Kevin Youkilis of the Red Sox and Mark Teixeira of the Yankees continue to be locked in a battle to be the American League's starting first baseman in the 2009 All-Star Game. Teixeira took over the lead from Youkilis for the first time last week, but the Red Sox first baseman has now made up the 1,209-vote gap to take a slim 1,315-vote advantage of his own. Youkilis, the A.L. starter in the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, has drawn 1,110,366 votes, while 2005 A.L. All-Star starter Teixeira has collected 1,109,051. In the infield, 2008 A.L. All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria of the Rays and nine-time A.L. All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter of the Yankees are competing to be the A.L.'s top vote-getter. Longoria, who has drawn 1,957,380 votes in his first year on the ballot, is ahead by 35,612 votes over Jeter's 1,921,768. Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler is pushing for his first All-Star start with 1,451,201 votes, holding off last year's starter, Boston's Dustin Pedroia, who has collected 1,250,963. Behind the plate, two-time A.L. All-Star Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins is the third most popular A.L. player with 1,656,595 votes. In the outfield, two-time All-Star Jason Bay of the Red Sox has maintained the top spot with 1,494,784 votes as he seeks an A.L. All-Star berth in his first full year in the League. Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, the 2008 A.L. All-Star who is currently on the disabled list, is second with 1,162,966 votes. The third outfield slot is held by Seattle Mariners eight-time A.L. All-Star Ichiro Suzuki, who has collected 1,069,599 votes. Two-time A.L. All-Star Carl Crawford of the Rays has garnered 902,105 for fourth place.