LEADING OFF: Plenty of LA All-Stars; Ray to face former team

A take a look at what’s occurring across the majors Saturday:

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STAR GAZING

Los Angeles can be effectively represented within the July 19 All-Star Sport at Dodger Stadium.

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani of the Angels had been elected as starters together with Mookie Betts and Trea Turner of the Dodgers.

Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk and Miami second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. had been voted to begin as first-time All-Stars, ending atop their positions within the second spherical of fan voting.

Aaron Decide of the New York Yankees and Ronald Acuña Jr. of the World Sequence champion Atlanta Braves had been elected from the primary spherical of balloting as the highest vote-getters of their leagues.

The AL beginning lineup consists of Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, Boston third baseman Rafael Devers and Kirk behind the plate. Giancarlo Stanton of the Yankees joined Decide and Trout within the outfield, whereas Ohtani was voted in as designated hitter.

NL starters embrace Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Chisholm at second, Turner at shortstop, San Diego third baseman Manny Machado and an outfield of Betts, Acuña and San Francisco’s Joc Pederson.

Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper was elected because the NL’s first DH following the enlargement of the DH rule to each leagues however received’t play due to a damaged left thumb. Harper earned his seventh All-Star choice, his sixth as a starter.

HELLO AGAIN

Final yr’s AL Cy Younger Award winner Robbie Ray will face his former staff for the primary time on Saturday evening when Seattle hosts Toronto.

Ray didn’t journey with the Mariners to Toronto when the groups met in Might as a result of Canada requires everybody coming into the nation to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Ray pitched in New York the day earlier than the Mariners left for Toronto and remained behind whereas his teammates confronted the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays can be seeing the perfect model of Ray to date in his temporary tenure with the Mariners. Ray is 4-1 with a 0.80 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings over his previous 5 begins. For the season, Ray is 7-6 with a 3.62 ERA. He has excelled over the previous month after including a sinking two-seam fastball to his pitch arsenal.

Ray went 13-7 with a 2.48 and 248 strikeouts in 193 1/3 innings pitched final yr for the Blue Jays.

Alek Manoah (9-3, 2.33), who begins for Toronto, is coming off his worst begin of the season. He allowed 5 runs — 4 earned — over 5 2/3 innings in a 5-1 loss at Oakland.

BABY STEPS

Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin, who led the majors in losses final season and already has 10 defeats this yr, is displaying indicators of a turnaround.

Corbin, who takes the mound Saturday towards the Braves in Atlanta, has allowed one run in every of his final two begins. He went eight innings in a win over Pittsburgh on June 28 and 7 innings on July 4 towards Miami, a sport Washington in the end misplaced in 10 innings.

The 32-year-old Corbin hasn’t been the identical since he helped the Nationals win the World Sequence in 2019. He had an 8.69 ERA in 5 April begins this yr and a 5.97 ERA in six Might begins. However he was higher in June and has received 4 of his final seven selections.

SCUFFLING

Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene (3-10, 6.01 ERA) has misplaced three straight begins and is 0-3 with a 7.40 ERA in his final 5 going into Saturday’s outing towards visiting Tampa Bay.

Greene has allowed 22 residence runs, 4 greater than some other massive league pitcher. Drew Rasmussen (5-3, 3.30) begins for the Rays.

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Extra AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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