SEATTLE — Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero is leaving a road trip and heading back to Los Angeles for further tests on an injured chest muscle.
Manager Mike Scioscia said an MRI on Thursday revealed a strained pectoral muscle. Guerrero, 34, was to fly to Los Angeles to see team orthopedist Lewis Yocum today.
Yocum will determine whether the first player since Lou Gehrig to bat at least .300 with at least 25 home runs in 11 consecutive seasons will rejoin the Angels’ road trip in Minnesota this weekend.
Guerrero played in all eight of the Angels’ games as the designated hitter before sitting out Thursday night’s game at Seattle. He is batting .250 with just one home run — his only extra-base hit — and three RBIs. But he said the injury is not affecting his hitting, only his fielding.
“I want to get back to playing right field,” he said. “The way I am swinging the bat has nothing to do with this. . . . I just haven’t gotten into the swing of things.”
Fidrych’s death ruled an accident
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. — Former all-star pitcher Mark Fidrych suffocated after his clothes became entangled with a spinning part on the truck he was working on, Massachusetts authorities said.
The state medical examiner’s office ruled the death an accident, according to a release from the Worcester District Attorney’s office.
A friend found Fidrych, 54, beneath a 10-wheel dump truck Monday at his farm.
“He appeared to have been working on the truck when his clothes became tangled in the truck’s power takeoff shaft,” District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said.
Footnotes.
The Royals placed third baseman Alex Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with a cartilage tear in his right hip. Gordon will undergo surgery today in Vail to have the tear repaired. His return is uncertain.
• The Mariners placed catcher Kenji Johjima on the 15-day DL with a strained right hamstring and recalled catcher Jamie Burke from Triple-A Tacoma (Wash.).
• The Reds acquired minor- league infielder Drew Sutton from Houston to complete the trade that sent shortstop Jeff Keppinger to the Astros during spring training.
• Braves reliever Jorge Campillo went on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
The Associated Press
