masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgNelson Cruz still leads at designated hitter and Matt Wieters remains the leader at catcher in the latest voting released for the American League All-Star team tonight.

Cruz, aiming for his first fan-elected starting assignment, has received 2,457,349 as he continues to hold off Boston’s David Ortiz (1,652,470), a nine-time All-Star who has earned each of the last three fan elections at designated hitter.

Cruz, a two-time All-Star, is tied for first in the majors with 23 home runs and ranks…Nelson Cruz still leads at designated hitter and Matt Wieters remains the leader at catcher in the latest voting released for the American League All-Star team tonight.

Cruz, aiming for his first fan-elected starting assignment, has received 2,457,349 as he continues to hold off Boston’s David Ortiz (1,652,470), a nine-time All-Star who has earned each of the last three fan elections at designated hitter.

Cruz, a two-time All-Star, is tied for first in the majors with 23 home runs and ranks second with 60 RBIs. He would become just the fifth different fan-elected starter at the position.

Wieters (1,852,770) tops the vote for the catcher spot with Oakland’s Derek Norris second (1,486,850). Wieters, who underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery last week, batted .308 with five home runs and 18 RBIs over 26 games. Wieters, a two-time All-Star, would join Terry Kennedy (1987) as the only catchers in Orioles history to earn a fan election.

The Cruz-Wieters duo would give the Orioles multiple fan elections in consecutive years for the first time since 1997 (Roberto Alomar, Cal Ripken, Brady Anderson) and 1998 (Alomar, Ripken). Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones were elected starters in 2013.

Davis remains third in the voting at first base with Manny Machado third at third base and Hardy third at shortstop.

Adam Jones is fifth in the voting among AL outfielders. Toronto’s Melky Cabrera is third with 1,674,232 votes. Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes is fourth with 1,511,838 followed by Jones with 1,490,000 votes. Nick Markakis is eighth with 1,170,304 votes.

The 85th All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 15 at Target Field in Minnesota. The final voting will be released during the weekend of July 5-6.