Machado an All-Star starter, four other O's selected

LOS ANGELES - Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has been selected as the starter at third base for the American League in the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tuesday, July 12 at Petco Park in San Diego.

Machado is batting .325 with 29 doubles, 18 homers, 50 RBIs, a .380 OBP, a .584 slugging percentage and an OPS of .964. Machado's name is all over the American League stats leaderboards. He ranks fourth in batting average, fifth in hits and is second in doubles, extra-base hits, slugging and total bases. Machado was the AL Player of the Month for April, batting .344 with 10 doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBIs and 20 runs over 23 games.

This is his third All-Star selection and first as a starter. He was a reserve in 2013 and 2015.

Machado will be joined on the AL squad by catcher Matt Wieters and outfielder Mark Trumbo, who were chosen as reserves. Closer Zach Britton and setup man Brad Brach were selected to the pitching staff.

Wieters is an All-Star selection for the fourth time, having also been selected in 2011, 2012 and 2014. He missed that game due to his elbow injury. He is batting .268 with nine homers, 37 RBIs and an OPS of .760.

Trumbo makes the All-Star team for the second time. He played in the game and took part in the Home Run Derby in 2012, making the semi-finals with the Angels. Trumbo is batting .280 with 24 homers, 62 RBIs a .552 slugging percentage and .879 OPS. He leads the AL in homers and entered today tied with the Cubs' Kris Bryant for the major league lead. Trumbo hit 22 homers last year in 508 at-bats and has exceeded that this year by two so far in 328.

Britton makes the All-Star team for the second straight year. He is 2-1 with an 0.80 ERA and is 23-for-23 in save chances, an ongoing Orioles record for most consecutive saves to start a season. He is tied for first in the AL in saves and needs four more for 100 for his career. He would become the fifth in O's history with 100 or more saves. Britton has walked eight and fanned 41 over 33 2/3 innings.

Brach's selection will be very popular with his teammates. They were pulling for the unheralded right-hander to make it for the first time after his exceptional first half. He is 5-1 with a 1.01 ERA. Over 44 2/3 innings, Brach has allowed just 23 hits and a .150 average against. He has walked 13, fanned 50 and has a 0.81 WHIP. Brach has allowed just one of 18 inherited runners to score this year.