Two Angels Get All-Star Call

While they may have been selected to the American League All-Star team by different means, Angel outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and reliever Francisco Rodriguez will bring a similar brand of dominance to Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Guerrero, the second-leading vote-getter in the AL behind Texas Ranger second baseman Alfonso Soriano in fan balloting, wields a powerful bat that has placed him among the league leaders in almost every offensive category.

Rodriguez, who garnered more votes from players, coaches and managers than any other AL reliever except New York Yankee closer Mariano Rivera, has a powerful arm that has helped him attain the league lead in strikeouts among relievers.

“With Vlad Guerrero, it speaks for itself,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Everybody recognizes what he’s done. With Francisco Rodriguez, it’s recognition of a guy that has not pitched really in a closer’s role but has done everything asked from him in the bullpen. He’s been a major reason why we’ve been able to stay in the race.”

Rodriguez, at 22 the youngest player on the AL team, said he was surprised by his selection because he was not among the league leaders in saves.

“If you check the numbers, there’s a lot of closers out there that have more than 15, 20 saves,” said Rodriguez, who will make his first All-Star appearance. “I was thinking in my mind that they would take more closers than other relievers.”

What Rodriguez lacks in saves he more than makes up for in other statistical categories. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.04 earned-run average, seven saves and 68 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. He has given up only 13 walks and hitters are batting .173 against him.

Guerrero, who will make his first All-Star appearance with the Angels after going four times as a member of the Montreal Expos in the National League, ranks among the top five in the AL in batting average, homers and runs batted in.

The first Angel outfielder to be voted as a starter since Reggie Jackson in 1984 receives a $100,000 bonus for making the team but said he would not participate in the home run derby, won last season by Angel outfielder Garret Anderson.

Eric Gagne, the Dodgers’ lone selection, made the All-Star team for the third consecutive season. Gagne, who has converted a major league-record 84 consecutive save opportunities, received the most votes of any reliever from National League players, coaches and managers.

Although he has not blown a save in a regular-season game in 23 months, he blew the save in last year’s All-Star game.

“I’ll probably blow another one this year,” Gagne said jokingly. “If you’re blowing a save in the All-Star game, it doesn’t matter, I guess.”

Angel outfielder Jose Guillen was left off the AL team despite impressive first-half statistics for a second consecutive season after losing a tiebreaker with Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield.

Guillen and Sheffield received the same total points in voting among players, but Sheffield made the team by virtue of getting more first-place votes.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” said Guillen, batting .294 with 13 homers and 58 runs batted in. “You go look at my numbers last year before the All-Star break. It’s pretty much the same thing.”

Guillen, who played for Cincinnati and Oakland last season, was batting .337 with 18 homers and 49 RBIs at the break.

The Dodgers were disappointed to learn that third baseman Adrian Beltre did not make the NL team.

Beltre leads all major league third basemen with 21 home runs and ranks among the NL top 10 in all three Triple Crown categories, but NL players and managers voted for Scott Rolen of the St. Louis Cardinals and Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins ahead of Beltre.

Beltre said he was not offended and would be happy to take the three days off to rest his left ankle. He is playing with a bone spur in the ankle and is expected to undergo surgery after the season.

“It’s no big deal,” Beltre said. “I’m not a big fan of the All-Star game. I’ve always said I would like to go just once, but we have, like, five third basemen [in the league] doing pretty well.”

Catcher Paul Lo Duca finished second to Atlanta’s Johnny Estrada in the player/manager balloting. Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said he believed Beltre, Lo Duca, shortstop Cesar Izturis and pitcher Guillermo Mota all merited consideration, and Tracy said he would encourage NL Manager Jack McKeon of the Marlins to select Beltre as a replacement for any player who withdraws.

“It’s a shame that, as we talk right now, he’s not part of the team,” Tracy said.

Sean Casey of the Cincinnati Reds is injured, leaving one possible opening for Beltre.

But the NL might use that opening for outfielder Carlos Beltran, voted onto the AL All-Star team but removed from consideration after his trade from the Kansas City Royals to the Houston Astros.

