Seven Royals now in position to start for AL at All-Star Game

The Royals recent losing ways hasn’t stopped the enthusiasm of All-Star Game balloting.

With Monday’s vote totals, Royals now lead American League players at seven of the nine positions, with first baseman Eric Hosmer and designated hitter Kendrys Morales moving into the lead for the first time at their positions.

They join third baseman Mike Moustakas, shortstop Alcides Escobar, catcher Salvador Perez and outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon as top vote-getters.

Only second baseman Omar Infante and a third outfielder, Alex Rios, aren’t leading. But Infante is second in the voting, trailing the Astros’ Jose Altuve by about 160,000 votes. Rios is fourth in the balloting for three outfield positions, although he has sat out all but 13 games because of a hand injury.

Perez once again leads all AL vote-getters at 4,419,620, and the two others who have received more than 4 million votes are Cain and Moustakas.

The 87th All-Star Game is July 14 in Cincinnati. The Royals are bidding to have a player voted into the starting lineup for the first time since outfielder Jermaine Dye in 2000.

Hosmer had been running second behind the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera and Morales behind the Mariners’ Nelson Cruz in the earlier voting.

Two more voting updates are scheduled before the balloting, which is being conducted online at MLB.com, ends at 11 p.m. July 2.

The pitchers and reserves for both squads will be determined through player ballot and by the All-Star managers, Ned Yost of the Royals and the San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy.

Nine AL starters will be voted in by the fans, and Yost and the players will have 24 other positions to fill. Each team must have at least one representative on the team.

In the NL, it’s eight starters voted in — no designated hitter on the ballot — and 25 spots filled by Bochy and the players.

The 34th and final roster position on each team will be determined by the fans, who will cast votes from a list of five players in each league.

Next updates: June 15, 22 and 29

This story was originally published June 8, 2015 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Seven Royals now in position to start for AL at All-Star Game."