Ailing A-Rod may sit out All-Star Game

Baseball
Alex Rodriguez hasn't decided whether he will play in Tuesday's All-Star Game or use the three-day break to rest his strained hamstring. The New York Yankees slugger, who topped fan voting for the game in San Francisco with 3.89 million votes, hurt his left hamstring Monday night when he tripped over Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau's ankle while beating out a potential double play. "I told the guys I'll let them know Saturday . . . but if I feel like this, probably not," Rodriguez said yesterday. He added he would still go to the All-Star Game even if he decides not to play . . . Randy Johnson returned home to Arizona to rehab with his personal trainer, a day after a herniated disk landed the Diamondbacks lefthander on the 15-day disabled list for the third time this season. The plan calls for Johnson's injury to be re-evaluated when he's eligible to come off the disabled list July 14 . . . Braves All-Star righthander John Smoltz will return to Atlanta today to meet with team doctors about his right shoulder discomfort, and will likely skip his next start . . . The Los Angeles Dodgers' depleted pitching staff took another hit when lefthanders Randy Wolf (shoulder) and Hong-Chih Kuo (elbow) were placed on the 15-day DL . . . Mike Sweeney, who had hoped to get back in the Kansas City Royals' lineup this week, will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today and will be out indefinitely . . . The New York Mets purchased the contract of veteran catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. from Triple A New Orleans and sent lefthander Jason Vargas to New Orleans . . . The Baltimore Orioles designated former Red Sox reliever Scott Williamson for assignment . . . Pawtucket won its rain-delayed doubleheader opener against host Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 6-5, as Bobby Scales drove in a pair of runs for the PawSox. Game 2 was postponed . . . Jeff Corsaletti and Jed Lowrie homered as the Portland Sea Dogs won the opener of their doubleheader with the Rock Cats, 4-2, in New Britain, Conn. The second game was rained out.

Former Red Sox center fielder Fred Lynn was among 11 players and coaches inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, just the second class enshrined in Lubbock, Texas. Lynn batted .320 with 28 home runs and 111 RBIs in 158 career games at Southern Cal (1971-73) and was a member of three national championship squads. Other players inducted were Jim Abbott (Michigan), Pete Incaviglia (Oklahoma State), John Olerud (Washington State), Phil Stephenson (Wichita State), and Derek Tatsuno (Hawaii). The five coaches inducted were Jim Brock (Arizona State), Chuck Brayton (Washington State), the late Bibb Falk (Texas), Jerry Kindall (Arizona), and the late Dick Siebert (Minnesota).

Soccer

The United States was sent packing from the Copa America a day before it played its last first-round game in Venezuela. The 0-2 Americans, who face Colombia today, were ousted when Mexico and Chile played to a 0-0 tie and Brazil beat Ecuador, 1-0 . . . Luciano Emilio scored for the fifth straight game and D.C. United (7-4-2) took over first place in the MLS Eastern Conference with a 1-0 road victory over the Kansas City Wizards . . . Landon Donovan provided the offense for the host Los Angeles Galaxy in a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire . . . Ramon Nunez and Dominic Oduro scored for host FC Dallas in a 2-0 win over CD Chivas . . . Collin Samuel scored on a penalty kick in the 79th minute to help Toronto FC knock off host Real Salt Lake, 2-1 . . . The visiting Columbus Crew and the Colorado Rapids played to a scoreless tie.

Auto racing

NASCAR has penalized the Nextel Cup teams of Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter for rule infractions found on their cars during the postrace inspection following Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Both the No. 5 Chevrolet of Busch and the No. 70 Chevrolet of Sauter were found to have used unapproved parts and failed to meet the minimum front car heights. Busch and Sauter were each penalized 25 points and their respective crew chiefs were each fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Sept. 19. In addition, Rick Hendrick, owner of the No. 5, was penalized 25 owner championship points, as was Joe Custer of the No. 70.

Miscellany

Four years removed from making a run at a Triple Crown, Funny Cide returned to the winner's circle. The 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner captured the 31st running of the $100,000 Wadsworth Memorial Handicap at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in Farmington, N.Y. The 7-year-old Funny Cide had not won in six straight outings, but the 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-olds and up proved to his liking as a near-record crowd of more than 12,000 cheered his every stride. He covered the distance in 1 minute, 51.77 seconds . . . Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong believes that last year's winner Floyd Landis did not dope but will likely lose his arbitration case against the US Anti-Doping Agency. "I think conventional wisdom is that he will lose, because USADA has never lost a case," said Armstrong . . . Martin Irungu of Kenya was the top male finisher (28:01) in the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, and Wude Ayalew of Ethiopia was the women's winner (31:44) in a field featuring 55,000 runners for the nation's largest 10K event.