Donaldson, Cruz overtake Royals in latest AL All-Star voting update

A pair of sluggers have put a dent into the Kansas City Royals' representation at next month's All-Star Game in Cincinnati.

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson and Seattle Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz are both in position to start the July 14 game after passing Mike Moustakas and Kendrys Morales in Monday's latest voting numbers.

Donaldson gained nearly two million ballots over the last week to increase his total to an MLB-leading and record-breaking 11,738,206 votes heading into Thursday's deadline.

"Obviously you don’t really expect it, but at the same time there are still a few days left, you know Kansas City is probably going to make a push," Donaldson told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi after Monday's announcement. "So it was cool to see it today, but we’ll see how it finishes."

Royals catcher Salvador Perez remains the American League's second-highest vote getter with 11,666,785 ballots, over 200,000 more than reigning MVP Mike Trout has received.

Perez is one of five Royals currently projected to start the 86th edition of the Midsummer Classic. Second baseman Omar Infante, shortstop Alcides Escobar, and outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon all maintained their starting positions with less than a week to go before the rosters for each league are announced.

The starting position players will be revealed Sunday on ESPN ahead of the network's weekly "Sunday Night Baseball" broadcast.