Goldschmidt overtakes Gonzalez in tight race at first base in latest National League voting update for 86th All-Star Game

Molina Reclaims Lead at Catcher as Posey Trails by Less Than 5,000 Votes;
Stanton Holding off Aoki for Third Outfield Spot; Harper Remains Overall NL Leader;
2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot Passes 200-Million Vote Mark;

Voting Continues Exclusively Online Until Thursday, July 2^nd at 11:59 p.m. (ET)

Two-time All-Star Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks has taken over the lead at first base from Adrian Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the latest National League voting update for the 86^th All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 14^th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, it was announced today. The 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, which is available exclusively online for the first time via MLB.com, Club sites and mobile devices, has surpassed the 200-million vote mark with more than three weeks to go before the ballot closes on Thursday, July 2^nd at 11:59 p.m. (ET). 

Goldschmidt, who was elected a starter by the fans in 2014, has received 2,010,049 total votes en route to surpassing Gonzalez, who has a total of 1,882,725 votes. The 27-year-old slugger, who finished second in NL Most Valuable Player voting in 2013, would become the first D-backs player to win multiple fan elections. In addition to his fan election last year, the only other D-backs to earn a fan-elected start in the Midsummer Classic are second baseman Jay Bell (1999), third baseman Matt Williams (1999) and outfielder Luis Gonzalez (2001). Over his last 11 games, Goldschmidt is hitting .389 (14-for-36) with four doubles, four home runs, nine RBI and 15 walks. The eighth round selection in the 2009 Draft currently has 99 career home runs, which is tied with Williams for sixth place on the D-backs' all-time home run list. Since 2013, he ranks among NL leaders in slugging percentage (1^st, .565), extra-base hits (1^st, 164), RBI (2^nd, 241), on-base percentage (2^nd, .410), walks (2^nd, 211), home runs (2^nd, 71) and doubles (5^th, 88). Overall, Goldschmidt is batting .340 on the season with 16 home runs, 13 doubles, a triple, 47 RBI, 44 runs scored and an NL-best .468 on-base percentage. Gonzalez is aiming for his fifth career All-Star selection and first fan-elected start. He would join Steve Garvey (1974-80) as the only Dodgers first basemen to win a fan election.

With 2,639,744 votes, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has reclaimed the top spot behind the plate, surpassing San Francisco Giants backstop Buster Posey, who trails by less than 50,000 votes with 2,634,846 total votes. Molina, who has earned four fan elections during his career, including each of the last two seasons, is aiming to become the first NL catcher to earn three consecutive starting assignments since Mike Piazza received nine straight from 1994-2002. In addition, Molina would join Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (12) and former teammate Albert Pujols (5) as the only players in Cardinals history to receive at least five fan-elected starts. The Bayamon, Puerto Rico native, who is bidding for his seventh consecutive Midsummer Classic selection overall, ranks third among NL catchers with 53 hits, second with 10 doubles and is tied for fifth with 20 RBI. In addition, he is batting .280 on the season with 12 runs scored. Posey, a two-time All-Star, was elected the starting catcher for the NL in 2012. With a fan election this year, Posey would become the seventh Giants player since 1970 to collect multiple fan elections, joining Barry Bonds (12), Will Clark (4), Matt Williams (3), Jeff Kent (2), Hall of Famer Willie Mays (2) and Kevin Mitchell (2). Posey is batting .285 on the season with nine home runs, six doubles, 31 RBI and 25 runs scored. 

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, bidding for his third Midsummer Classic assignment (2012-13) and second fan-elected start (2013), continues to lead NL vote-getters with 3,690,414 votes. The 22-year-old Harper would become the first player in Nationals-era history to claim multiple fan-elected starting assignments, and he would become the fourth player in franchise history to accomplish the feat, joining Hall of Famers Gary Carter (1981-84) and Andre Dawson (1981-83) as well as Tim Raines (1982-83). The 2012 NL Rookie of the Year is tied for first in the Majors with 19 home runs, and he leads the Nationals and is tied for eighth in the NL with 19 multi-hit games. Harper also leads the Majors with a .706 slugging percentage, and is tied for the NL lead with 44 runs scored and 48 walks. Overall, he is batting .326 on the season with 12 doubles, a triple and 46 RBI.

Joining Harper among the outfield leaders are Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (2,693,412) and Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins (1,743,271). Holliday, a six-time All-Star (2006-08, 2010-12), is aiming for his first career fan-elected starting assignment. Holliday, who is one of four Cardinals with at least 40 singles on the season, reached base safely in an NL-record 45 consecutive games to start the season. The Cardinals have had at least one player elected to start in each of the last six seasons (2009-14), marking the longest active streak in the NL. In addition, a starting assignment for Holliday would give St. Louis a starting outfielder in four of the last five years, following Lance Berkman (2011) and Carlos Beltran (2012-13). The 35-year-old Holliday is batting .303 on the season with three home runs, 10 doubles, a triple, 26 RBI, 20 runs scored and a .417 on-base percentage. 

