Roy Oswalt, Magglio Ordonez added to All-Star rosters
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt and Detroit outfielder Magglio Ordonez were added to the All-Star rosters Friday, taking the place of injured Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez. Ordonez will join Detroit teammates Ivan Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers at Tuesday night’s game at PNC Park. The surprising Tigers have the best record in the majors.
Ramirez, picked in fan voting to start in the AL outfield, has a sore right knee. Minus the Boston slugger, AL manager Ozzie Guillen said he hasn’t decided on how he will revamp his lineup.
Guillen and Ramirez shook hands and embraced before the Red Sox played at Chicago on Friday night. Ramirez was in Boston’s lineup.
“I respect that he’s hurt,” Guillen said. “I appreciate Manny told me with enough time to let somebody know because Magglio was playing on the West Coast and we had to let him know right away.”
Boston manager Terry Francona backed Ramirez.
“I understand what Manny means to this game, at least I hope I do, but at the same time we’re trying to win so bad and I felt strongly enough to try to step in,” he said.
Ordonez, on the All-Star team for the fifth time, is batting .307 with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs. Ramirez was hitting .310 with 24 homers and 65 RBIs.
“Throughout most of the 2006 season, I have been playing with nagging soreness in my right knee,” Ramirez said in a statement. “After much consultation and discussion with my team, we have decided that it is necessary for me to rest my knee over the three-day All-Star break.”
Oswalt will make his second consecutive All-Star appearance and joins Lance Berkman as the only Astros on the NL squad. Oswalt pitched one inning in last year’s game in Detroit.
Oswalt (6-5) ranks sixth in the NL with a 3.10 ERA. He’s thrown complete games in his last two starts and lost both, the first Astros pitcher to pull off the dubious double since J.R. Richard did it in 1979.
Oswalt is the only pitcher who’s won 20 games the last two seasons and his 46 victories since the beginning of 2004 leads both leagues. He was the MVP of the 2005 NLCS and is 4-0 in the postseason, the most playoff wins without a loss among active pitchers.
HOME RUN DERBY: David Ortiz and Ryan Howard hope to make a big splash next week.
The lefty sluggers will take aim at the Allegheny River on Monday night, highlighting the eight-man field for the All-Star home run derby at PNC Park.
Former derby champ Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, Troy Glaus, Jermaine Dye, David Wright and Miguel Cabrera also will take part.
Ortiz has hit 29 home runs this season for Boston, tying him with Jim Thome of the Chicago White Sox for the major league lead. Last week in an interleague game at Pittsburgh, Thome hit a ball over the right-field wall that bounced into the Allegheny.
Howard has 28 homers for Philadelphia, tied with Albert Pujols for the NL lead. Tejada, who won the 2004 derby, and has 17 homers for Baltimore.