NEW YORK, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds were chosen by fans as the winners of the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint in online balloting voting exclusively on MLB.com, the official Web site of Major League Baseball, and the individual Club sites. On the American League ballot, Swisher held off Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox in the closest race in the nine-year history of the All-Star Final Vote to claim the final spot on the All-Star roster with a final tally of 9.8 million votes.

NEW YORK, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- With fewer than seven hours remaining, Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees held the slimmest of margins over Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox in what is shaping up to be a photo finish at today's 4 p.m.

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Just 24 hours after losing the top spot, Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees has re-gained the lead over Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox by less than 1 percentage point, setting the stage for another dramatic ending in the storied rivalry between their franchises and a frantic final day of online fan balloting in the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint, available exclusively on MLB.com and the individual Club sites. Heading into the final hours, this year's American League race was the tightest in the program's nine-year history with Swisher's advantage over Youkilis currently standing at less than 1 percent.

NEW YORK, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox caught and passed day one leader Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees in the race for the American League's final roster spot after 48 hours and 22 million votes in the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint, held exclusively on MLB.com and the individual Club sites. Over in the National League, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds continued to hold off challenges from Ryan Zimmerman (Washington Nationals), Billy Wagner (Atlanta Braves), Carlos Gonzalez (Colorado Rockies), and Heath Bell (San Diego Padres) and maintained a lead atop the ballot. While Youkilis grabbed the American League top spot from Swisher overnight and held it leading into the 48-hour mark, Michael Young of the Texas Rangers, Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox and Delmon Young of the Minnesota Twins each were well north of one million votes and still well positioned to make a run at the top spot. The ninth annual All-Star Game Final Vot

Daisuke Matsuzaka continued his strong conclusion to the regular season Friday with a six-inning effort that helped bring Boston a 6-2 win over Cleveland. After losing six consecutive games, the Red Sox won their second straight while tuning up for next week's opening-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Angels. Matsuzaka (4-6) struggled throughout much of the season with injuries, but he has won four of his last five starts.