Josh Hamilton trying new contacts

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton went out for batting practice wearing contact lenses designed to cut down on the amount of light coming into his eyes to help him see the ball during the day.
The new contacts make Hamilton's eyes look red.

"I've never worn contact lenses in my life and I really would like to see the ball in the daytime, so therefore I'm trying any means possible to do that," Hamilton said. "I actually care and I want to be better and I don't want to suck in the day."
Hamilton said afterward that the contacts did help during batting practice. Manager Ron Washington throws a few batting practice sessions every day and Hamilton said normally he has trouble picking up Washington's throws because they come at him with the bleachers as the background. But he could see the ball better with the lenses on Friday.
Under the sun this season, Hamilton's numbers are dim. He is batting .122 (6-for-49) with no home runs, four RBIs and eight walks. He also has 17 strikeouts and a .429 OPS.
At night, it's a different story. Hamilton is hitting .374 (41-for-109) with six home runs, 28 RBIs, seven walks and a 1.076 OPS. And he only has 14 strikeouts while playing under the lights.
During his 2010 MVP season, the blue-eyed Hamilton hit a respectable .286 during the day and .384 at night.
Hamilton said Wednesday that he has a tougher time seeing the ball because he has blue eyes. An optometrist who talked to ESPNDallas.com on Thursday supports Hamilton's theory and explained why.
"Because of the lack of pigment in lighter color eyes -- like blue or green eyes as opposed to brown -- you get a lot more unwanted light and that can create glare problems," said Dr. Richard L. Ison, O.D., an optometrist since 1990 who currently works in Murphy, just northeast of Dallas.

Ison said the phenomenon is called intraocular light scatter, meaning the light scatters as it enters, producing a focal point that isn't as good.
His solution for Hamilton: Find a pair of sunglasses that he's completely comfortable wearing while batting.
Maybe these new contacts will take care of the issue.
Hamilton said the contacts will be used only during day games. He's not going to change what he's been doing at night. The slugger said he talked to a few club officials about his vision during the day and they suggested the lenses.
"It's just hard for me to see [at the plate] in the daytime," Hamilton said during the pregame show on 103.3 FM ESPN on Wednesday. "It's just what it is. Try to go up [to the plate] squinting and see a white ball while the sun is shining right off the plate, you know, and beaming right up in your face."
The Rangers have two day games against the New York Mets this weekend, and Washington, who said he'd never heard anything about pigmentation in the eyes affecting at-bats during the day, plans on starting Hamilton on Saturday. He hasn't decided about Sunday yet.

Justin Morneau to have neck surgery

MILWAUKEE -- Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau thought his sore left wrist would be taken care of with a short trip to the disabled list. His worrisome neck pain needed more immediate attention.

The Twins announced before Friday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers that Morneau will have neck surgery Wednesday to remove a herniated disk fragment, keeping him out another six weeks.
Morneau was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this month with a strained left wrist that was put in a cast to try to stabilize it. That also gave him time to rest his neck.
But after seeing a second neck specialist, the organization made the decision that surgery was the best option to help Morneau regain the form that led him to the 2006 AL MVP and two Silver Slugger awards.
"I was honestly kind of looking forward to him getting out of this cast and seeing where he was at, kind of hoping we'd have him back here in four or five days or whatever," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I know Morny didn't want any part of this, really, he's been fighting this stuff with the surgery and trying to stay away from anything like that so he can finish out the season. ... I know it's frustrating for him, so I feel bad for him more than anything else."
Twins trainer Rick McWane said the procedure is non-invasive to remove the fragment but will keep Morneau out until August.
"He should be back playing full in six weeks," McWane said. "Even though the risk is small, there still is a risk that if he continued to play through this and not get it fixed that his full strength would not come back, so we made the decision."
Morneau is hitting .225 with four homers and 20 RBIs in 55 games, a year after missing the final 78 games of the season with a concussion.
McWane said the concussion and neck problems were not related.
"He's had a history of neck injuries. It's hard to tell when it happened," McWane said. "He had a documented and measurable concussion in addition to what we saw on an MRI. They both have physical signs. I don't believe they're associated."
The Twins have had daily injury updates that have at times lasted longer than Gardenhire's talks with reporters.
Minnesota activated reliever Joe Nathan (right forearm) before the game after he missed 28 games. Jim Thome (left quadriceps) also rejoined the team, though he will not be activated until Saturday at the earliest after he was slated to take batting practice on Friday.
Right-hander Kevin Slowey (abdominal strain) will throw two or three innings for Class A Fort Myers on Saturday. Right fielder Jason Kubel (left foot) is close to returning sometime during Minnesota's upcoming nine-game homestand beginning Monday. Center fielder Denard Span (concussion) played catch and hit off a tee for the first time without trouble.
All the injuries have contributed to Minnesota's uncharacteristic 32-41 record, which was fourth place in the AL Central entering Friday. Now the Twins will have to overcome Morneau's missing contributions for longer than expected.
"We'll do the best we can like we always do, but I feel bad for Morny because he really wanted to get back from this wrist thing, get back out on the baseball field and help us," Gardenhire said. "This neck thing is going to knock him out for a little bit longer, but we'll get him back. We'll get him back probably August, I'm guessing, and he'll help us down the stretch."

