First basemen separated by 1,200 votes in latest AL All-Star voting

Teixeira, Youkilis vying for All-Star start

NEW YORK — The Yankees and Red Sox were already going head-to-head before their much-anticipated third series of the season Tuesday night.

New York first baseman Mark Teixeira had overtaken Boston’s Kevin Youkilis in the latest American League All-Star balloting.

Teixeira has 833,960 votes in a balloting update issued by Major League Baseball, only 1,209 more than Youkilis. The player with the highest total starts the All-Star game on July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria continues to lead the overall vote with nearly 1.6 million.

Other position vote leaders include Twins catcher Joe Mauer, Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. The top outfielders are Jason Bay of the Red Sox, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers and Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners.