Dodgers place Ramirez on 15-day DL again

PHOENIX (AP) - Manny Ramirez is back on the disabled list, this time to rest his sore right hamstring.

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed their slugger on the 15-day DL on Saturday and the move is retroactive to Wednesday. He strained the hamstring in the first inning against San Francisco on Tuesday. He will be eligible to return after the All-Star break.

"There's no reason to gamble this," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said, "especially with the fact that the three days of the All-Star break count."

It's Ramirez's second stint on the DL this season. He was sidelined from April 23-May 8 with a right calf strain. Ramirez is batting .322 with eight homers and 39 RBIs in 59 games.

Ramirez doesn't talk much to reporters these days, but Torre said the outfielder would have preferred to stay on the active list until Monday to see if the hamstring improved at least enough for him to pinch hit. But after talking to team doctors, Torre decided that the wisest route would be to put him on the disabled list.

Torre said Ramirez is feeling better.

"We maybe didn't have to do it," the manager said before the Dodgers played Arizona Saturday night, "but the trade-off of having him as a pinch hitter, we need to get him back because once the second half starts, we're not going to have a lot of time to nurse something. That's the important thing."

Ramirez was hurt when his right foot made contact with the glove of Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria in a play at second base in the first inning of the Dodgers' 4-2 victory. The Dodgers are 126-90 with Ramirez in the lineup since he joined the team on Aug. 1, 2008. They are 42-37 without him.

The Dodgers recalled Xavier Paul from Triple-A Albuquerque for the third time this season. Paul, who hit .278 with five RBIs in his two previous appearances, was in the lineup in Ramirez's left field spot Saturday night.

In another move, the Dodgers optioned right-hander Ramon Troncoso to Albuquerque and recalled Travis Schlichting from the Triple-A club.

Trancoso pitched two scoreless innings in Los Angeles' 12-5 loss to the Diamondbacks Friday night, but that hasn't happened enough, Torre said.

Trancoso is 1-2 with a 5.15 ERA. He has struck out 25 but allowed six home runs, walked 11 and hit three batters in 36 2-3 innings.

"We all know that he's capable of pitching effectively, but he just hasn't been consistent," Torre said. "I told him this wasn't a punishment in any way. We just wanted him to go down and work on his mechanics, where his release point is consistent and he gets the same sink on the ball."

Schlichting got his first major league victory in an earlier stint with the Dodgers, pitching four scoreless innings against Arizona on June 2.