Five Red Sox chosen as All-Stars

Red Sox players Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel and Mitch Moreland have been selected to the American League All-Star team.

Betts was selected as a starting outfielder and Martinez will be the starting DH. Kimbrel will be in the bullpen and first baseman Moreland has been chosen as a reserve.

Sale, who has been the American League's starting pitcher for the last two seasons, will be making his seventh-straight All-Star Game appearance. In 19 [...]

Red Sox players Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel and Mitch Moreland have been selected to the American League All-Star team.

Betts was selected as a starting outfielder and Martinez will be the starting DH. Kimbrel will be in the bullpen and first baseman Moreland has been chosen as a reserve.

Sale, who has been the American League's starting pitcher for the last two seasons, will be making his seventh-straight All-Star Game appearance. In 19 starts for Boston this season, the left-hander is 9-4 with a 2.36 ERA (32 ER/122.0 IP). The game’s starting pitchers will be announced on Monday, July 16.

Other American League starters include: Aaron Judge, Mike Trout,  Jose Abreu, Jose Altuve (the top vote-getter), Manny Machado, Jose Ramirez and Wilson Ramos.

Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi may also make the trip to Nationals Park. He's among the five players competing for the "Final Vote" spot on the A.L squad, a contest that runs through Wednesday and is decided by online voting, at www.redsox.com or www.mlb.com.

The Red Sox are the only American League team with multiple players elected to start the All-Star Game via fan balloting and their five overall selections are tied with the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians for the most in either league.

Betts will be making his third All-Star appearance. He received 4,286,994 fan votes, second-most among all major leaguers behind only Altuve (4,849,630). He will become only the seventh Red Sox player to start an All-Star Game in three or more consecutive years, joining Ted Williams, Frank Malzone, Carl Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn, Wade Boggs and David Ortiz.

Martinez earned his second career All-Star selection (also 2015) after receiving 3,035,619 fan votes. He leads the majors in home runs (27) and RBI (74) and has hit .329 with a 1.039 OPS in 85 games.

Moreland will be making his first appearance on an All-Star team and has enjoyed career highs in batting average (.288), on-base percentage (.358), and slugging percentage (.525) this season.

Like Sale, Kimbrel has also earned his seventh All-Star selection, including four with the Atlanta Braves (2011-14). He is 27-for-29 in save opportunities for Boston this season.

This year's Midsummer Classic will be held Tuesday, July 17, in Washington, D.C. The American League has won 16 of the last 20 All-Star Games. In 2002, the game ended in a tie.