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Martinez, Red Sox Not on Same Page

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Associated Press

Will Pedro Martinez pitch again this season or won’t he?

While Boston manager Joe Kerrigan said Martinez is set to make his next start, the Red Sox ace insisted Saturday that it will be his decision.

It was just another day of simmering trouble in the clubhouse of a team that has fallen out of contention.

“Yes. He is still scheduled for his next start. We’ll have further discussions tomorrow,” Kerrigan said.

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But Martinez, who already has been on the disabled list because of a sore right shoulder, was adamant that he would make the final call on whether he pitches again this season. The slumping Red Sox have fallen out of playoff contention.

“This will be my decision,” Martinez said. “If I’m not good enough to pitch at my level, I’m not going to pitch.”

Martinez lasted only three innings in his most recent start, giving up three runs in a 33-pitch second inning against the New York Yankees on Friday.

All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers underwent surgery for tendinitis in his left knee.

Team orthopedist John Conway removed a damaged part of tendon from the knee in a 90-minute procedure and said he was optimistic that Rodriguez could be ready for spring training.

It’s the second year in a row Rodriguez’s season has ended prematurely. He missed the final two months of last season after breaking a thumb on his throwing hand.

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He also spent two weeks this season on the disabled list because of a bruised heel.

The latest injury first surfaced in a game against the Yankees on Aug. 22, when his right knee locked while in his catcher’s crouch.

Rodriguez could become a free agent after the 2002 season, and agent Jeff Moorad had been asking the Rangers for a contract extension.

Glenn Beckert, who spent 11 years as a second baseman with the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres, was in critical condition at a Pittsburgh hospital following a fall in his aunt’s home.

Cub broadcaster Ron Santo, a former teammate of Beckert’s, said Beckert, 60, fell down stairs and landed on his head Thursday morning.

“He’s got a hairline fracture on the right side and left side of his skull, with two blood clots,” Santo said.

“They’re hoping the clots will shrink so they won’t have to operate. They’ll know more Monday.”

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The hospital would not release any information besides Beckert’s listed condition.

Beckert won a Gold Glove in 1968 and was selected to the National League All-Star team from 1969-1972.

He batted .283 in 1,320 games, mostly with the Cubs from 1965 to 1973. He played 73 games with the Padres in 1974 and 1975.

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Arizona Diamondback right fielder Reggie Sanders was out of the lineup Saturday because of a strained oblique muscle in his left side.

Sanders, the Diamondbacks’ biggest offensive threat the last two weeks, was injured while hitting a fly ball to right field in the seventh inning of Arizona’s 4-3 loss to San Diego on Friday night.

Sanders probably will sit out today’s game against the Padres.

NL West-leading Arizona doesn’t play Monday, and he hopes to return Tuesday night against Colorado....

Cub first baseman Fred McGriff pulled up lame as he ran out a grounder against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday and had to leave the game because of a strained left hamstring. He could miss two or three games.

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