MLB Capsules - Overall: Fielder HR propels NL to consecutive All-Star wins

PHOENIX (AP) — Pitching, speed and a little bit of power. The National League is back on top in the All-Star game, using the same formula that worked during its dominating run in the 1970s and '80s.

Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer and Roy Halladay and his relief combined on a six-hitter to lead the NL over the AL 5-1 Tuesday night, giving the senior circuit its first two-game winning streak since the mid-1990s.

The victory handed the NL home-field advantage in the World Series. With several big names as no-shows at Chase Field, the AL lost more than the game.

Boston right-hander Josh Beckett warmed up, then bowed out with a sore knee. Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera left after hurting his side.

Even before they were hurt, many stars were missing. Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and many other aces started Sunday and were ineligible, Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez were among those on the disabled list and Derek Jeter wanted a break. In all, 16 of 84 All-Stars were dropped.

Tyler Clippard got the win despite allowing a single to Adrian Beltre, his only batter. Relievers Clayton Kershaw, Jair Jurrjens, Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, Heath Bell, Joel Hanrahan and Brian Wilson combined to keep the NL ahead.

Fielder won the MVP award after becoming the first Brewers player to homer in an All-Star game. The World Series edge could help him later, with Milwaukee and St. Louis tied for the Central lead at the break.

The NL dashed around the bases and stole three bags, all in one inning. Bell showed some speed, too — the reliever ran in from the bullpen and tore up the turf with a slide just short of the mound.

In all, the Nationals have enjoyed their best run since taking three in a row from 1994-96 — they had lost 12 straight games played to a decision before a 3-1 victory at Anaheim last year.

Fielder quiets boos with big homer for NL

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s fans booed new villain Prince Fielder every chance they got, letting him know what they thought of his choices for the Home Run Derby.

Milwaukee’s big first baseman sent them a message with one big swing of the bat: shhh!

Shaking off two days of boos, Fielder hit a crowd-shushing three-run homer to earn All-Star game MVP honors in the National League’s 5-1 win over the American League on Tuesday night.

The NL captain for the Home Run Derby on Monday night, Fielder irked the locals when he bypassed Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton.

Fielder couldn’t keep them quiet during the derby, missing the finals while being booed every at-bat. But he came through in the All-Star game, hitting a long drive off Texas left-hander C.J. Wilson in the fourth inning that sent a collective ohh! through the crowd.

Fielder was on the spot after Major League Baseball shook up the format for the Home Run Derby this year.

Instead of bringing in eight players to whack it out, two captains were selected to pick four-person teams from each league. Fielder got the NL honors and Boston’s David Ortiz, the defending derby champion, got to pick the AL stars.

Upton figured to be a favorite to make the NL team, in part because he was from the host club, but also because he had put up good power numbers this season and, obviously, knows where to hit the ball at spacious Chase Field.

Instead, Fielder selected teammate Rickie Weeks, Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp and Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday, drawing the ire of Diamondbacks fans.

They let him hear about it, too, raining boos down on him during introductions at the Home Run Derby and with each at-bat Monday night. Arizona’s fans also took it out on Weeks and Kemp, screaming out boos and chants of Justin Upton! during their at-bats.

Fielder managed to get through a swing-off to reach the derby semifinals, going a perfect 5-for-5, but came up short after that, relegated to watching while Adrian Gonzalez and eventual champion Robinson Cano continued on.

The fans weren’t done letting him have it, though, firing off more rounds of boos during the All-Star game introductions and each of his first two at-bats.

Second to St. Louis’ Lance Berkman in the NL with 22 homers, Fielder put a lump in their throats in the second at-bat, sending a towering drive to left-center that caromed off the top of the wall and put the NL up 3-1. He was done after that, but didn’t really need to do anymore. 

-- John Marshall 

Hitting, scoring drop to lowest in 2 decades

PHOENIX (AP) —Scoring in the first half of the season dropped to its lowest level in 19 years and the major league batting average shrunk to its smallest midseason figure since 1985, confirmation that the Steroids Era has ended and that a new Age of the Pitcher is taking hold.

There were 8.4 runs per game prior to the All-Star break, according to STATS LLC, down 6 percent from last year’s 8.9 at the midpoint and 20 percent from the peak of 10.5 in 2000.

"The pitchers in the National League — it’s crazy," San Francisco’s Pedro Sandoval said Monday, a day before the All-Star game. "We’ve got Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee."

