American League 3, National League 0: The New York Yankees' Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect eighth inning in his final All-Star Game as the visiting American League snapped a three-game losing streak in the 84th edition at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.

Rivera emerged from the bullpen with Metallica's "Enter Sandman" blaring from the loudspeakers as players from both teams and the sellout crowd gave the all-time saves leader a standing ovation as he stood alone on the field. The 43-year-old became the first reliever to win the Most Valuable Player award.

Jose Bautista, J.J. Hardy and Jason Kipnis drove in runs for the AL, which shut out the NL for the first time since 1990 after losing 8-0 last season - the first back-to-back shutouts in All-Star Game history. Joe Nathan yielded a two-out double to Paul Goldschmidt in the ninth inning before completing the three-hitter.

It appeared the All-Star Game debut of Mets' right-hander Matt Harvey was not going to be successful when Mike Trout led off the game with a double and Robinson Cano was hit by a pitch. But Harvey struck out Miguel Cabrera, got Chris Davis to fly out and struck out Bautista before pitching a perfect second.

The AL snapped a 17-inning All-Star Game scoreless streak when Cabrera led off the fourth with a double, moved to third on Davis' line-drive single to right off first baseman Joey Votto's glove and scored on Bautista's sacrifice fly.

The first 13 NL batters were retired in order - including six in the second and third innings by winning pitcher Chris Sale - before Carlos Beltran singled to left off Felix Hernandez. Mets third baseman David Wright, who received the largest ovation during pregame introductions, singled in his final at-bat in the seventh.

Hardy produced an RBI fielder's choice in the fifth inning and Kipnis added a run-scoring double in the eighth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The NL leads the series 43-39-2. ... Cano left after Cabrera struck out in the first inning with a contusion on his right leg just above his knee. X-rays were negative. ... In the 10 years since the 2002 All-Star Game tie prompted commissioner Bud Selig to award home-field advantage in the World Series to the winner, the winning league has won the World Series seven times, including the last four. ... Nathan is second among active pitchers in saves with 310 less than Rivera's 638. ... American League 3B Manny Machado made the defensive play of the game when he took Goldschmidt's grounder on a short hop behind the bag before throwing a strike to first to record the first out of the seventh inning. ... Sale and Harvey were the only two pitchers to work two innings. ... Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, the 1967 Rookie of the Year who was 198-124 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 seasons with the Mets, threw out the first pitch. ... Arizona's Patrick Corbin took the loss. Corbin is 11-1 in his second major-league season - with the loss coming at Citi Field on July 2. ... AL manager Jim Leyland elected to use Rivera in the eighth inning to ensure he would pitch.