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He had to find a way to keep the inning going against Aroldis Chapman.

“I think Chapman wants the punch out there and I don’t; I don’t want to give it to him,” the Cardinals’ lone All-Star said. “He was throwing hard, man. He was throwing me a sinker. He threw me a four-seamer, a couple of sliders. I think the one I tapped was a slider. I was just in battle mode.

“I didn’t want to be the last out.”

He wouldn't be.

Not that everyone on the field knew that.

The American League erased a six-run deficit and tied the game, 6-6, in the top of the ninth. When Donovan “tapped” lefty Chapman’s slider for a grounder, the ball spun just barely fair in front of home plate to become a tag out. The shortest ball in play of the evening led to the biggest change in deciding an All-Star Game … well, ever. And it came at the end of the night that introduced robo-umps to the Midsummer Classic. Donovan stood at the nexus of both: His ninth-inning at-bat began with an automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge that reversed the call on him to a strike and it ended with an L-screen rolling out for a distilled home run derby to determine a winner.

With the score tied after nine innings a “swing off” would decide the All-Star Game. Each team picked three hitters. Each hitter got three swings against a batting practice pitcher to put a ball out of the park. The most derby-style home runs wins.

The Athletics’ designated hitter Brent Rooker, whose three-run homer sparked the AL rally, hit two balls out of the park on three swings as the first ever “swing off” hitter. Kyle Schwarber was the NL’s second batter, and he went 3-for-3, including a low liner that cleared the wall in center field and a drop-to-a-knee homer that proved the clincher. The NL won the swing off, 4-3, to take the Midsummer Classic by an official score of 7-6. Despite lobbying by the Dodgers to award BP pitcher and coach Dino Ebel with the win, there would be no “W” in the box score.

The MVP of the All-Star Game, Schwarber, did not get a hit in the All-Star Game.

“I was just saying there are a lot of guys who are way more deserving of this award,” Schwarber said.

The first-of-its-kind finish to the All-Star Game — an option that had been lurking for years in the rules and waiting to emerge with extra innings — brought an unexpected, dramatic ending to Donovan’s debut as an All-Star. He was in the thick of it. The only player on either team to collect more than one hit in the game, Donovan went 2 for 3 with two singles. He also scored a run on Pete Alonso’s three-run homer and had a backhand play at second base to quell the AL. All of that came after a day spent — as one NL official described him — “being a sponge.”

Standing at his locker late Tuesday night surrounded by boxes packed with gear and goodies and bound for ӣ����Ƶ, Donovan gestured around the clubhouse to say he tried to learn something from each All-Star in it.

“A couple of minutes with each person,” he said.

That included a conversation he’s sought from the moment he debuted.

In 2022, Donovan took the field for the Cardinals as a pinch-runner and made his major-league debut. The first player to congratulate him was Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ shortstop, right there at second base.

That gesture has been on Donovan’s mind ever since, and he’s wanted to “just be around that guy.” He got that chance this week at the All-Star festivities.

He also got a handshake, an embrace, and a conversation with Aaron Judge between team photos on Tuesday. Donovan hit in the cage with Mets slugger Alonso. He talked biomechanics with other hitters around the batting cage and listened how they described cues from their movements that he could use to act when his swing feels off. Donovan got some time with Dodgers’ game-planning coach J.T. Watkins.

Before rain doused some of the National League’s BP, Donovan took infield — the only player doing so and alone with coaches. Chris Woodward, the Dodgers' first-base coach and former Rangers manager, spoke about different drills and how they adjust.

Donovan described the angles he likes to work on.

Most grounders are hit at an average of 90 mph, Donovan said, and Woodward pointed out how he likes to hit grounders off of flip pitches from another coach to simulate game speed. Donovan intends to borrow that for his routine and see how it works for the angles.

“I learned a lot here, for sure,” Donovan said. “You look around this clubhouse and you see most of the best in the world at this game right now, right here. And we got the win. I could probably say one thing I got from each person. But I can’t give you all of the secrets.”

Neatly stacked near Donovan as he spoke late Tuesday night in the NL’s clubhouse was gear he wore. He had matching peach-colored protective pads from EvoShield with a Georgia peach logo to mark the All-Star Game in Atlanta. With dirt still lodged in the cleats, Donovan also had the Skechers shoes he wore. The company told him they designed and made his special All-Star cleats before the season — so they’d be ready for him when he was.

Donovan entered the game in the top of the fifth inning at second base.

He was quickly on opposite ends of two groundballs with Kansas City’s great shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. In Donovan’s first at-bat, he slashed a grounder against the lean of the defense and Witt gave chase. Donovan got an infield hit by beating Witt’s throw. An inning later, with a runner at third base, Witt skipped a grounder up the middle. Donovan backhanded the ball, and with his momentum carrying him from first he still threw over in time to beat Witt and get an out before the inning spiraled beyond four runs allowed.

“Anything hit that is not directly at me by Bobby Witt Jr., I know I have to get rid of quickly,” Donovan said. “It was part of a cool night. To do that, to be out there, to face the best arms in the league — just to be on the field was pretty cool.”

He was walking off the field after the frustrating groundout when word started spreading about how the game would be concluded.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts approached a few hitters Monday about being in the trio just in case there was a “swing off.” His plans changed a bit when Eugenio Suarez was out with a bruised hand due to a pitch in the game when he could not be one of the three. He turned Tuesday night in the ninth to a player he nicknamed “starfish,” Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers.

A coach talked to him in the dugout, and his response was: “You’re kidding.”

“I thought it was a joke,” he said.

Roberts walked over to promise they weren’t joking.

“And they weren’t,” Stowers said of participating. “If they would have asked me, I probably would have said no. I’m glad they nudged me.”

The NL trailed after the first round pitted Rooker against Stowers. Donovan leaned against the dugout railing — his bat and helmet already put away because he figured he would not be one of the three chosen. That’s also where he was when Schwarber hit. Donovan noted how many players, like Schwarber, do not take BP on the field, so the “swing off” was Schwarber’s first BP on the field in awhile and it came after already playing half of a game. Still, he tattooed three baseballs for a one-homer lead before the AL’s final batter. Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda failed to put one out of the ballpark, and the NL won.

The derby-style resolution to the Midsummer Classic was, as hockey fan Brendan Donovan might appreciate, akin to a shootout on the ice. He mentioned a different sport — but similar idea.

“I thought it was a cool finish,” Donovan said. “Essentially penalty kicks for the win.”