Indians recall rookie 2B Cord Phelps

The Cleveland Indians have brought up infielder Cord Phelps from Triple-A Columbus in hopes he can spark their stagnant offense.
The club optioned Shelley Duncan to the Clippers on Wednesday to make room for Phelps. The Indians also transferred starter Alex White from the 15- to 60-day disabled list. He's out with an injured middle finger.
Phelps is making his major league debut Wednesday at second base and batting seventh in the series finale against Minnesota. The switch-hitter batted .299 with seven homers and 40 RBIs at Columbus.
Manager Manny Acta is looking for someone to kick-start Cleveland's offense and says Phelps has earned his opportunity after two productive seasons in the minors. Cleveland is 8-12 and batting .224 in its past 20 games.

Red Sox Marco Scutaro starts rehab

Boston Red Sox infielder Marco Scutaro, who has been on the disabled list since May 8 with a strained left oblique muscle, has joined Pawtucket on a rehab assignment for three games in Durham, N.C.

Manager Terry Francona said he will play a game at shortstop, a game at second and be the designated hitter for one game, and if all goes well Scutaro will rejoin the club prior to the series with the New York Yankees, which begins Tuesday night in New York.

Scutaro was batting .235 in 22 games (18 starts) at the time he was hurt, and had lost the starting shortstop job to Jed Lowrie. With plans to have him play second for Pawtucket, clearly the Red Sox intend to keep things the same.

Lowrie, who got off to a great start, batting .400 as late as April 28, has cooled since then. In the 20 games since Scutaro went on the DL, Lowrie is batting .260 with no home runs. But since becoming an everyday player, he has gone hitless in back-to-back games just once. That happened last week in Cleveland, prompting Francona to give him a day off. Since then, he has hit safely in his last five games, batting .333 (6 for 18). That includes the RBI single he had in Friday night's 8-6 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Lowrie is hitting nearly 200 percentage points higher against left-handers (25 for 58, .431) than right-handers (26 for 110, .236), but Francona said he has always been a better hitter from the right side.

"Offensively he's not a worry,'' Francona said. "(But) I don't think he's going to hit .400."

The manager said he also has few concerns about Lowrie's durability, despite his injury issues in the past.

"I think he's dying to show he can do this,'' Francona said.

Francona also has decisions to make regarding pitcher Clay Buchholz, who expressed sufficient concern about his back after Friday's start. The Red Sox are thinking about giving him a couple of days' extra rest, Francona said, which would knock him out of his scheduled start Wednesday in New York.

Francona said that Buchholz, whose previous start had been cut short after five innings because of back stiffness, told the club he didn't feel pain Friday, but it "was on his mind" whether it was going to hurt.

"We're going to sit down with him and talk about the best way to go forward,'' Francona said.

Tim Wakefield will throw a bullpen Saturday in case he is needed to start against the Yankees on Wednesday.

Red Sox overcome 4-run deficit to beat A's, end losing streak

Carl Crawford has struggled all season against left-handers. And when it comes to driving in runs, he's been much better on the road.
With one pitch Friday night, that all changed.

Crawford blooped a go-ahead, two-run single to center field in the seventh inning off Brian Fuentes and the Boston Red Sox ended a four-game losing streak with an 8-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

"You've got the bases loaded with two outs" and a full count, Crawford said. "You know he can't really play around too much right there. You know at some point he has to throw you a pitch where you can hit."

