LEADING OFF

A look at what’s happening around the majors today:

STARRY NIGHT: Pitchers and reserves for the All-Star Game on July 9 in Cleveland will be announced beginning at 3:30 p.m. Houston ace Justin Verlander and Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu are probably among the locks to make it, but as always there will surely be a few players who get snubbed. It will be interesting to see if Indians fan favorite Francisco Lindor gets an American League roster spot with the game in his home ballpark. And somebody needs to represent last-place Miami on the NL squad. The elected starters at each position were revealed Thursday.

HEY BLUE, GREAT CALL!

Major league umpire Chris Guccione invited a teenage ump who was involved in a game that ended in an adult brawl to attend the DodgersRockies series finale at Coors Field.

Guccione and his crew just wanted to show their support for 13-year-old Josh Cordova, who found himself in the middle of a recent fight in Lakewood, Colorado. Authorities said the skirmish at a game between teams of 7-year-olds began when parents and coaches disagreed with the teen’s decisions.

DOWN UNDER: Lefthander Lewis Thorpe makes his major league debut for the Minnesota Twins in Chicago against the White Sox. Even better, he’ll have his family watching after they arrived from Australia. Thorpe didn’t realize his parents were making the trip, so he got a nice surprise after Saturday’s game. Twins director of team travel Mike Herman told him to put on some shorts and follow him out of the clubhouse. “I’ve never seen my dad cry like that,” Thorpe said. “It was just a surreal feeling.” Lucas Giolito (10-2, 2.87 ERA) pitches for Chicago.