It’s not only scoring that’s decreased. Many offensive measures dipped during the first three months of the regular season.

The major league batting average of .253 was down from .259 at last year’s All-Star break. It hasn’t been this low since at midseason in 26 years, since it sunk to .252 in 1985. A dozen years ago, at the height of the Steroids Era, it rose to .273.

Hits per game dropped to 17.2 from 17.6 last year, down from 18.8 in 1999 and 2000. Home runs per game declined to 1.8, down a tenth of a point from last year and an astounding 31 percent below the 2000 average of 2.6 at the break.

The major league ERA of 3.85 is down from 4.15 during the first three months of last season and more than a run below the 4.86 ERA when players broke for the 2000 All-Star game at Atlanta’s Turner Field.

"It seems like a lot of guys are throwing a lot harder these days. It seems like every team has a couple guys throwing 100," said Chicago White Sox slugger Carlos Quentin, who has 17 homers. "As a hitter, you embrace that challenge."

Hitters seem to be taking shorter strokes, not going for the fences. Strikeouts averaged 6.3 per game, down from 6.6 last year and a high of 7.7 in 2000.

"There’s been a lot of young pitcher coming to the big leagues," Philadelphia’s Placido Polanco said. "I think that makes a difference."

Quentin has another insight: The way some pitchers are being used has changed.

"There’s a lot of guys coming out of the bullpen that are good," he said. "You see a lot of guys that are converted from being starters to relievers, and all of a sudden they’re throwing 95 and 96 out of the ‘pen for one-plus inning. I feel like I’ve seen more of those guys of late."

Halladay, 11-3 with a 2.45 ERA, was to start for the National League, following Vida Blue, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson as the fourth pitcher to make an All-Star start for both leagues. The Los Angeles Angels’ Jered Weaver, 11-4 with a 1.86 ERA, was slated to open for the AL.

The AL won 12 straight All-Star games played to a decision before the NL’s 3-1 victory last year in Anaheim. It was the first time the NL won since the All-Star game started determining home-field advantage for the World Series in 2003, and the Giants went on to beat the Texas Rangers in five games for the title.

"Home field can be a very important component in winning the world championship," Weaver said. "So I think it’s a great thing for the best players in the world to go out there and compete and work for that home-field advantage."

Selig: Teams reviewing stadium safety after death

PHOENIX (AP) — Major league teams are reviewing stadium safety following the death of a fan at a Texas Rangers game last week, while still encouraging players to toss balls into the stands.

Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old attending a Rangers’ game in Texas last week with his 6-year-old son, fell over a railing while trying to catch a ball flipped to the stands by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton

"It was horrible accident. It’s heartbreaking. It really is — it’s almost beyond comprehension to believe something like that could happen," baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said before Tuesday’s All-Star game during a question-and-answer session with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Each team determines its own ballpark safety features based on local laws.

"I think everybody is reviewing parts of their ballparks where something like this could happen. Maybe there’s some things that they can or can’t do. So I guess is what I would say to you is common sense should always take over in these situations. And so to say here today, ‘No we shouldn’t do this,’ or ‘No, we shouldn’t do that,’ no, I wouldn’t say that. Absolutely not."

Selig is concerned about the impact of the accident on Hamilton.

"I’d worry about anybody who did something nice, who did something that was really thoughtful, and that happened," the commissioner said.

Selig also said he had found more support than he had expected for a one-game playoff between wild-card teams if the playoffs expand from eight to 10 clubs in 2012.

He all but confirmed the 2013 All-Star game will be played at the Mets’ Citi Field.

"Well, we’ll announce it at some point in the world. I’d say their chances look pretty good," he said.

Minnesota’s Target Field is the leading candidate for 2014, and the Marlins hope to host in 2015 at their ballpark that opens next year.

While Selig said baseball would consider moving the All-Star game to a Wednesday in the future — allowing pitchers who started the previous Sunday to participate — teams might be resistant because of their preference to play regular-season games on Thursdays.

Selig said that he was not interested in radical realignment that would eliminate divisions or make major alterations to the leagues, but it was possible one team could move from the NL to the AL to leave each league with 15 teams. Because the 2012 draft schedule already has been completed, that likely could not occur before 2013 at the earliest. The downside would be that interleague games — which drew 18.3 percent more fans than other games — would have to be spread throughout the regular season.

"Is there massive realignment on the horizon? No there is not," he said. "Would I go to 15 and 15? I don’t know. ... You would then have to play interleague play every day obviously, and I like it the way it is."