It actually was a tough pitch to hit -- inside and close to Crawford's hands. Still, he managed to send it just beyond second base to give Boston a 7-6 lead.

"We had a chance to bring Brian in against a lefty that's been hitting about .100 against lefties," Oakland manager Bob Geren said. "It's unfortunate. He made a good pitch."
Before his hit, Crawford was batting just .103 (7 for 68) against lefties this season. Of his 21 RBIs before Friday, only six were at Fenway Park, although two came from walk-off hits.

"He worked the count really well," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "By no means did he crush that ball, but he stayed on it enough and it found the outfield grass and made everybody happy."

Joey Devine (0-1) had loaded the bases in the inning when he allowed a double by Adrian Gonzalez, hit Kevin Youkilis and walked David Ortiz. After retiring Jed Lowrie on a fly ball, Devine was replaced by Fuentes.

"In the sixth with our bullpen with the lead, I like our chances," Geren said. "We have a good bullpen."

Boston had rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the first and trailed 6-5 when Crawford, who has nine RBIs in his last nine games, delivered.

"I was just hoping it got through," Crawford said. "When I saw that, I was feeling a lot better, just watched it all the way until it dropped."

Bobby Jenks (2-2) got the win and Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12 opportunities.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a solo homer, his fifth of the year, for the Red Sox in the eighth.

The Red Sox ended their longest losing streak since they began the season 0-6. The A's dropped their fourth straight after winning four in a row.

"The type of ball we were playing (early in the season) compared to now is just two different teams," Jenks said. "Going out of spring training, this is what we were all expecting to start the year. It just showed up a little late but it's here now."

The A's ripped Clay Buchholz for four runs and five hits in the first, but the Red Sox came back to take a 5-4 lead after the third. Oakland tied it with a run in the fourth before taking a 6-5 lead on Daric Barton's RBI single in the fifth.
"It's good to get some runs early," Oakland's Josh Willingham said, "but you have to give them credit. They came back."

David DeJesus started the first-inning rally with a single, took second on a single by Willingham and scored when Hideki Matsui grounded into a fielder's choice for the second out. Then Buchholz gave up three straight hits -- a single by Kurt Suzuki that sent Matsui to second, an RBI single by Barton and a two-run single by Mark Ellis.

The Red Sox began chipping away at the 4-0 lead with two runs in the bottom of the first. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, took second on his 20th stolen base of the season and third on a wild pitch, then scored on Gonzalez's groundout. Youkilis followed with a double and scored on Ortiz's single.

Ellsbury's sacrifice fly made it 4-3 in the second and Boston took the lead in the third when Ortiz doubled in one run and Lowrie singled in another off starter Josh Outman. After retiring the next batter, Outman was replaced by Guillermo Moscoso, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings.


Oakland tied the score at 5 when Kevin Kouzmanoff singled, took second on a wild pickoff throw by Buchholz and third on a wild pitch before scoring on Coco Crisp's groundout.


Buchholz kept struggling in the fifth. Willingham led off with a double, moved up on a flyout by Matsui and scored on a single by Barton that drove Buchholz from the game.

Game notes
The Red Sox transferred RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka from the 15- to the 60-day DL and placed LHP Rich Hill on the 15-day DL, both with elbow injuries. Francona said after the game that Matsuzaka would have season-ending Tommy John surgery, probably next week. ... The Athletics placed RHP Grant Balfour on paternity leave and recalled RHP Fautino De Los Santos from Triple-A Sacramento. ... In his other appearance this season against Oakland, Buchholz allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-3 win on April 20. ... Tommy Hottovy, a 2004 draft choice by Boston, made his major league debut, retiring the only batter he faced to end the sixth. ... Fuentes was 0-4 with two saves in his previous seven appearances.

