THE SIDELINES : Chest Pain Scare: Bip Roberts OK

San Diego Padres third baseman Bip Roberts, complaining of chest pains when he was carried from the dugout in San Francisco last week, has been cleared to play after doctors determined the problem was a muscle tear and gastroenteritis, team officials said.

Roberts was scheduled to rejoin the team in Cincinnati today and could be in the starting lineup Tuesday when the Padres and Reds open a three-game series.

Roberts, 25, was carried out of the Padres’ dugout on a stretcher in Candlestick Park Friday night, complaining of chest pains. He spent the night in the cardiac-care unit of San Francisco General Hospital and returned to San Diego Saturday, where he underwent a battery of tests at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. Doctors concluded that the chest pains were caused by a combination of a muscle tear in the rib cage and gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach lining.