3 Brewers elected for All-Star Game

Associated Press

A team known for sausage races more than pennant races made quite an All-Star splash.

The Milwaukee trio of Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks won fan elections to start in the National League lineup, sending a mini-Brew Crew to join the usual slew of Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies at baseball’s glitter-fest.

“It means the Milwaukee Brewers have arrived on the national scene,” Braun, the top NL vote-getter, said Sunday.

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are among six Yankees on the AL roster for the All-Star game July 12 in Phoenix. Once again, New York had the most players picked.

Philadelphia, having built the best record in the majors on pitching, provided aces Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz led a Boston quartet. The World Series champion San Francisco Giants added four arms.

The small-market Brewers celebrated their largest haul of All-Star starters. Milwaukee often draws a lot of attention for its in-game dash of meat mascots — the team, however, has made the playoffs just once since 1982.

“A lot of times — and I know the fans are a huge part of what we do — but sometimes the fans vote for who they like and the superstar that’s been there before and may not even be having a good year,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “It’s nice to see our guys voted in and those are the top three guys at their positions. That’s really cool.”

Fielder and Weeks were among several players who overcame voting deficits in the final week. Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp and Detroit catcher Alex Avila also rallied late to earn starting spots.

Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista, the reigning home run champion, drew a record 7.4 million votes. He became the first Blue Jays player elected to start since Carlos Delgado in 2003.

Bautista homered Saturday off Halladay, then hit his major league-leading 27th homer Sunday against Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee.

“People are recognizing that you’re doing well and for me it’s been in three different territories — the United States and Canada and the Dominican,” Bautista said. “I can’t even describe how good that feels.”

Fans can vote on MLB.com through Thursday for the 34th player on each side. Injuries are sure to impact the final rosters, too — three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols was left off while recovering from a broken left wrist and Reyes is nursing a hamstring problem.

Once again, the league that wins will get home-field advantage in the World Series. Led by McCann, the NL won last year for the first time since 1996.

The Giants put pitchers Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Ryan Vogelsong on the 13-man staff.

Vogelsong, 33, spent the previous four years in Japan and the minors before getting called up early this season.

“There’s never been a time in my career when this seemed like even a realistic possibility,” he said.