The Chicago White Sox and New York Mets earned six selections each on the MLB All-Star game rosters, according to a statement on Sunday.

The World Series champion White Sox and National League East division-leading Mets will be well represented on July 11 in Pittsburgh.

The Mets had four starters elected by fans, including third baseman David Wright and shortstop Jose Reyes -- each 23 and chosen for the first time. They will be joined in the lineup by catcher Paul Lo Duca and outfielder Carlos Beltran. Starting pitchers Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez also made it.

Another Mets pitcher could be added, too. Closer Billy Wagner is one of five candidates for the final NL spot in Internet balloting.

The White Sox won't have any starters, unless Cuban-born pitcher Jose Contreras is picked by his own manager, Ozzie Guillen, to start the game. But they'll have plenty of players on the bench: Slugger Jim Thome, first baseman Paul Konerko, outfielder Jermaine Dye, lefty Mark Buehrle and closer Bobby Jenks all made it along with Contreras.

Chicago also could have a seventh player added in Internet balloting, catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

For the fourth straight season, the winner of the All-Star game will get home-field advantage in the World Series -- so all those Mets and White Sox could be playing for something important come October.

Detroit's Ivan Rodriguez was selected to start at catcher for the 11th time. He is now a 13-time All-Star, the most of any active player.

He edged Minnesota's Joe Mauer in fan balloting by less than 17,000 votes. The 23-year-old Mauer, who leads the majors with a .392 batting average, made it as a reserve.

Twenty-three players will be going for the first time, among them Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley, elected by fans to start.

St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols was the leading vote-getter among fans, chosen on more than 3.4 million ballots. It will be his third start.

As always, there were some notable snubs, including Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, Boston pitcher Curt Schilling and New York Yankees ace Mike Mussina. Garciaparra, however, could be added through Internet balloting this week.

Some of MLB's biggest names will be missing, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Piazza, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson.

The four starters for the Mets equals the number Boston had last year. The Red Sox were the first team with four starters since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds had five, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The six All-Stars were also the most in franchise history for New York.

Also elected by fans to start for the National League were outfielders Jason Bay of host Pittsburgh and Alfonso Soriano of Washington.

On the American League side, the fans didn't provide many surprises. Seven of the eight starters have started previously, with Boston second baseman Mark Loretta the only first-timer.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter will be making his seventh appearance, though it's only the second time he's been voted in as a starter. New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez is on the team for the 10th time, and this will be his ninth start.

Boston's David Ortiz, picked as the starting designated hitter last year, will get the start at first base. Teammate Manny Ramirez, the AL's leading vote-getter with more than 3.1 million, is on the team for the 10th time and was selected as a starter in the outfield for the eighth time. He'll be joined by Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels and Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki.

The Oakland Athletics, in first place in the AL West, had just one All-Star in pitcher Barry Zito.

San Diego, on top in the NL West, was represented only by reliever Trevor Hoffman.

(Xinhua News Agency?July 4, 2006)