Six Yankees lead in early All-Star voting

Arizona should start preparing for a New York invasion.
In the first update of voting for the 2011 American League All-Star team, the Yankees have six players who are the top vote-getters at their positions, including the entire starting infield.
The six players are catcher Russell Martin, first baseman Mark Teixeira, second baseman Robinson Cano, third baseman Alex Rodriguez, shortstop Derek Jeter and center fielder Curtis Granderson. The All-Star Game is July 12 in Phoenix.
As Jeter gets closer and closer to his 3,000th hit, he's also closing in on his 12th All-Star team, garnering 931,410 votes so far, putting him comfortably ahead of Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera.
Rodriguez could grab his 13th All-Star spot and his first start since 2008, with 945,127 votes in the early going. He's ahead of Texas' Adrian Beltre and Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria.
Cano has the second-most votes of all players, behind only Toronto's Jose Bautista, and has more than twice the votes of second-place Dustin Pedroia. Teixeira also leads a member of the Boston Red Sox in the voting, as he is almost 142,000 votes ahead of Adrian Gonzalez.
New catcher Russell Martin has a cushy lead over Minnesota Twins backstop Joe Mauer with 843,459 votes. He's looking for an appearance on his third All-Star team and his first start since 2007, when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Granderson has the second-most votes among outfielders with 994,315.
The only Yankees not in first at their positions are outfielders Brett Gardner (11th), Nick Swisher (7th) and designated hitter Jorge Posada (3rd). Michael Young leads at DH, while his Texas teammate Josh Hamilton would be the third outfielder.
The starting rosters for the game will be announced July 3 during the All-Star Game Selection Show on TBS.

Mets in talks to sell minority share

The cash-strapped owners of the New York Mets have agreed to sell a minority share of the team to hedge fund manager David Einhorn for $200 million.
The move, announced Thursday, would allow owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz to retain control of the team. The influx of money would help pay debts and cover operating expenses.
A definitive agreement is expected by late June, according to the team.
The sale will be for less than 49 percent of the team and will not include a stake in SNY, the television network owned by the Mets, sources close to the deal tell ESPN's Karl Ravech.
Fred Wilpon told Sports Illustrated this week the team is "bleeding cash" and could lose up to $70 million this year. He also told the magazine the club might slash payroll next year. The Mets received a loan from Major League Baseball in November to help cover expenses.
In addition, Wilpon, who became ensnared in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, is facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by a court trustee seeking to recover money for Madoff's other victims.
Enter Einhorn, the 42-year-old president of private investment firm Greenlight Capital, Inc., who spent the first seven years of his childhood in New Jersey and as a young boy once dressed in a homemade Mets jersey for Halloween.

"It's been a very smooth process for the last several months," Einhorn said of the state of negotiations during a news conference Thursday. "We're very far along as understanding the business operations and prospects."
Asked if he anticipated buying a larger stake in the team down the road, Einhorn said: "What I'm interested right now is the opportunity in front of me right now. We don't even have a completed transaction yet."
Once that transaction is completed, Einhorn said, he plans to retain his share of the Mets for years to come.
"I have no real plans to sell this investment. I expect to hold it for a long, long time," he said. "The financial rewards, they'll take care of themselves over time."
The Mets said Einhorn will be a "preferred partner" and have a "nonoperating investment" in the team. The club said the deal is subject to the "negotiation of a mutually acceptable definitive agreement. Major League Baseball must give its approval.
"(Einhorn's) investment immediately improves the franchise's financial position," Wilpon said in a statement released by the Mets. "Equally important, David's intelligence, integrity and success in both business and civic affairs provides us with another perspective in evaluating what is best for this organization and our fans, and we welcome his input."

Recently, Forbes magazine estimated the value of the Mets had dropped 13 percent in one year to $747 million -- and that was before the team's projected losses this season.
A Cornell graduate, Einhorn is the author of "Fooling Some Of The People All Of The Time," a book about his battle with private investing firm Allied Capital. He serves on the boards of Hillel, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and the Robin Hood Foundation. He finished 18th at the World Series of Poker in 2006 and donated his winnings of $659,730 to the Fox foundation.
Einhorn made financial news Wednesday when he told an investment conference audience that Microsoft Corp.'s board of directors should replace CEO Steve Ballmer. According to SEC filings, Greenlight owns nearly 9.1 million shares of the software giant.
But when it comes to the Mets, Einhorn said he would let the Wilpons handle the team's day-to-day management.
"The Wilpons remain in control of the team," he said. "I'm just looking forward to the overall experience this investment will lead to."

By: http://www.espn.go.com/