TORONTO — Canadian left-fielder Michael Saunders will be joining three of his Toronto Blue Jays teammates at next week’s MLB all-star game in San Diego.
The Victoria native won the last roster spot on the American League team with 17.7 million fan votes Friday.
It will be the first appearance at an all-star game for Saunders, who beat out Detroit’s Ian Kinsler, Boston’s Dustin Pedroia, Houston’s George Springer and Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria in the fan poll.
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The 29-year-old Saunders is enjoying a career year, batting .298 with 16 home runs and 25 doubles through 79 games for the Blue Jays.
He was acquired by Toronto in a trade with Seattle ahead of the 2015 season but was forced to sit out all but nine games last year with knee injuries.
Toronto third baseman Josh Donaldson, DH Edwin Encarnacion and right-handed pitcher Marco Estrada were named to the AL team on Tuesday.
Estrada was replaced by Cleveland’s Corey Kluber after landing on the 15-day disabled list with a back injury earlier this week, but is still expected to attend the all-star festivities.
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