Dierker Has ‘Great Day’ After Brain Surgery

An angiogram performed on Houston Astro Manager Larry Dierker on Wednesday showed no remaining tangled blood vessels that caused him to have a seizure in the Astros’ dugout on Sunday.

“It confirmed that they did get all of the arteriovenous malformation,” Astro General Manager Gerry Hunsicker said. “That hopefully means that we won’t have to worry about this ever happening again.”

Dierker remained hospitalized following surgery on Tuesday by Dr. Rob Parrish.

“Dr. Parrish said Larry had a great day,” Hunsicker said. “He said Larry had a great attitude and seemed to be his normal self.”

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Six Cuban baseball players who defected from the communist-ruled island recently have been granted political asylum in Costa Rica, a California sports agency said.

Beverly Hills-based Total Sports International Inc. identified the players as catcher Brayan Pena, 17, catcher Alexis Hernandez, 25, pitcher Miguel Perez, 23, pitcher Julio Cesar Villalon, 21, outfielder Nataniel Reinoso, 24, and outfielder Juan Carlos Bruzon, 28.

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Josh Hamilton, the top pick in this month’s amateur baseball draft by Tampa Bay, was hospitalized with a stomach ailment after arriving for the start of his rookie league season at Charleston, W.Va. . . . Cincinnati put pitcher Jason Bere on the disabled list with an inflamed pitching elbow and plans to call up Rick Greene from triple-A Indianapolis. . . . Arizona placed reliever Greg Swindell on the 15-day disabled list with a rib injury and purchased the contract of reliever Ed Vosberg from triple-A Tucson. . . . Boston’s Ramon Martinez pitched four innings of a simulated game Wednesday. If Martinez, the former Dodger and brother of Pedro Martinez, experiences no soreness or stiffness in his shoulder, he likely will be ready for a rehabilitation assignment on Monday. . . . Travis Fryman was put on the disabled list for the first time in his career by the Cleveland Indians because of back spasms.