Four Cards among leaders in All-Star balloting

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals, who became the National League's first team to 30 wins on Tuesday, are also pacing the league with four players among the leaders in the early 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot returns.

Major League Baseball released its first wave of vote totals on Wednesday, and third baseman Matt Carpenter, shortstop Jhonny Peralta and catcher Yadier Molina all led at their respective positions. Left fielder Matt Holliday ranked second among all outfielders, trailing only Washington's Bryce Harper.

Harper topped all NL players in total votes with 1,116,582. Carpenter is the only other NL player to already eclipse a million votes with his 1,113,060. Carpenter has almost twice as many votes as Chicago's Kris Bryant, who ranks second at the third-base position.

The race at catcher and shortstop are much tighter. Peralta leads Chicago's Starlin Castro by about 24,000 votes. The top five vote-getters at shortstop are separated by less than 180,000 votes. San Francisco's Buster Posey sits approximately 100,000 votes behind Molina in the catcher's race.

Holliday, who had reached base in every game he's played this season entering play Wednesday, is currently positioned to be in the NL's starting outfield alongside Harper and Miami's Giancarlo Stanton. Cardinals right fielder Jason Heyward ranks seventh in the outfield vote, while center fielder Jon Jay is currently 12th.

Kolten Wong has received the second-highest number of votes (582,238) among NL second basemen, though he trails Miami's Dee Gordon (934,249) by a large margin. Matt Adams, who went on the disabled list on Wednesday, falls fourth in the first base vote.

Fans can cast their votes for starters at MLB.com and all 30 club sites -- on their computers, tablets and smartphones -- using the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot until Thursday, July 2, at 10:59 p.m. CT. For the first time, voting is exclusively online, where fans may submit up to 35 ballots.

Fans may also receive the ballot by texting VOTE to 89269 (USA) or 101010 (Canada). Or text VOTA for a ballot in Spanish. Message and data rates may apply. Up to five messages. No purchase required. Reply STOP to cancel. Reply HELP for info.

Following the announcement of the 2015 All-Stars, be sure to return to MLB.com and cast your 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote for the final player for each league's All-Star roster. On Tuesday, July 14, watch the 2015 All-Star Game live on FOX, and during the game visit MLB.com to submit your choice for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet via the 2015 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote.

MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage of All-Star Week festivities.

The 86th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network and SiriusXM will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.