Mickey Togs

The starters for the 2024 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard have been unveiled. The Midsummer Classic on July 16 (8 p.m. ET on FOX) is in Arlington, Texas at Globe Life Field.

The results of the fan vote to determine this year’s All-Star starters were announced on ESPN. The players elected alongside Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Phillies star Bryce Harper — who had already earned automatic bids as each league’s leading vote-getter in Phase 1 of voting — include both the game’s biggest superstars, like Shohei Ohtani, and electric first-time All-Stars like Gunnar Henderson.

Ten different teams are represented in this year’s All-Star starting lineups, with the Phillies leading the way with three representatives, the Yankees, Orioles, Astros, Guardians, Brewers and Padres sending two each, and the Blue Jays, Dodgers and D-backs sending one. There are eight players who were elected starters by the fans for the first time.

Yankees star Juan Soto has been elected to the All-Star Game, where he will be one of the starting outfielders for the American League alongside Aaron Judge.

The Yankees’ Judge was the first player to be named a starter for the AL, on the strength of him leading the league in fan voting at the conclusion of Phase 1. Soto and Cleveland Guardian Steven Kwan were elected following Phase 2 of fan voting.

Soto is having a monster season for New York after being acquired from the San Diego Padres during the off-season. He is hitting .302/.436/.564 with 20 homers, 61 RBI, and 69 runs scored in 84 games.

This is the fourth All-Star Game nod of Soto’s seven-year MLB career.

Tyrone Taylor, Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil each homered Friday night for the red-hot New York Mets, who beat the Houston Astros 7-2 in the opener of a three-game series.

Francisco Alvarez hit a first-inning sacrifice fly and Francisco Lindor added an eighth-inning RBI double for the Mets, who improved to 16-6 this month — the best record in the majors — and moved over .500 at 40-39.

Jose Quintana muddled his way through four innings throwing 93 pitches with only 54 strikes. He was touched for a Jose Altuve HR in the first, a run the Mets got back with a Francisco Alvarez sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning. Astros got a single run in the third to take the lead but for them that was it. Four Met relievers shut out the Astros the rest of the way.

A 7-2 win puts the a Mets a game over .500 for the first time in nearly two months and gives them a legitimate chance to finish over .500 when the month is done.