The players’ association is in favor of shifting an NL team to the AL. The Houston Astros appear to be the most plausible candidate.

"15-15 is an idea that the players have been in favor of for a decade or more," said union head Michael Weiner, who spoke with the BBWAA after Selig.

Selig also backed Derek Jeter’s decision not to play in the All-Star game. The New York Yankees captain came off the disabled list last week and got his 3,000th hit Saturday. Jeter said he needed to rest because of the calf injury that had sidelined him.

"There isn’t a player that I’m more proud of in the last 15 years than Derek Jeter. He has played the game like it should be played," Selig said. "He’s even been a better human being off the field, as great as he is on the field. So any concerns I keep hearing about Derek Jeter isn’t here. I respect that. And I must tell you, I think I’d have made the same decision that Derek Jeter did. So any suggestion to the contrary, Derek Jeter has brought to this sport great pride. He’s become a role model, earned it and is still earning it."

Selig said the proposed $680 million sale of the Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane was on track for approval. He also thinks the Mets’ financial situation will be stabilized once the Wilpon family completes a deal for a $200 million infusion from David Einhorn, who once lived next to Selig in Milwaukee.

"He played baseball in my backyard. How could I turn him down?" he said. "Apparently he couldn’t hit, but don’t tell him that."

Selig also repeated his desire to reach an agreement with the players’ association on an international draft and a slotting system for draft picks.

"Make it fair so that three or four or five or six or seven teams don’t have an inherently huge advantage over everybody else," Selig said.

He said there had been no news from his committee, appointed in March 2009, to study the Oakland Athletics’ quest for a new ballpark. Selig is worried about the Tampa Bay Rays, whose home attendance is averaging 19,115 — ahead of only the Marlins — despite a 49-41 record.

"You have to be concerned," Selig said. "You want to put a competitive club on the field, there’s got to be revenue to support it."

He said more video review of umpires’ decisions is likely. Currently, only home-run calls are subject to replay, but traps and fair-foul calls for non-home runs could be added.

He agreed with the assessment of Detroit manager Jim Leyland that player-umpire relations need to be approved.

"We need to remove some of that tension. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that," he said.

Selig repeated his often-stated intention to retire at the end of 2012, said no change to the designated hitter rule is envisioned and he hopes players will agree to a ban on smokeless tobacco and ruled out adding teams.

"We don’t need any more expansion," he said. "At 30, I think we have the perfect number."

-- Ronald Blum

6 special fans attend All-Star game

PHOENIX (AP) — A few summers ago, Erick Cruz was playing summer ball with Bryce Harper.

This weekend, both were at baseball’s All-Star celebration, with Harper playing in the Futures Game for top prospects. Cruz was overjoyed just to be watching the festivities from a suite at Chase Field, one of six families treated to the trip by the Phoenix-based Make-A-Wish Foundation

An 18-year-old from Claremont, Calif., Cruz made the varsity as a freshman at Claremont High during the 2007-08 school year.

"During the summer, I started getting tired for no reason," he recalled. "Little things made me gasp for air. When I got back home, I got a blood test."

The shocking diagnosis: leukemia.

"I was playing travel ball with the cancer in me," he said. "I didn’t even know."

Following chemotherapy, radiation and prescription steroids, Cruz’s cancer is in remission. But the treatment has taken a toll on his once-strong body. He needed knee surgery. When he started to work out again, he needed a full hip replacement.

"I haven’t played in the last 2½ years," he said. "I’m starting now to work out, trying to get back in there."

While Harper was taken by the Washington Nationals with the first pick of last year’s amateur draft, Cruz had to take off a year from school because of his illness.

Now he will start his senior year at the end of the summer. Joined by his family, he was greeted with a reception Saturday night by Major League Baseball Executive Vice President Tim Brosnan and Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall.

Joining Cruz, a Los Angeles Angels season-ticket holder, were Clayton "Bo" Anderson, a 13-year-old from St. Bernard School who lives in Dallas; Jose Avalos, 16, who goes to Carver High and is from Houston; Steven Contreras, 17, who attends Rolling Hills Prep and lives in Wilmington, Calif.; Zachary McMasters, 13, who is entering Etiwanda High and lives in Fontana, Calif.; and Scott Selman, 14, who goes to Stevenson High and lives in Buffalo Grove, Ill.

