Machado, Jones, Markakis make progress in All-Star voting

The Orioles are moving on up. Well, some of them.

In the most recent All-Star balloting figures, designated hitter Nelson Cruz (1,404,275 votes) and catcher Matt Wieters (1,235,369) still lead at their respective positions, but a couple of Orioles are moving up the board.

After being fourth American League third baseman in the previously released results, Manny Machado has now moved up to third with 720,761 votes. The young third baseman trails Josh Donaldson(1,470,544) of the A's and Evan Longoria (729,092) of the Rays.

Machado has played in 33 games this season and is hitting .241/.297/.353, but has been more consistent in June, hitting .333 with two home runs and six RBIs.

Joining Machado in a rise up the leaderboards are outfielders Adam Jones and Nick Markakis.

Jones has moved from sixth to fourth in the latest figures after hitting at a .444/.429/.815 pace in June, including 12 hits, three home runs and nine RBIs. Jones trails Jose Bautista (2,135,223) of the Blue Jays, Mike Trout (1,945,170) of the Angels and Melky Cabrera (1,096,784) of the Blue Jays.

Markakis moved up one spot among A.L. outfielders to No. 9 with 691,023 nominations. Markakis has been a strong leadoff hitter for the O's, and is hitting .377/.389/.415 in the first inningsof 2014.

Chris Davis and J.J. Hardy are also in the running for starting spots in the All-Star Game, but have not made any progress in the voting. Davis remains in fourth place with 659,800 votes, and Hardy is still in third with 754,764 votes.

Voters will have the opportunity to elect their favorite starting players up to 25 times at MLB.com until Thursday, July 3 at 11:59 p.m. The 2014 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show will be held during the weekend of July 5-6, and the game will be played on July 15 at Target Field in Minneapolis.