Mizzou Baseball in the Minors & Majors

■ Mense adjusting to new league (Liberty Tribune)

Hunter Mense (04-06), a 2003 Liberty High graduate, has struggled with the bat in the early stages of the season with Jupiter (Fla.) Hammerheads in the Florida Marlins chain.

Mense, 24, is hitting .227 through Monday, July 6 with one home run and 16 runs batted in 68 games with the Hammerheads. He has turned it up in the month of July so far, hitting .263.

While dealing with a new league offensively, Mense is also going through a position change, playing first base with Jupiter. He played outfield most of the time for the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers last season.

■ Kinsler edged by Inge in Final Vote (texasrangers.com)

The Rangers second baseman lost out to Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge in the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote for the American League team. The final results were announced on Thursday afternoon for the 80th annual All-Star Game to be played in St. Louis on Tuesday.
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Kinsler took the close loss in stride.

"It's not disappointing," Kinsler said before the Rangers' game against Seattle on Thursday. "It's something that's cool to be a part of, but at the same time, if you don't go, there's only a certain amount of guys who can go."

■ Brock Bond got aboard on an error to start last night's game off and extended his on base streak to 52 games (therawfeed.com)