Manny Ramirez keeps falling in All-Star voting

Manny Ramirez has fallen to sixth place in fan voting for National League All-Star outfielders, making it increasingly unlikely that the highest-profile player suspended under baseball’s drug policy would appear in the sport’s summer showcase.

The amount of votes standing between Ramirez and a starting spot in the All-Star game has nearly tripled over the last two weeks.

Raul Ibanez of the Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets lead the voting among NL outfielders, followed by Alfonso Soriano of the Chicago Cubs and Shane Victorino of the Phillies.

Ramirez, in fourth place two weeks ago and in fifth place last week, has dropped 367,612 votes out of third place. He was 139,789 votes out of third place two weeks ago.

Voting continues through July 2. Ramirez is scheduled to return from his suspension July 3.

Although the Dodgers have the best record in the major leagues, they have only one player who ranks among the top five at his position, second baseman Orlando Hudson.

Hudson trails front-runner Chase Utley of the Phillies by 1,368,707 votes.

--

Back to the minors

The Dodgers sent infielder Blake DeWitt and outfielder Jamie Hoffmann to triple-A Albuquerque to get them more playing time.

The team recalled catcher A.J. Ellis from Albuquerque and is expected to promote power-hitting outfielder Mitch Jones today. Jones, 31, has never played in the major leagues even though he has 221 home runs over 10 minor league seasons. Jones is hitting .292 with 21 home runs and 50 runs batted.

--

bill.shaikin@latimes.com

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

--

DODGERS TONIGHT

VS. OAKLAND

When: 7.

Where: Dodger Stadium.

On the air: TV: Channel 9; Radio: 790, 930.

Pitchers: Clayton Kershaw vs. Dallas Braden. Wednesday, 7 p.m.: Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 2.86) vs. Trevor Cahill (3-5, 4.17). Thursday, 7 p.m.: Randy Wolf (3-2, 3.41) vs. Vin Mazzaro (2-1, 1.37).

Update: Problems with pitch counts have prevented Kershaw from pitching past the sixth inning in each of his last four starts. He pitched a combined eight innings over his last two starts, both losses. His last appearance, on Wednesday, was particularly rough, as San Diego pounded him for three runs and five hits and knocked him out of the game in 2 2/3 innings. He walked four and threw 88 pitches. Braden is 2-0 with a 2.67 earned-run average over his last four starts. He has received run support of a run or less in six of his 13 starts and his season run-support average of 4.00 is fifth lowest in the American League. Meanwhile, in All-Star voting, the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez has fallen to sixth place among National League outfielders while second baseman Orlando Hudson still trails Chase Utley.

-- Dylan Hernandez