NEW YORK -- Without regard to fan or player balloting, here are our selections for the 85th All-Star game July 15 at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins since 2010. Cheap NHL Jerseys . There are 34 spots on each roster, with at least 13 reserved for pitchers. Every major league club must be represented. The deadline for fan voting was midnight Thursday. Rosters will be announced Sunday night. The winning league, which gets home-field advantage in the World Series, has won five consecutive championships. ------ American League: First Base -- Coming off consecutive MVP awards, Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera gets the start even though Chicago rookie Jose Abreu and Torontos Edwin Encarnacion have more homers at this power-packed position. Encarnacion is listed as a designated hitter on the fan ballot, but hes played the vast majority of games at first base. Oakland bopper Brandon Moss was the toughest player to leave off the squad. Second Base -- The surprise starter is pint-sized Houston dynamo Jose Altuve. Seattles Robinson Cano and Detroits Ian Kinsler, both producing with new teams, are on the bench. Shortstop -- Yankees captain Derek Jeter takes a bow in his final season, though he hasnt done much damage at the plate. Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox beats out Kansas Citys Alcides Escobar for the backup role. Third Base -- Adrian Beltre has been a bright spot in a miserable year for banged-up Texas. He earns the starting job. Kyle Seager is enjoying a breakout season in Seattle, and Oaklands Josh Donaldson also makes it after getting snubbed a year ago. At last check, Donaldson had a big lead in fan balloting. Catcher -- Salvador Perez makes his second straight All-Star squad for Kansas City, and this time hes the starter. Kurt Suzuki represents the hometown team in his first season with the Twins. It was very difficult to deny Derek Norris of the Athletics, who has been so productive in limited at-bats. Outfield -- Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels starts in centre, with Baltimore newcomer Nelson Cruz in left and Torontos Jose Bautista in right. Cruz had a comfortable lead at DH in fan voting, but hes actually spent more time in the outfield. The reserves are Clevelands Michael Brantley, Baltimore centre fielder Adam Jones and Oaklands Yoenis Cespedes. Designated Hitter -- Victor Martinez of the Tigers has nearly as many home runs as strikeouts. Amazing. Those numbers help put him in the starting lineup over Boston stalwart David Ortiz, last years World Series MVP. Starting Pitchers -- Mariners ace Felix Hernandez gets his first All-Star start. Hes joined on the staff by Japanese right-handers Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees and Yu Darvish of the Rangers, along with Angels first-timer Garrett Richards, reigning Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer and Tigers teammate Rick Porcello. The left-handers are Torontos Mark Buehrle, Oaklands Scott Kazmir, Chicagos Chris Sale and Tampa Bays David Price. ... Ortiz and Price arent exactly chummy. Could make for an interesting clubhouse. Relievers -- Now that Mariano Rivera has retired, someone else gets a chance to anchor the bullpen. Red Sox closer Koji Uehara, Kansas Citys Greg Holland and As lefty Sean Doolittle all have what it takes. ------ National League: First Base -- Arizona slugger Paul Goldschmidt is the starter at a spot loaded with splendid hitters. Behind him are Atlantas Freddie Freeman, Chicagos Anthony Rizzo and Washingtons Adam LaRoche. Rejuvenated in Colorado, Justin Morneau serves as the DH -- giving Minnesota fans a former Twins star to cheer. Second Base -- Dodgers speedster Dee Gordon gets the nod thanks to all those stolen bases. Chase Utley returns for Philadelphia following knee problems, and steady bat Daniel Murphy represents the Mets. Shortstop -- Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies is the runaway choice, backed up by Hanley Ramirez from Los Angeles. Third Base -- Its a pair of unexpected first-timers at the hot corner in Todd Frazier from Cincinnati and reserve Anthony Rendon from Washington. Catcher -- Another surprise behind the plate, where Milwaukees Jonathan Lucroy starts over two established stars: Buster Posey of the Giants and Yadier Molina of the Cardinals. They both make the roster, but Miguel Montero of the Diamondbacks barely gets squeezed out. His numbers deserve recognition. Outfield -- NL MVP Andrew McCutchen from Pittsburgh is in centre, flanked by Miami strongman Giancarlo Stanton in left and Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers in right. The second-string unit is comprised of Brewers centre fielder Carlos Gomez, Braves slugger Justin Upton and San Franciscos Hunter Pence. Starting Pitchers -- Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright also warrants his first start in an All-Star game. The rest of the group includes Reds teammates Johnny Cueto and Alfredo Simon, Zack Greinke and Josh Beckett from the Dodgers, veteran Tim Hudson of the Giants and youngster Julio Teheran of the Braves. The left-handers are two-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) and Madison Bumgarner (Giants). Kyle Lohse from the Brewers was the hardest omission of all. Relievers -- Francisco Rodriguez, closing again in Milwaukee, punctuates a renaissance season with his first All-Star selection in five years. Rounding out the bullpen are Atlantas Craig Kimbrel, San Diegos Huston Street and Washingtons Rafael Soriano. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. Authentic NHL Jerseys . His Brazilian opponents said he produced miracles. There is no doubt that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was the one responsible for spoiling Brazils hopes of another World Cup victory at its home tournament. The Swedish mens hockey team capitalized on a quick start and some shaky opposing goaltending to skate to a 4-2 win over the Czech Republic in their opening game of the Olympic tournament at the Bolshoy Ice Dome on Wednesday. Ottawa Senators star defenceman Erik Karlsson scored two goals while his defensive partner Oliver Ekman-Larsson added two assists. Henrik Zetterberg and Patrik Berglund had the other two goals for the Swedes, who jumped to an early 3-0 lead thanks to some suspect goaltending by Czech starter Jakub Kovar. Head coach Alois Hadamczik made the surprising decision to not even dress the teams only NHL goaltender for the teams stiffest test of the preliminary round. Winnipegs Ondrej Pavelec was scratched in favour of KHL goalies Alexander Salak and Jakub Kovar. Kovar got the start, which backfired horribly when he let in three questionable goals before being pulled early in the second and replaced by Salak, who let in the Swedes fourth goal before the Czechs got on the board. Salak settled down after that and kept the Czech Republic in the game, and Marek Zidlicky and Jaromir Jagr scored two quick goals midway through the second period to spark the Czechs. But the Czech Republic couldnt put any more past Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who kept the lead intact while the Czechs outshot the SSwedes 15-5 in the third. NHL Jerseys. . Lundqvist made 23 saves for the win, while Kovar and Salak combined for 25 stops in the loss. Swedens next game in Group C is against Switzerland, while the Czech Republic faces Latvia, both on Friday. Quick start from Swedes Sweden carried the play for most of the first period, capitalizing on a couple miscues by Kovar to go ahead 2-0 after 20 minutes. Karlsson scored the opening goal of the Olympic tournament from the point on a delayed penalty halfway through the period, as Kovar struggled to deal with the traffic in front of his net and saw the Swedes shot go through his glove. Berglund made Kovars opening 20 minutes worse by scoring Swedens second goal from a bad angle at 13:17, firing a shot right through the Czech goaltender from outside the left faceoff dot. It didnt get any better for Kovar in the second. Zetterberg scored on another shot that went through the Czech goalie only 51 seconds in. That goal ended Kovars night after Salak came in to replace him. But the switch didnt matter. Karlsson scored his second of the game with a laser from the point with little over three minutes after Salak made his debut. The Czechs clawed their way back into the contest with goals from Zidlicky and Jagr two minutes apart midway through the second, and pushed the Swedes hard for the remainder of the period. ' ' '
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