Matsui and Abreu on All-Star Teams

New York Yankee outfielder Hideki Matsui and Philadelphia’s Bobby Abreu earned the final spots on the All-Star teams in Internet fan voting completed Wednesday.

Matsui became the seventh member of the Yankees to make the 32-man American League squad. He has been an All-Star in both of his seasons since leaving Japan. Matsui is batting .282 with 16 home runs and 54 runs batted in.

Abreu made the All-Star team for the first time. The right fielder is batting .297 with 17 homers and 57 RBIs.

Matsui beat out Minnesota’s Lew Ford, Cleveland’s Travis Hafner, and Chicago’s Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko for the last spot.

Matsui joined New York teammates Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera and Tom Gordon on the AL team.

Jeter, Giambi and Rodriguez were elected by fans to starting infield spots.

Abreu topped Arizona’s Steve Finley, Pittsburgh’s Jason Kendall, Florida’s Juan Pierre and the Chicago Cubs’ Aramis Ramirez for the final National League slot.

The All-Star game will be played Tuesday at Houston.

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Philadelphia’s Jim Thome, Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey Jr. and the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa will represent the National League in next week’s All-Star Home Run Derby.

Giambi, Boston’s David Ortiz and Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro will be among the American League players to participate in the competition Monday.

One additional player from each league will be picked, the commissioner’s office said.

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Nick Bierbrodt was designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers one day after he pitched poorly in a loss to the Cleveland Indians.

The club also recalled left-hander Nick Regilio from triple-A Oklahoma.

Bierbrodt was 1-1 with a 5.82 earned-run average in four starts. On Tuesday, the left-hander walked seven in 3 1/3 innings and took the loss in Cleveland’s 4-1 victory.

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The New York Mets activated catcher Vance Wilson from the disabled list and optioned catcher Tom Wilson to triple-A Norfolk.