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Rays' Moore needs Tommy John surgery

All-Star lefthander Matt Moore will miss the rest of the season after the elbow ligament replacement procedure.

TAMPA BAY lefthander Matt Moore will miss the remainder of the season after opting to have elbow ligament replacement surgery.

Dr. James Andrews is to operate next week on Moore, 24, who made the AL All-Star team last year. Moore will be the first Rays pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery since Jason Isringhausen in June 2009.

"I can't help out on the competitive side of this business right now," Moore said yesterday before rain washed out the Rays' game at the Orioles. "This is my first significant injury where I'm going to be missing a lot of time."

Manager John Maddon believes Moore's decision will be beneficial in the long term for the pitcher and the team.

"It's awful, but it's great," Maddon said. "It's awful that we're going to miss this guy for a bit. It's good for him to be able to get past this moment and look forward to a really long and prosperous career. Almost all of the time, percentagewise, it's a very successful operation."

Moore hasn't pitched since walking off the mound with elbow soreness on April 7 in Kansas City. He was placed on the disabled list the following day.

"It was an injury that I didn't think would be my ligament. I didn't think it was going to be something like that," he said. "It just didn't feel that severe."

After throwing on the side Monday, Moore realized surgery was inevitable.

"I don't think there was a whole lot of hesitation," he said, noting that he felt pain "on every single pitch."

Moore also experienced elbow soreness last season while going 17-4 with a 3.29 ERA. He was 0-2 this year despite allowing only three runs in 10 innings.

Moore is among three Tampa Bay pitchers on the disabled list. Righthander Jeremy Hellickson is recovering from arthroscopic right elbow surgery and right-hander Alex Cobb has a left oblique strain.

Other games that were postponed yesterday were the Chicago Cubs at the New York Yankees and Cleveland at Detroit.

In NL games

* At Miami, Giancarlo Stanton tied a career high with five RBI, including a three-run homer off Stephen Strasburg (1-2), and the Marlins broke an eight-game losing streak by beating Washington, 11-2. Tom Koehler (2-1) held the Nationals to one hit and five walks in seven scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.89.

Both benches and bullpens cleared briefly in the fourth inning when the Nationals' Ian Desmond and Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia engaged in a heated, nose-to-nose conversation at home plate. Desmond became annoyed when he barely avoided being hit by an inside pitch from Koehler.

* At Cincinnati, Reds righthander Mike Leake (2-1) doubled and hit a two-run homer, ending Gerrit Cole's winning streak in a 7-5 victory over Pittsburgh that completed 2 days full of homers and delays.

First, the NL Central rivals completed a game that was suspended in the sixth inning tied at 7-7 because of rain the previous night. Andrew McCutchen doubled and came around on Russell Martin's single in the seventh inning, giving the Pirates an 8-7 win. The teams combined for 10 homers in the first six innings, the most for a game in Great American Ball Park's 12 seasons. Pittsburgh had three sets of back-to-back homers, only the third time that's happened in major league history, according to STATS.

* At Milwaukee, St. Louis' Shelby Miller (1-2) held the Brewers to three hits in six innings and Mark Ellis had two RBI in his return from the disabled list in the Cardinals' 6-1 victory.

In AL games

* At Chicago, Boston shortstop Xavier Bogaerts' throwing error with two out in the ninth inning scored the winning run from second base as the White Sox beat the Red Sox, 2-1.

* At Arlington, Texas, Prince Fielder and Kevin Kouzmanoff hit back-to-back homers, Robbie Ross (1-0) limited Seattle to five singles in seven-plus innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Mariners, 5-0.

* At Minneapolis, Brett Lawrie's sacrifice fly capped a five-run sixth inning and he added a grand slam homer in the ninth as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-3.

* At Houston, Kansas City's Omar Infante homered and drove in two runs, and Yordano Ventura (1-0) held the Astros to four hits in seven innings as the Royals won, 4-2.

Noteworthy

* Commissioner Bud Selig says baseball's new replay system is working well despite a few problems during its first 2 weeks. The new system that began March 30 vastly expands the types of plays that managers and umpires can ask to be reviewed by umpires at a replay center in New York.

Calls by umpires on the field were confirmed in 33 of 89 challenges through Monday and overturned in 30. For 25 others, calls stood because of a lack of "clear and convincing" evidence. In one instance, umpires asked for a video review to check the balls-strike count.

Selig called the rollout "remarkable" but wouldn't say whether MLB would make any adjustments during this initial season.

"Technology takes a while to work," MLB Advanced Media CEO Bob Bowman said. "I don't know if you ever bought a new car. You don't know how all that stuff works right away. And if you ever get a new phone, it takes you a while to learn it. We're under 30 days old, and I know we've arrived because ESPN is already criticizing us. And it must be great to be perfect the way ESPN is."

An ESPN spokesman declined comment.

* Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia had a cortisone injection in his left wrist and hopes to return to the starting lineup tonight.

* The New York Mets placed centerfielder Juan Lagares on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled right hamstring and recalled outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis from Triple A Las Vegas. Lagares was injured while beating out a doubleplay ball Monday. He was leading the Mets with a .314 batting average and had a nine-game hitting streak.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers activated reliever Brian Wilson (elbow nerve irritation) from the disabled list and optioned lefthander Paco Rodriguez to Triple A Albuquerque.

* Cleveland activated outfielder Michael Bourn (hamstring) from the disabled list and optioned outfielder Nyjer Morgan to Triple A.

* San Diego righthander Josh Johnson, who has yet to pitch this season, will undergo further evaluation this week. Johnson, signed in the offseason to a 1-year free-agent contract, had a right forearm strain in spring training. Johnson underwent surgery on his right elbow to remove bone spurs during the offseason. Johnson has a history of arm issues, most notably Tommy John surgery in 2007.