The group got to meet major league home run leader Jose Bautista, Hank Aaron, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson and Commissioner Bud Selig.

MLB and the Make-A-Wish Foundation have been arranging such All-Star programs since 2003. The group arranged about 22,000 wishes for young people last year, including 13,580 in the United States.

"We grant more wishes during the summer than any other time of year. It’s easier for kids to travel. The timing happens to be perfect," said Paul Allvin, vice president of brand advancement for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. "Our kids all have life-threatening medical conditions. They’re not terminal, but they have life-threatening conditions."

It’s not just the kids who make the trip. Parents and siblings are included.

"Often times for these families, it’s their first chance in a long time to forget about being sick and to just go back and be kids and family together," Allvin said. "It provides them a really important break. A lot of them really feel like it’s a turning point in their fight to regain their health."

Selman walked off the plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and was greeted by dozens of people, holding up a large banner and joyously shouting a welcome. The right-hander pitcher and devout Chicago Cubs fan, has Long QT syndrome (LQTS), as does his sister.

"It’s an electrical short of the heart. It causes sudden death," said his mother, Aleyce.

He was diagnosed in the fourth grade. His father, Phil, is also his baseball coach. Both parents are proficient in using a defibrillator, just in case.

"My favorite thing in life is basically this. I just like playing. I love meeting players and I love baseball," Scott said. "I wasn’t allowed to play for a year or two. I can’t always — if it’s really hot out, I can’t do as much as I usually want to do. I have to sit out a couple more innings than most of the other people on my team."

Contreras, a fan of the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, plays high school baseball and football even though bone cancer caused his left leg to be amputated below the knee.

Avalos is fighting muscular dystrophy, McMasters is battling brain cancer and Anderson is combating leukemia.

In a ballpark filled with thousands of happy fans at Tuesday night’s game, these six may be the happiest.

"We can’t control what we do on the field, but we can certainly control what we do off the field," Hall told them. "I’m so proud of those of you that are battling and even beating. I’m glad you’re here healthy, happy."

-- Ronald Blum

Immigration law protesters to be at All-Star game

PHOENIX (AP) — Critics of a polarizing immigration law in Arizona protested the legislation Tuesday in triple-digit heat outside Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in downtown Phoenix, drawing sideways glances from fans who were more interested in getting to the game.

Two separate pro-immigrant groups protested outside of Chase Field before the game, with one quietly passing out white ribbons that symbolized peace and unity and the other loudly chanting in bullhorns and marching in circles with signs that read "Boycott hate" and "Stand with us."

SB1070, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in April, requires all immigrants to obtain or carry immigration registration papers and requires police, while enforcing other laws, to question people’s immigration status if there is a reasonable suspicion they’re in the country illegally.

The law is being challenged in federal court.

"You can’t just pick up someone off the street and say, ‘What’s your name, show me your papers,"’ said Antonio Medrano, an immigrant-rights activist who traveled from San Francisco’s Bay Area to protest the law. "It’s called racism, and they had it in South Africa with apartheid and they had it in Germany with Nazis."

Other protesters yelled into a bullhorn with chants of "You can’t hide, we can see your racist side!" and "Stop injustice!"

They were staked outside the main intersection in front of Chase Field to get as many baseball fans as possible to see them. Some of the fans looked at them with curiosity, some with irritation, and others with ambivalence as they made their way to the entrance.

Margarito Blancas was with a different group of protesters who passed out white ribbons and sheets of paper with information about the law. Most people refused to take them.

He said if his message gets across to just one person, it’s worth it.

"They think this is just baseball and baseball has nothing to do with politics," he said. "But look at the history of baseball with Jackie Robinson and his impact."

Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947.

Blancas said he came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1981 and is a legal resident, but that some members of his family are not here legally.

"Back then it was different. It was more welcoming," he said. "Now I feel less than comfortable just driving around. I have brown skin color, so I could be pulled over for any reason."

A much-smaller group of counter-protesters were across the street, carrying signs in support of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other signs in support of SB1070.

"Illegal immigration is what it is," said Andy Figueroa, who belongs to the group Latino and Legal Immigrant Tea Party Patriots. "It has nothing to do with racism or civil rights. When you travel to another country, you have to have paperwork."

He said it comes down to fairness.

"It’s like being at the DMV and waiting in line to get your license renewed and someone cuts in front of you," he said. "They want to cut in front of everyone."