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All-Star Rosters

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Selections for the 75th All-Star game, to be held July 13 at Minute Maid Park in Houston (Time: 5 p.m. PDT; TV: Channel 11). The starters were selected in voting by fans; the reserves and pitchers were selected in voting by managers and players, except as indicated by an * -- those selections made by All-Star Managers Joe Torre and Jack McKeon, in conjunction with Major League Baseball. A 32nd player for each team will be selected in Internet voting. (Statistics through Saturday)

AMERICAN LEAGUE STARTERS

*--* Pos. Player Team Avg. R H HR RBI C Ivan Rodriguez Detroit 377 41 110 10 57 1B Jason Giambi New York 238 28 45 11 31 2B Alfonso Soriano Texas 294 41 99 14 50 3B Alex Rodriguez New York 273 56 84 19 50 SS Derek Jeter New York 278 48 89 13 41 OF Vladimir Guerrero ANGELS 345 69 109 20 71 OF Manny Ramirez Boston 340 49 100 22 65 OF Ichiro Suzuki Seattle 318 42 111 3 30

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AMERICAN LEAGUE RESERVES

*--* Pos. Player Team Avg. R H HR RBI C Victor Martinez Cleveland 299 46 79 12 60 1B Ken Harvey* Kansas City 328 30 89 10 34 1B David Ortiz Boston 306 44 98 22 76 2B Ronnie Belliard Cleveland 316 48 98 5 34 3B Hank Blalock Texas 314 57 102 22 61 SS Carlos Guillen* Detroit 324 59 99 11 57 SS Miguel Tejada* Baltimore 315 44 100 15 69 SS Michael Young Texas 331 59 117 11 49 OF Carl Crawford Tampa Bay 316 59 103 4 32 OF Matt Lawton Cleveland 317 62 102 14 48 OF Gary Sheffield New York 300 52 104 17 53

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AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHERS

*--* Pitcher Team W-L ERA SV H SO Francisco Cordero Texas 2-0 1.80 24 25 37 Tom Gordon* New York 2-3 1.66 2 26 45 Tim Hudson Oakland 7-3 2.98 0 110 52 Ted Lilly* Toronto 7-5 4.01 0 95 90 Esteban Loaiza* Chicago 8-4 4.37 0 121 68 Mark Mulder Oakland 11-2 2.95 0 107 83 Joe Nathan* Minnesota 1-0 1.19 23 26 44 Mariano Rivera New York 0-0 0.86 29 31 35 Francisco Rodriguez ANGELS 1-1 1.04 7 26 68 Kenny Rogers Texas 11-2 3.42 0 108 64 C.C. Sabathia Cleveland 5-3 2.77 0 82 61 Curt Schilling Boston 11-4 3.08 0 114 110

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NATIONAL LEAGUE STARTERS

*--* Pos. Player Team Avg. R H HR RBI C Mike Piazza New York 309 34 89 16 40 1B Albert Pujols St. Louis 303 70 88 21 57 2B Jeff Kent Houston 293 46 79 10 52 3B Scott Rolen St. Louis 344 54 97 18 78 SS Edgar Renteria St. Louis 283 47 83 4 34 OF Barry Bonds San Francisco 352 64 62 22 46 OF Ken Griffey Jr. Cincinnati 246 45 68 19 55 OF Sammy Sosa Chicago 276 30 51 14 33

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NATIONAL LEAGUE RESERVES

*--* Pos. Player Team Avg. R H HR RBI C Johnny Estrada Atlanta 328 32 78 4 45 1B Sean Casey Cincinnati 352 55 101 15 54 1B Todd Helton* Colorado 352 61 94 15 53 1B Jim Thome* Philadelphia 299 55 80 27 58 2B Mark Loretta San Diego 320 55 103 6 34 SS Barry Larkin* Cincinnati 296 40 69 4 30 SS Jack Wilson Pittsburgh 339 45 113 8 34 3B Mike Lowell Florida 300 50 94 19 51 OF Moises Alou Chicago 287 49 88 19 49 OF Lance Berkman Houston 304 48 79 16 59 OF Miguel Cabrera Florida 294 55 92 20 55

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NATIONAL LEAGUE PITCHERS

*--* Pitcher Team W-L ERA SV H SO Armando Benitez Florida 2-0 1.07 27 22 35 Roger Clemens Houston 10-2 2.63 0 82 107 Eric Gagne DODGERS 2-0 1.54 21 18 49 Tom Glavine New York 7-5 2.16 0 88 60 Danny Graves Cincinnati 1-3 2.89 31 45 26 Livan Hernandez* Montreal 6-7 3.23 0 122 100 Randy Johnson Arizona 10-6 2.90 0 82 139 Dan Kolb* Milwaukee 0-0 0.87 24 21 9 Carl Pavano* Florida 9-3 2.92 0 103 73 Jason Schmidt San Francisco 10-2 2.61 0 69 112 Ben Sheets* Milwaukee 7-5 2.58 0 82 113 Carlos Zambrano Chicago 9-3 2.41 0 84 99

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