​PHILADELPHIA — Bombs burst in the air, and one even landed in the seats at Citizens Bank Park.Yet for almost the entirety of this 96th All-Star Game, all was quiet on the banks of the Delaware during the American League’s 4-0 throttling of their National League counterparts in the first Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia since 1996.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMajor League Baseball and the City of Brotherly Love went all in on America 250 – from quills to bike rides to Hologram Ray Charles and Patti LaBelle, all of which seemed to go over pretty well.The baseball?That was a much quieter affair, as you’ll discover when we break down the winners and losers of this annual midseason meeting:1 / 8Fans look on before the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park.(Brad Penner, Imagn Images)And boy, did they need it.After the AL set baseball back a few decades with an utterly mediocre first half – just five teams are over .500, and they went 132-160 against the National League – AL and Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said before the All-Star Game that “the season is called a season for a reason. You see where it shakes out after 162, but there’s definitely some strong teams in both leagues.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWell, after a 4-0 victory in which 11 AL pitchers held the NL to just three hits, maybe there’s a Junior Circuit renaissance around the corner.Oh, one win in a truly meaningless exhibition doesn’t galvanize an entire league in any sense. It won’t make the Angels relevant, or the mound in Yolo County any more pleasant for Athletics pitchers.But for a night the AL played crisp and nearly flawless baseball. Or perhaps, since the three-run first-inning rally was fueled by RBI hits from Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice, maybe just the Yankees are any good.At any rate, the AL has won 11 of the past 13 All-Star Games. Perhaps they can dig out their first World Series win since 2023 come October.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAll-Star Games can become glorified corporate spectacles. As the only pre-fixed date on the baseball calendar, the brands can roll deep, and the crowd seemingly consists of a never-ending stream of Capital One assistant vice presidents.But the irrepressible Philly fan forced their way into the proceedings, filling up far too many seats for the MLB draft, bringing more bodies and energy to the Futures Game than recent memory and providing a full-throated roar in rooting for their homeboys in the Home Run Derby.As so often happens, the crowd was a little tamer for Tuesday’s game, but the sea of Utley and Howard and Harper and Schmidt and Victorino and Morandini jerseys from Pattison to Reading Market was a feast for the eyes all week.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe longtime punching bag for the AL was showing off all its wares Tuesday night – to the extent a team can in a 4-0 snoozefest of a game.Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas put a capper on the game with