Thome, D. Martinez to manage All-Star Futures Game
NEW YORK – Hall of Famer Jim Thome and Dennis Martinez will be the managers in a revamped All-Star Futures Game at Cleveland on July 7.
In its 21st year, the game is switching formats and will match American League prospects against young players from NL teams. Previously, a world team faced U.S. players.
In addition, the game is being shortened from nine innings to seven, which was the length in the initial Futures Game in 1999.
The commissioner’s office said Wednesday that Thome will lead the AL team and Martinez the NLers. Both are former Indians players.
The U.S. has won 13 of 20 Futures Games, including eight of the last nine.
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina activated from injured list: St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has been activated from the 10-day injured list, and the team optioned rookie catcher Andrew Knizner to Triple-A Memphis.
The moves were made before Tuesday night’s game at Miami.
Molina missed 11 games after being sidelined May 29 with a strained right thumb tendon. At the time of his injury, Molina led all major league catchers in games, innings caught, RBIs and hits.
He collected his 1,900th career hit May 25.
Dee Gordon back with Mariners after missing 19 games: The Seattle Mariners have reinstated second baseman Dee Gordon from the injured list, following a 19-game absence because of a bruised right wrist.
Gordon was hit by a pitch on May 9 in New York. He was batting .281 with 16 runs, seven extra-base hits, 19 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 45 games before he was hurt. Shed Long took most of the turns at second base while Gordon was out.
The move was made before the Mariners began a three-game series at Minnesota on Tuesday. Reliever Matt Festa was sent to Triple-A Tacoma to make room on the roster.
Indians manager Francona: Ortiz ‘a very special person’: Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona says David Ortiz is “a very special person, not just to me, but to a lot of people.”
Francona managed Ortiz with the Red Sox from 2004-11, a stretch that included two of the three World Series titles Ortiz won with Boston.
Ortiz was shot in the torso Sunday night in his native Dominican Republic. Doctors performed surgery and Ortiz was transported to Boston in an air ambulance Monday night. Once in Boston, he underwent two hours of exploratory surgery.
Francona says he spoke Tuesday to one of the doctors who’s treating Ortiz in Boston and said the retired slugger is “in great hands.”
The veteran manager says Ortiz “could light up a room” with his personality but also worked hard at his craft and was a team leader.
Fan struck by foul ball Monday night released from hospital: The woman struck by a foul ball during Monday night’s game at Guaranteed Rate Field was treated at a nearby hospital and released Tuesday morning, according to a Chicago White Sox spokesman.
The unidentified woman was sitting in the stands just past the White Sox dugout down the third base line and was struck by a hard liner in the fourth inning off the bat of Chicago’s Eloy Jiménez. She was bleeding around the head area, and was covered with a towel. She walked toward the concourse with help from stadium personnel.