out single from Cabrera and a Ryan Braun RBI double. Verlander then loaded the bases for Sandoval, who ripped a shot just inside the right-field line that brought home Braun, Carlos Beltran and Buster Posey.

Dan Uggla followed with an infield single that scored Sandoval.

Cabrera went to work in the third inning against Matt Harrison. After Matt Holliday singled home a Rafael Furcal triple, Cabrera - who hit 18 home runs with Kansas City in 2011 - launched a Harrison pitch over the left-field wall to give the NL an 8-0 advantage.

Hometown favorite Billy Butler came up in the bottom of the seventh inning to cheers from the sold-out crowd. He grounded out sharply to third base, but was given a chorus of cheers as he returned to the dugout.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Verlander has allowed only seven first-inning runs during the regular season. ... The triple was Sandoval's first of the season. ... The largest cheers during pre-game introductions were reserved for Butler, Cabrera and Atlanta Braves OF Chipper Jones, who will be retiring at season's end. Jones was given another warm ovation when he entered the game, then promptly reached base on a slow dribbler through the right side. ... The game's two youngest players both reached base. Bryce Harper, 19, drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning while 20-year-old Mike Trout singled and stole second in the sixth. ... The NL has won all three All-Star games held in Kansas City. ... The AL has scored only two combined runs in the last three mid-season classics.