Sox still dominating All-Star vote

It's looking more and more like there will be quite a few Red Sox taking the field in the Bronx for the All-Star Game July 15.

The Sox continue to top the charts in five positions in American League All-Star voting, but Jason Varitek's lead at the catcher position continues to shrink, according to updates released today by Major League Baseball.

Joe Mauer (855,200 votes) of the Twins moved within about 41,000 votes of Red Sox captain Varitek (896,022) in the voting at catcher, closing the gap by about 10,000 votes since last week's update, but the Sox other position leaders continued to extend their leads in the balloting.

At first base, Kevin Youkilis (1,187,909 votes) extended his lead over Justin Morneau (816,793 votes) of the Twins.

Dustin Pedroia (1,027,788 votes) leads all second basemen, with Ian Kinsler of the Rangers (816,793) holding onto second place.

At third base, the Sox' Mike Lowell (764,809 votes) continues to trail the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez (1,481,875) by a wide margin. Yankees star Derek Jeter (1,564,029 votes) has a commanding lead at shortstop over the Rangers' Michael Young (846,597).

Injured Red Sox slugger David Ortiz continues to lead all AL vote-getters with 1,605,660 votes at designated hitter. Hideki Matsui (898,752) of the Yankees is running a distant second in that competition.

In the outfield, Manny Ramirez (1,539,753 votes) holds a comfortable lead over the hot-hitting Josh Hamilton (1,352,372) of the Rangers, while Ichiro Suzuki (882,712) of the Mariners remains in third place.

The 79th All-Star Game will take place at Yankee Stadium July 15. The last day to cast your vote is Wednesday, July 2.