Sox going full bore to get Uehara in All-Star Game

SEATTLE -- With closer Koji Uehara trailing in the All-Star Game Final Vote contest to be the last player picked to represent the American League in the All-Star Game, the Red Sox are pulling out all the stops. Uehara has slid from second place in the voting to fourth over the past two days.

In addition to social media info graphics and giveaways, the team has put up signs all over Boston to promote the #HighFiveCiti campaign they're mounting for their shutdown reliever, a reference to Uehara's affinity for high-fiving his teammates and the game's location at Citi Field in New York.

"We had Joe Scarborough from 'Morning Joe' with a sign with 'Vote Koji' stickers on it. They're all over town," said Adam Grossman, the Red Sox's senior vice president of marketing and brand development.

The Red Sox have also teamed up with the Dodgers, entering fans that vote for both Los Angeles' Yasiel Puig and Uehara into a contest to win tickets to the teams' contest in Los Angeles on Aug. 23.

"The players have come to Koji's support as well," Grossman said. "They're doing a lot of tweeting and trying to get Red Sox Nation to vote for Koji."

Meet @andrewbailey40 : full-time pitcher, part-time campaign manager. #HighFiveCiti http://t.co/jSWEkIFLI6 pic.twitter.com/bkoX3ikUAq

- Vote #HighFiveCiti (@RedSox) July 11, 2013

Now in its 12th year, the 2013 All-Star Game Final Vote sponsored by freecreditscore.com gives baseball fans around the world the opportunity to select the final player on each All-Star team. Balloting began immediately following Saturday's Major League All-Star Selection Show presented by Taco Bell and ends Thursday at 4 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced on MLB.com shortly thereafter.

There will be an extra treat for fans who participate in the Final Vote online. If you are not a current MLB.TV subscriber (MLB.TV or MLB.TV Premium), you are eligible to receive a 14-day free trial of MLB.TV from July 12-26. If you are a current MLB.TV subscriber (MLB.TV or MLB.TV Premium), you will receive a 15-percent discount to the MLB.com Shop. MLB.com will send an email on July 12 to all Final Vote voters with instructions on how to redeem the applicable offer.

Mobile voting in the U.S. and Canada is open to everyone. In the U.S., to receive the 2013 All-Star Game Final Vote sponsored by freecreditscore.com mobile ballot, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for Uehara, simply text message A5 to 89269. In Canada, fans should text A5 to 101010. Standard message and data rates may apply. To vote for another player via text message, use the codes below.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

A1 - Joaquin Benoit, Detroit
A2 - Steve Delabar, Toronto
A3 - David Robertson, New York Yankees
A4 - Tanner Scheppers, Texas
A5 - Koji Uehara, Boston

NATIONAL LEAGUE

N1 - Ian Desmond, Washington
N2 - Freddie Freeman, Atlanta
N3 - Adrian Gonzalez, Los Angeles
N4 - Hunter Pence, San Francisco
N5 - Yasiel Puig, Los Angeles

For the second consecutive year, the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by freecreditscore.com (#FinalVote) will include a social balloting element as Twitter support from the candidates' fans over the last six hours of balloting will count toward their final vote totals. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, any tweet that includes a designated player hashtag will be tabulated as part of the overall vote total used to determine the American League and National League winners. Fans may follow @MLB on the popular social networking service for the latest standings updates in advance of the 4 p.m. ET balloting deadline.