Toronto Blue Jays infielders Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien both finished atop the voting at their position, and three other Jays were named finalists in balloting for the MLB All-Star Game on Sunday.
Under a new format this year, voting proceeds in phases, and the starters for the July 13 game in Denver are not yet selected. The top three at each position (top nine among outfielders) were named finalists and move on to Phase 2. Voting for the starters begins Monday at noon and wraps up Thursday at 2. Fans can vote at mlb.com/vote or via Google search.
Vote totals are reset and Phase 1 votes do not carry over. The starters will be unveiled Thursday at 9 p.m. on ESPN, with reserves announced July 4.
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Guerrero, 22, finished first among all players with 2,704,788 total votes, becoming the youngest player in MLB history to lead in a balloting segment. Joining him as finalists at first are Houston's Yuli Gurriel (679,557) and reigning AL MVP José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox (441,892).
Guerrero went 2 for 4 in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Sahlen Field, giving the Jays the lead for good with a two-run double down the left-field line in the third. He is tied with Houston's Jose Altuve for the AL lead in multi-hit games with 27.
At the end of the game, Guerrero led the Majors in home runs (26), RBIs (66), on-base percentage (.443), OPS (1.127), times on base (145) and total bases (188). He was the AL leader in hits (94) and slugging (.684), and was second in batting average (.342) behind Houston's Michael Brantley (.349).
Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Marcus Semien singles against the Baltimore Orioles during the fourth inning at Sahlen Field on Sunday, June 27, 2021. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News)
Semien (1,810,230 votes) had a much closer run at second base. The AL's Player of the Month for May finished ahead of Altuve (1,298,554) and D.J. LeMahieu of the New York Yankees (533,957). Semien singled twice Sunday and has 25 multi-hit games.
Toronto's Bo Bichette was second in the voting at shortstop with 986,228 votes, behind Boston's Xander Bogaerts (1,570,467) and ahead of Houston's Carlos Correa (781,400). Bichette will be joined in the next phase by teammates Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk, who finished sixth and ninth, respectively, in the outfield.
Around the horn
• The Blue Jays didn't homer for the first time in the series Sunday, but still rang up 12 hits, even though Baltimore pitchers retired the final eight men they faced. It's the 34th time the Jays have had double-digit hits in a game, tied with Houston for the most in the Majors.
The Jays batted .322 and had 46 hits in the four games, second-most in a series behind the 50 they collected earlier this month in four games at Boston's Fenway Park.
• Toronto is off Monday and hosts Seattle on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the first meetings with its 1977 expansion cousins since Aug. 25, 2019.
The starters for the series are expected to be Robbie Ray (5-3), Steven Matz (7-3) and Hyun Jin Ryu (7-4), with Matz making his first appearance since coming off the Covid-19 IL. Seattle's tentative rotation is Chris Flexen (6-3), Justus Sheffield (5-7) and Yusei Kikuchi (5-3).
• Defending American League champion Tampa Bay is here for games Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Blue Jays rookie Alek Manoah has dropped the appeal of his five-game suspension for throwing at a Baltimore hitter last week and would be available to start Friday's game.