After SB1070 initially passed, activists called for baseball to move the All-Star game from Arizona. Commissioner Bud Selig declined and said it was a political issue, prompting critics to ask players, coaches and fans to boycott the game as part of a wider call for companies to stop doing business with Arizona.

Although at the time several baseball players spoke out against the law and said they might skip the All-Star game if picked, the protests largely fizzled out and there was no indication Tuesday that any players or coaches wouldn’t play because of the law.

-- Amanda Lee Myers

Tucson shooting victims honored at All-Star Game

PHOENIX (AP) — Major League Baseball had a special connection to the Tucson shooting that killed six people and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords this year, a fact that made its pregame ceremonies at the All-Star game Tuesday all the more moving.

The youngest of those who died was 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and granddaughter of former major league manager and pitcher Dallas Green.

Those killed and the 13 wounded on Jan. 8, their families and a hero from that day were honored at Chase Field.

Daniel Hernandez, the intern whose quick actions helped save Giffords’ life, and 85-year-old broadcaster Joe Garagiola Sr. tossed side-by-side ceremonial first pitches.

Green’s parents and brother quietly delivered lineup cards to the umpires, who shook hands with each of them.

The names of those who died were listed on the ballpark’s giant screen during a moment of silence, a giant U.S. flag spread across the outfield. Survivors and relatives of those shot outside the Arizona supermarket watched from behind the third-base dugout, guests of Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

Hernandez, who had just joined Giffords’ staff, rushed to her after she was shot in the head from close range, keeping her upright and breathing until paramedics arrived.

Giffords is undergoing outpatient therapy just outside of Houston for a gunshot wound to the head. She was released from the hospital last month and is staying at astronaut husband Mark Kelly’s home in League City, a town 26 miles south of Houston. She has visited Tucson once since the shooting to celebrate Father’s Day weekend.

Jared Lee Loughner, wrestled to the ground at the scene of the shooting, has pleaded not guilty to 49 federal charges. He is in a Missouri mental facility after experts determined he suffers from schizophrenia and a judge ruled him mentally unfit to stand trial.

-- Bob Baum

Red Sox RHP Beckett scratched from All-Star game

PHOENIX (AP) — Boston Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett was scratched from the All-Star game Tuesday night after feeling soreness in his left knee while warming up in the bullpen.

"I could have pitched. I’m just not comfortable going out there and getting hurt in an All-Star game and costing myself starts in the second half," Beckett said. "I think that’s how everybody should be. This game does mean a lot with home-field advantage and everything but at the same time there are some things that are ahead that are a little more important."

The right-hander was scheduled to follow starter Jered Weaver in the second inning, but was pulled before going in to pitch. He was replaced by Yankees right-hander David Robertson.

Beckett pitched just five innings in his last start against Baltimore on Friday after he slightly hyperextended his knee on the wet mound at Fenway Park.

"It’s kind of weird. I was warming up and didn’t feel 100 percent," Beckett said. "It’s not something I was comfortable with. I don’t think I re-injured it but it still definitely has inflammation."

Notebook: Fielder shrugs off Chase Field boos in HR Derby

PHOENIX (AP) — When Prince Fielder came to the plate in the Home Run Derby, he was showered with boos.

The big Milwaukee Brewers slugger, the 2009 Home Run Derby champion, insists he was not offended. He picked the other three members of the NL team and left off Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton. Among Fielder’s choices, Brewers teammate Rickie Weeks, his friend since childhood.

"It’s one of their players. You expect that," Fielder said. "That means it means a lot to them."

Weeks got the same reception, and was a bit bewildered.

"I finally kind of figured it out," he said.

One who wasn’t so forgiving were young sons Jadyn and Haven, on hand on the field in replica All-Star uniforms.

"They were mad. They wanted to fight," Fielder said. "I had to tell them to calm down. It wasn’t personal."

YANKEE PRIDE: Without Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez around, someone had to carry the Yankee Pride at All-Star weekend. Robinson Cano’s booming victory in the Home Run Derby fit the bill just fine.

That fact was not lost on Cano.

"I was sad when I heard they are not coming, because you always like when you’re teammates are here, because you feel like you’re in the clubhouse," he said. But I know they have their reasons and I hope fans understand that it’s not that they don’t want to come. There was a reason and I know nobody else wants to be here more than them."

He had a special thanks for pitcher CC Sabathia, who started on Sunday and thus was not eligible to throw in Tuesday’s All-Star game, even though he leads the majors with 13 wins.

