Ian Kinsler: Good for Chipper Jones

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- No, Ian Kinsler was not trying to let the National League's Chipper Jones get a hit in the third baseman's final All-Star Game.

Jones, 40, hit a pinch-hit, slow-rolling grounder in the sixth inning between first and second, and Kinsler was not able to scoot to his left quickly enough to grab it as the ball rolled just past his glove and into right field.

Naturally, Kinsler was asked if he could have made a better play on the ball.

"I wish I could have," Kinsler said. "Both my hamstrings felt like they were going to explode and that I had lead in my feet. It worked out that it was Chipper Jones hitting it. Said and done it was pretty cool, but I would never just let a guy have a hit."

Jones, an eight-time All-Star who was making his first-ever appearance at Kauffman Stadium, had a big smile as he crossed the first-base bag. Kinsler said he saw it.

"It's cool that it worked out that way, no doubt, but there's not a lot of room to run underneath the dugout there, so I wasn't the freshest," Kinsler said.

Normally, Kinsler would have plenty of time and space to get loose before a game. But on Tuesday, he didn't get an opportunity to run and fully stretch out before he was inserted in the middle of the game.

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Richard Durrett

ESPNDallas.com

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Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.