Astros Lose Biggio for Rest of Season

Houston Astro second baseman Craig Biggio tore ligaments in his left knee Tuesday night and will be lost for the rest of the season.

Biggio, 34, tore his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments during a collision with Florida’s Preston Wilson in Houston’s victory at Miami.

With Wilson on first base, Mike Lowell hit a grounder to third. On the throw to second, Wilson slid into Biggio.

Biggio hadn’t been on the disabled list in 13 major league seasons. Astro General Manager Gerry Hunsicker said no date had been set for surgery.

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New York Yankee right-hander Orlando Hernandez pitched four shutout innings in a rehabilitation start for Class-A Tampa on Tuesday against Dunedin. Hernandez, out since July 14 because of discomfort in his right elbow and minor back spasms, gave up one hit and walked a batter.

Struggling right-hander David Cone threw on the side and will do so again today.

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Kansas City all-star first baseman Mike Sweeney was a late scratch from the Royal lineup after testing his injured hand during batting practice at Yankee Stadium. Sweeney was hit in the right hand by a pitch from Tampa Bay’s Esteban Yan on Sunday. . . . The Minnesota Twins activated catcher Dan Ardoin one day after they got him in a trade from Oakland. Ardoin, obtained for minor league first baseman Mario Valdez, was batting .278 with six homers and 34 RBIs in 67 games for triple-A Sacramento. . . . The Cleveland Indians signed Brian Tallet, a left-handed pitcher from College World Series champion Louisiana State. The team’s second-round pick in the June draft was assigned to Class A.

A number of players were put on the 15-day disabled list. They included Boston’s Jose Offerman (bruised left knee), Texas left-hander Darren Oliver (fatigue and weakness in his left shoulder), Chicago White Sox right-hander Sean Lowe (inflammation in his right shoulder), Oakland infielder Olmedo Saenz (strained left hamstring), Toronto infielder Homer Bush (hairline fracture on the back of his left hand) and Tampa Bay third baseman Vinny Castilla (lower back inflammation). Houston catcher Mitch Meluskey is also on the 15-day disabled list because of tendinitis in his right biceps after having to leave Sunday’s game against Atlanta.

Tampa Bay left-hander Tony Saunders’ rehabilitation from a broken bone in his pitching arm was delayed when his scheduled start for Charleston, S.C., at Augusta, Ga., was postponed by rain. . . . Cincinnati pitching coach Don Gullett was given precautionary tests at a hospital in Queens, N.Y., after experiencing tightness in his chest after the Reds’ game against the New York Mets on Monday night. Gullett, 49, had a heart attack in 1986 and underwent triple-bypass surgery in 1990. . . . Percy McRae, who sang the national anthem before Monday night’s Chicago Cub game, suffered a heart attack during the first inning and later died. McRae, 65, of Long Island, N.Y., suffered from hypertensive cardiovascular disease, said Joe Krause, an investigator at the Cook County medical examiner’s office.