Cano said Sabathia told him, ‘You’re going to win it, don’t worry, be relaxed."

Some key Yankees weren’t with Cano, but their support was.

"It’s always great to have people around you like that," he said. "Not like, ‘Oh, this guy is going to go, don’t care if he doesn’t win."

JOSH’S PLANS: Josh Hamilton says he plans to reach out to the family of Shannon Stone, the firefighter who tumbled to his death trying to catch a ball tossed by the Texas Rangers’ outfielder.

"I haven’t thought it all the way through yet," Hamilton said. "Obviously, I want it to be personal, face to face. I’d love to know what kind of man Mr. Stone was and just meet his wife and his little boy and see where it goes from there.

"The memorial fund, my wife and I plan to do something with that and try to do everything possible."

But he knows he can never do enough.

"Nothing we can do is going to bring him back," Hamilton said. "But the organization can take care of the family and see that everything is going in the right direction."

Two nights after Stone’s death, Hamilton hit a winning, ninth-inning home run for the Rangers, a release of sorts for a man who recovered from drug addiction and lives with an abundance of Christian faith.

"It helps me handle life," Hamilton said, "and this is life, this tragedy. There’s things that happen that you have no control over and you don’t understand them and you will never understand them until you stand in front of your maker."

BELTRAN WANTS TO WIN: Carlos Beltran left no doubt about his desire to play for a winner, and he would be willing to approve a trade to a contending team if the New York Mets want to deal him before the July 31 non-waiver deadline.

"The Mets know," the NL All-Star said. "I have made clear to them, that I’m willing to listen if they want to trade me. All I want to be is on a team where I have a chance to go to the playoffs."

Would the Boston Red Sox be a good destination?

"They’re in first place," he said. "It’s a no-brainer."

GIO ON JETER: New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter has taken some heat for skipping the All-Star game to rest a sore calf that’s been called a questionable escape clause since he was well enough to play in his quest to reach 3,000 hits.

Oakland Athletics left-hander Gio Gonzalez, making his first All-Star appearance, thinks everyone should back off the Yankees’ captain.

"The guy just got his 3,00th hit, so give him a break, seriously," Gonzalez said. "He’s coming off the DL, played a bunch of games, he deserves a little bit of rest to get his body right and I think everybody should respect that."

POLANCO SHOWS: A bad back kept Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco from playing in the All-Star game.

It couldn’t keep him from showing up to watch it in person.

Saying he felt obligated to be in Phoenix after being voted in by the fans, Polanco was in the desert for media sessions on Monday and will be at Chase Field for Tuesday night’s game.

"It’s not normal to be here and be voted in by the fans, so to not be able to play makes me a little bit mad, but at the same time it’s hard to get too mad around all these superstars and the good time you’re having here," he said. "Sometimes you have to support, be here for the fans and do all the stuff, the appreciation for what they did. I wanted to play, but it was in the best interest of the team for me not to."

-- Bob Baum

League Transactions

UH football recruit signs with MLB’s Cards

HOUSTON (AP) — Prep star C.J. McElroy is picking baseball over football.

The University of Houston signee and St. Louis Cardinals draft pick will sign with the major-league team. The Cardinals drafted him in the third round of the major-league baseball draft in June.

KRIV-TV first reported McElroy’s decision, and University of Houston officials confirmed it on Tuesday morning.

The 5-foot-10 McElroy played center field for Clear Creek High School. He hit .488 with five homers, 20 RBIs and stole a school-record 33 bases as a senior.

McElroy’s father, Chuck, played in the major leagues from 1989-2001.

Jays deal outfielder Juan Rivera to Dodgers

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays have traded outfielder Juan Rivera to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named or cash considerations.

The 33-year-old appeared in 70 games for the Blue Jays this season, batting .243 with six home runs and 27 RBIs prior to being designated for assignment on July 3, the same day Travis Snider was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas.

Rivera was acquired by Toronto on Jan. 21 along with catcher Mike Napoli from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for outfielder Vernon Wells.

Napoli was then dealt to the Texas Rangers for reliever Frank Francisco.

In 11 major league seasons with the Yankees, Expos, Angels and Blue Jays, Rivera has a .277 average with 118 home runs and 446 RBIs.

"Juan will provide us with a right-handed hitting counterpart to Tony Gwynn Jr. and can also fill in for James Loney from time to time at first base," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement.

Rivera is scheduled to make $5.25 million this season.