Major League Baseball

Arkansans named to All-Star staffs

Houston’s Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) will join Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett (Central Arkansas Christian) as pitchers for their respective leagues at next week’s All-Star game in Cincinnati.
Houston’s Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) will join Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett (Central Arkansas Christian) as pitchers for their respective leagues at next week’s All-Star game in Cincinnati.

Houston's Dallas Keuchel and Pittsburgh's A.J. Burnett were selected to the American League and National League teams, respectively.

photo

AP

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher A.J. Burnett sits in the dugout during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Pittsburgh in this June 24 file photo.

Keuchel, a former Arkansas Razorback, and Burnett, a native of North Little Rock who played at Central Arkansas Christian, are both making their first All-Star Game appearances. While Keuchel, 27, is in his fourth season in the majors, Burnett, 38, is in his 17th and what he says will be his final season.

Both pitchers have put up solid numbers for teams that are in contention.

Keuchel ranks second in the AL with a 2.14 earned-run average and leads the league in innings pitched with 130 1/3. The Tulsa native was 10-3 before Monday and has helped Houston stay in first place for most of the first half. He joins second baseman Jose Altuve as the Astros' All-Star representatives. Altuve was voted by fans as a starter for the AL.

After leading Arkansas to the College World Series in 2009, Keuchel was drafted in the seventh round by the Astros. He made his major league debut in 2012. Last season, Keuchel won his first Gold Glove Award and finished 12-9 with a 2.93 ERA.

Burnett is 7-3 and had a 1.99 ERA, which ranks third among NL starters. He signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract to return to the Pirates last November after spending the 2014 season in Philadelphia in which he finished 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA. During his first stint with the Pirates in 2012-2013, Burnett was part of the franchise's first playoff team since 1992 in 2013.

An eighth-round draft pick of the New York Mets in 1995, Burnett was traded to the Florida Marlins before the 1998 season. Florida called Burnett up in 1999 and he was with the franchise until 2005. He pitched a no-hitter with the Marlins in 2001 despite walking nine batters. Burnett has also played in Toronto (2006-2008) and the New York Yankees (2009-2011).

Keuchel and Burnett both started for their teams Monday night. Keuchel struck out 8 in 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 9 hits at Cleveland. Burnett allowed 1 run on 5 hits in 7 2/3 innings against San Diego and was not part of the decision.

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson were the only rookies to be selected.

Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels will start at first base for the AL in place of Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, who injured a calf muscle Friday. Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen will start in the NL outfield instead of Miami's Giancarlo Stanton, who broke his hand on June 26.

Bryant, 23, made his big league debut April 17 and began Monday with a .279 batting average, 12 home runs and 49 RBI.

"Obviously, I've been at some All-Star Games, but I don't think anything can compare to making the major league All-Star team," he said. "It is kind of weird right now. We have a game in an hour, so I'm trying not to get too excited and whatnot, but obviously it's pretty cool."

A record six Kansas City Royals were picked for the game, with players electing pitcher Wade Davis, and AL Manager Ned Yost of Kansas City selecting reliever Kelvin Herrera. They join Royals outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon, catcher Salvador Perez and shortstop Alcides Escobar, who were elected Sunday as starters.

"The one thing that Kelvin did that a lot of these guys didn't do was pitch in Game 7 of the World Series last year," Yost said. "That was kind of the deciding factor for me."

Texas' Prince Fielder, who was elected by players, joined Cruz as the only designated hitters on the AL roster.

New York Yankees reliever Dellin Betances was elected by players, and first baseman Mark Teixeira was picked to fill Cabrera's roster spot. But this will be the first All-Star Game with no Yankees starters since 1999.

St. Louis tops the NL with five players. Jhonny Peralta was elected to start along with outfielder Matt Holliday, who isn't sure when he'll be activated from the disabled list. Catcher Yadier Molina and reliever Trevor Rosenthal were elected by players, and NL manager Bruce Bochy of San Francisco picked pitcher Michael Wacha.

Cincinnati closer Aroldis Chapman was elected by players and is the second member of the hometown Reds on the NL roster. Third baseman Todd Frazier was elected to start.

Washington outfielder Bryce Harper, a three-time All-Star at age 22, is the youngest. Harper said Monday he won't participate in the Home Run Derby because his father isn't available to pitch to him following shoulder surgery.

There are 16 All-Stars born outside the United States, including six Venezuelans, five Dominicans, three Cubans, one Canadian and one Puerto Rican.

AL starting pitchers include Seattle's Felix Hernandez, Detroit's David Price, Chicago's Chris Sale, Houston's Dallas Keuchel, Oakland's Sonny Gray and Tampa Bay's Chris Archer. Among the NL starting pitchers are Washington's Max Scherzer, San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner, the Dodgers' Zack Greinke, the Mets' Jacob deGrom, Pittsburgh's Gerrit Cole and Atlanta's Shelby Miller.

The AL's final spot ballot includes Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas, Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts, Detroit outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, Minnesota second baseman Brian Dozier and Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner. The NL ballot includes pitchers Johnny Cueto of Cincinnati, Jeurys Familia of the Mets, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals along with Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Voting runs until Friday afternoon.

The league that wins the All-Star Game gets home-field advantage in the World Series.

Sports on 07/07/2015

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