MLB All-Star Game Final Vote 2015: 3rd Update for AL, NL Standings Released

Major League Baseball announced Friday that St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez surged past Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds to take the lead in the National League's Final Vote for the 2015 All-Star Game. The Kansas City Royals' Mike Moustakas continues to set the pace in the American League.  

Here are the full standings for the NL, per MLB's official Twitter feed:

Here's the ranking in the AL:

Martinez bolstered his case for the Midsummer Classic with another outstanding start Thursday night. He pitched 7.1 shutout innings with eight strikeouts en route to the Cardinals' 4-1 victory over the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates.

Afterward, he talked about the possible honor and if it was on his mind during the outing, as noted by John Perrotto of the Associated Press: "The All-Star Game would be nice but I just wanted to go out and pitch as long as I could to help the team win the game. That's my job."

On the season, the 23-year-old right-hander is 10-3 with a 2.52 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 107.1 innings across 18 games (17 starts). That's quite a turnaround from his first two seasons, which featured him posting an ERA of 4.28 while working mostly out of the bullpen.

The AL results aren't much of a surprise. The Royals' fanbase stole the spotlight throughout the initial wave of voting, when four Kansas City players were selected for the starting lineup, and it's once again leading the pack with the hope of making Moustakas a reserve.

The 26-year-old third baseman is enjoying a career year at the plate with a .357 on-base percentage, nearly 60 points above his career total, and seven home runs.

He's facing one less competitor for the last spot because New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was added to the roster to replace injured Royals star Alex Gordon Thursday, as MLB announced on Twitter.

MLB doesn't include the official vote counts with the standings, so it's unclear how big of a lead Martinez and Moustakas hold. But Friday's NL lead change suggests it's close, which makes sense given the strong group on that side.

Voting continues through 4 p.m. ET Friday, giving fans several more hours to cast their ballots.