AROUND THE HORN
All-Star Game: Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were elected Thursday to start in the July 20 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. The pair were chosen under new rules that give starting spots to the top vote-getter in each league in the first phase of online voting, which began June 8 and ended Thursday. Others advanced to the second phase, which runs from noon EDT on Tuesday and ends at 2 p.m. EDT on July 8. Votes from the first phase don’t carry over. Starters will be announced July 8, and pitchers and reserves on July 10. Judge received 3.76 million votes and was elected to start for the fourth time. Acuña led the NL with 3.5 million votes and was elected to start for the third time. The American League finalists are: catcher (Alejandro Kirk, Jose Trevino); first base (Ty France, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.); second base (Jose Altuve, Santiago Espinal): third base (Rafael Devers, José Ramírez); shortstop (Bo Bichette, Tim Anderson); outfield (Mike Trout, George Springer, Giancarlo Stanton, Lourdes Gurriel Jr.); designated hitter (Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani). The National League finalists are: catcher (Willson Contreras, Travis d’Arnaud); first base (Paul Goldschmidt, Pete Alonso); second base (Ozzie Albies, Jazz Chisholm Jr.); third base (Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado); shortstop (Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson); outfield (Mookie Betts, Joc Pederson, Starling Marte, Adam Duvall); DH (Bryce Harper, William Contreras).
Guardians: Andrés Giménez hit a two-run homer in the ninth and the
Guardians beat the visiting Twins 5-3 for their second straight walk-off win. Giménez went deep to center on a 3-2 pitch from Tyler Thornburg (0-2) as the Twins’ bullpen imploded again. José Ramírez drew a leadoff walk, the 10th allowed by the Twins. Josh Naylor’s groundout moved Ramírez to second and Owen Miller flied out. Giménez followed with his game-winner, sending Guardians players out of the dugout in celebration for the second day in a row. The Guardians lead the majors with 17 last at-bats wins, including six against their AL Central rivals. The Twins failed to hold a 6-3 lead in the 10th inning Wednesday night, when the Guardians scored four times and won the game on Naylor’s two-run HR. Emilio Pagán and Jharel Cotton couldn’t hold the lead, and the Twins’ bullpen problems returned less than 24 hours later. The Twins outhomered the Guardians 10-2 in the series. The Guardians won three of five in the series and trail the division-leading Twins by a game. The teams don’t meet again until September.
Rays: LHP Brooks Raley and RHP Ryan Thompson were placed on the restricted list before opening a five-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto. To enter the country, the Canadian government requires a person to have received a second COVID-19 vaccine dose — or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — at least 14 days before entry. Unvaccinated players go on the restricted list because they aren’t paid and don’t accrue major league service time, according to a March agreement between MLB and the players’ association.