Stanton, aiming for his third career All-Star selection (2012, 2014) and first starting assignment, would become just the third Marlins player, and first outfielder, to earn a fan election, joining Gary Sheffield (3B, 1993) and Hanley Ramirez (SS, 2008-10). The 25-year-old Stanton, who finished second in NL Most Valuable Player voting in 2014, leads the Majors with 49 RBI and is tied with Harper for first in the Majors with 19 home runs. Since 2010, his 15 multi-homer games are tied with Edwin Encarnacion for fourth-most in the Majors behind Jose Bautista (22), Miguel Cabrera (19) and Albert Pujols (16). Overall, the California native is hitting .240 with 10 doubles, a triple, 36 runs scored and a .558 slugging percentage on the season. Stanton is followed closely by San Francisco's Nori Aoki, who is less than 50,000 votes behind with 1,696,369 tallies. Aoki, who is aiming for his first All-Star selection in his fourth Major League season, is batting .321 on the season with eight doubles, two triples, two home runs, 17 RBI, 26 runs scored and a .394 on-base percentage. He is followed by four-time All-Star (2011-14) and 2013 NL Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen (1,214,997) of the Pittsburgh Pirates and two-time All-Star (2009, 2011) Justin Upton (1,178,818) of the San Diego Padres.

On the left side of the infield, Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta and third baseman Matt Carpenter each increased their lead at their respective positions. Peralta has totaled 2,441,384 total votes, but San Francisco's Brandon Crawford remains within striking distance with 1,821,037 tallies. Peralta, striving for his third career All-Star selection (2011, 2013), is attempting to earn his first career starting assignment and his first Midsummer Classic selection in the Senior Circuit. The Santiago, Dominican Republic native would join Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (1983-92, 1994-95), Edgar Renteria (2003-04), David Eckstein (2005) and Rafael Furcal (2012) as Cardinals shortstops to earn a fan election. The 32-year-old Peralta is first on his team, tied for fifth in the NL overall and ranks first among Major League shortstops with 68 hits on the season. In addition, he is tied with Wilmer Flores of the New York Mets for the lead among NL shortstops with nine home runs. Crawford, who has hit safely in 19 of his last 22 contests, could become the third Giants shortstop to earn a fan election, joining Chris Speier (1973) and Rich Aurilia (2001). The 28-year-old Crawford, seeking his first All-Star selection, leads all Major League shortstops with 38 RBI, while his eight home runs are tied for third. 

Carpenter has received 3,140,056 votes, which ranks second in the NL behind Harper. He continues to lead Chicago Cubs rookie Kris Bryant, who has garnered 1,513,913 votes. Carpenter and Peralta could become the first teammates to start on the left side for the NL since David Wright and Jose Reyes of the New York Mets accomplished the feat in 2007. Carpenter, who is vying for his third consecutive All-Star selection and his first fan-elected start, would become just the third different Cardinals third baseman to earn a starting assignment, joining Joe Torre (1971-72) and Scott Rolen (2003-05). Carpenter ranks second in the NL with 23 multi-hit games and is tied for second with 18 doubles. In addition, the 29-year-old ranks among NL leaders with 38 runs scored (6^th), 27 extra-base hits (T-8^th), a .391 on-base percentage (9^th) and a .520 slugging percentage (10^th).

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, who was an All-Star for the first time in 2014, rounds out the NL leaders. Gordon, who has received a total of 2,226,127 votes, has a slim lead over Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong (2,113,069), who is seeking his first Midsummer Classic selection. The 27-year-old Gordon, bidding for his first fan election, leads the Majors with 87 hits and a .366 batting average. In addition, the speedster ranks second in the Majors with 20 stolen bases to go along with 12 doubles, two triples, 16 RBI, a .390 on-base percentage and 32 runs scored on the season. Gordon is aiming to become the first Marlins second baseman to win a fan election, and along with his teammate Stanton, is trying to become the third Marlins player overall to receive a starting bid from the fans, joining Sheffield and Ramirez. Wong is hitting .307 on the season with 13 doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 27 RBI and 34 runs scored. With a fan election, he would join Tommy Herr (1985) as the only Cardinals second basemen to earn a fan-elected start. In addition, the trio of Wong, Peralta and Carpenter are aiming to become the first trio of teammates to start in the NL infield since the 2004 Cardinals (Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Edgar Renteria).

The Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot, the largest program of its kind in professional sports, for the first time, is being conducted exclusively online. Last year's program saw more than 300 million votes cast for elected starters. Fans around the world can cast their votes for starters 35 times exclusively at MLB.com and all 30 Club web sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot. During the voting period, which ends on July 2^nd at 11:59 p.m. (ET), the Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot will be available in English and Spanish, and will offer audio CAPTCHA functionality for visually-impaired fans. Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese versions of the online ballot are also available. Banco BHD sponsors online All-Star balloting in the Dominican Republic, making Spanish-language ballots available to fans in the Dominican Republic via LasMayores.com, the official Spanish-language Web site of Major League Baseball.

Details regarding the unveiling of the 2015 American League and National League All-Star Teams will be available in the coming weeks. The AL All-Star Team will have nine elected starters via the fan balloting program, while the NL All-Star Team will have eight fan-elected starters. The pitchers and reserves for both squads - totaling 25 for the NL and 24 for the AL - will be determined through a combination of "Player Ballot" choices and selections made by the two All-Star managers - NL skipper Bruce Bochy of the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants and AL manager Ned Yost of the Kansas City Royals.

Following the announcement of the American League and National League All-Star rosters, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League's 34-man roster via the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote. Fans will cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the balloting period. Now in its 14^th season with more than 480 million votes cast, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on MLB.com, Club sites and their mobile phones.

This year's final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans can vote exclusively at MLB.com and the 30 Club sites - online or via their mobile devices - with the 2015 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year's recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy. 

The 2015 All-Star Game will be played at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday, July 14^th. The 86^th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.

2015 NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL-STAR BALLOTING UPDATE #3
Tuesday, June 9^th