Astros, Nationals lead way with 3 All-Star starters each

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals hold sizable leads in their division races, and each team had three players voted to be the starting lineup of the July 11 All-Star Game in Miami.

The All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers were all announced Sunday.

The three Astros voted as starters in the American League were second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder George Springer.

Washington’s representatives in the National League starting lineup will be first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Daniel Murphy and outfielder Bryce Harper, who was the leading vote-getter in the NL.

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart and outfielders Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies and Marcell Ozuna of the host Miami Marlins round out the National League starting lineup.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have the best record in the National League, will not have any All-Star starters.

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was the top vote-getter in the American League. He was elected to a starting spot in the outfield along with injured Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout.

The other starting infielders are Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak, Cleveland Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez and Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez.

Tampa Bay’s Corey Dickerson was selected as the designated hitter.

With the addition of the reserves and pitchers, the Indians, Yankees and Astros each had five players named to the AL All-Star squad.

For the Yankees, catcher Gary Sanchez, second baseman Starlin Castro and pitchers Luis Severino and Dellin Betances were selected for the game along with Judge.

Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, outfielder Michael Brantley, and pitchers Corey Kluber and Andrew Miller were named along with Ramirez.

Pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers were the other Astros named to the AL squad.

In the National League, only the Nationals had five players make the roster as right-handers Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg were selected as pitchers.

The other AL reserves are first baseman Yonder Alonso of the Oakland Athletics, second baseman Jonathan Schoop of the Baltimore Orioles, third baseman Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins, outfielders Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox and Avisail Garcia of the Chicago White Sox, and designated hitter Nelson Cruz of the Seattle Mariners.

Other AL pitchers selected were Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers, Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers, Craig Kimbrel and Chris Sale of the Red Sox, Ervin Santana of the Minnesota Twins and Jason Vargas of the Kansas City Royals.

The five final-vote candidates are shortstop Elvis Andrus of the Rangers, shortstop Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, shortstop Didi Gregorius of the Yankees, first baseman Logan Morrison of the Rays and third baseman Mike Moustakas of the Royals.

The other NL reserves included catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks, first baseman Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds, second baseman Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates, second baseman DJ LeMahieu of the Colorado Rockies, shortstop Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, third baseman Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks, and outfielders Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, Michael Conforto of the Mets, Ender Inciarte of the Atlanta Braves, and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins.

The NL pitching staff includes Wade Davis of the Chicago Cubs, Robbie Ray and Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks, Brad Hand of the San Diego Padres, Greg Holland of the Rockies, Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, Corey Knebel of the Milwaukee Brewers, Carlos Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals and Pat Neshek of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The National League final-vote candidates are first baseman Justin Bour of the Marlins, third baseman Kris Bryant of the Cubs, third baseman Anthony Rendon of the Nationals, first baseman Mark Reynolds of the Rockies and third baseman Justin Turner of the Dodgers.