Pirates' Josh Bell homers, doubles, trims deficit in All-Star Game voting to 1.2 percent
If the returns are an indication, Pittsburgh Pirates fans’ bid to get Josh Bell elected as the starting first baseman in the All-Star Game may go down to the wire.
Bell, Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves and Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs are the first base finalists in MLB’s two-day election to name starters for the game July 9 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Freeman was leading at 12:30 a.m. Thursday, with Bell second and Rizzo third. But the deficit steadily declined during the day, especially when Bell homered and doubled during the Pirates’ game in Houston. The advantage was trimmed to 4% by 6:30 a.m., 2.5% at 8:30 a.m., 2.4 % at 10:30 a.m., 2.3 % at 12:30 p.m. and 1.2 % at 2:30 p.m.
Voting will continue until 4 p.m. and the results will be released on ESPN at 7 p.m. If you haven’t voted and want to, you can vote here.
The Pirates held a free voting party for fans at PNC Park on Wednesday night and Bell responded by hitting a home run – his 21st of the season – in the first inning of the game in Houston.
Meanwhile, Freeman was 2 for 4 with a double and Rizzo was hitless in three at-bats while the Braves were playing the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Bell continues to lead the majors in RBIs (70) and doubles (29) while hitting .313.
Freeman has 21 homers and 61 RBIs while hitting .313. Rizzo stands at 19/55/.270.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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