Florida Marlins: Miguel Cabrera was called up from Double-A Carolina to be the Marlins' new left fielder. Outfielder Chad Allen was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Thursday, and pitcher Steve Kent was designated for assignment Friday, making room for Cabrera on the 40-man roster. Kent never pitched at the major league level for Florida.

Cabrera, 20, was pulled out of a Southern League game against West Tenn to make the trip to Florida in time for Friday night's game against Tampa Bay. He was batting .365 with 10 homers and 59 RBI in 68 games for the Mudcats.

Cabrera usually plays third base, but he has been working in the outfield for the past month. Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell has 60 RBI and is tied for the major league lead with 22 homers.

"Obviously, we have an All-Star third baseman here," general manager Larry Beinfest said. "For the past month, (Cabrera) has been taking groundballs at first base and flyballs in left field. This past week, he's been playing left field. Miguel is comfortable out there.

"We're confident he's ready to play left field in the big leagues. We want an opportunity to get his bat up here. Our expectation is he'll be our left fielder for the foreseeable future. We're looking for some production out in left field and we're going to give Miguel that opportunity."

Colorado Rockies: The team gave outfielder Gabe Kapler his unconditional release. Kapler, 27, had been optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs on June 3. He was designated for assignment Tuesday.

	Kapler

"As an organization, we felt the release was in the best interests of Gabe," general manager Dan O'Dowd said. "He is a major league player, and we could not give him a major opportunity."

Kapler was hitting only .224 with no home runs and four RBI in 39 games when he was sent to Colorado Springs. In 12 games at Colorado Springs, he hit .171 with two RBI.

"You need more than an at-bat a game," manager Clint Hurdle said. "We couldn't provide it."

Texas Rangers: Star shortstop Alex Rodriguez left the game at Oakland with a bloody nose after being hit by a throw but is expected to play Friday.

	Rodriguez

A-Rod was hurt in the seventh inning when Mark Ellis stole second. Ellis arrived ahead of the throw, and Rodriguez dropped his glove as if to make the tag but the ball hadn't arrived yet.

The throw struck Rodriguez in the nose. He was tended on the field by trainer Jamie Reed, then left the game.

"It hit me pretty square into the right nostril," a groggy Rodriguez said after the game. "It was really blurry. I remember Jamie asking me a few questions. I was in a daze."

Rodriguez told manager Buck Showalter he was OK.

"There's a little swelling, and you can see the stitches (from the ball)," Showalter said. "It was bleeding pretty good. He's pretty woozy. I don't know what his recollection of it will be."

St. Louis Cardinals: Second baseman Miguel Cairo was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a broken left pinkie.

	Cairo

Cairo had been subbing for Fernando Vina, who has an injured hamstring. Cairo was hit by a pitch from Danny Kolb in the sixth inning Wednesday, and the team expects him to miss three to six weeks.

He was replaced by Bo Hart, who made his major league debut against Milwaukee. The Cardinals bought Hart's contract from Triple-A Memphis.

Hart had seven homers at Memphis, where he played second base, third base, shortstop and designated hitter and led the team with 79 hits.

Montreal Expos: The team recalled right-hander Sun-Woo Kim from Triple-A Edmonton to start Saturday against Toronto and optioned reliever Anthony Ferrari to the Trappers.

	Kim

Kim allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings during an 11-2 loss June 4 to Anaheim, his only Expos appearance this season. He was 5-4 with a 4.13 ERA and two complete games in 12 starts at Edmonton.

The Expos needed an extra starter because they have only one day off until July 10. They are in a stretch of nine games in eight days caused by Tuesday night's rainout in Pittsburgh.

Seattle Mariners: Reliever Giovanni Carrara was sent outright to Triple-A Tacoma after the loss to the Anaheim Angels.

	Carrara

Mariners manager Bob Melvin said switch-hitter John Mabry would be activated from the disabled list Friday for the opener of a three-game series at San Diego.

Mabry, a utility player, went on the disabled list May 30 with an injured tendon in his right shoulder. He still can't throw as well as he'd like, but the Mariners won't need his arm against the Padres.

"We were a little short, position player-wise, going into these National League games," Melvin said.

Mabry is hitting .182 with two home runs and seven RBI in 33 at-bats.

Carrara is 2-0 with a 6.83 ERA in 29 innings this year. The right-hander has 72 hours to decide whether to accept the assignment to the minors or become a free agent.

St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates managers tabbed for All-Star Game: St. Louis' Tony La Russa and Pittsburgh's Lloyd McClendon have been picked by Dusty Baker to be part of his staff as NL coaches for the All-Star Game.

Baker will guide the NL team. He earned the honor by winning the pennant last year with San Francisco, then moved to the Chicago Cubs in the offseason.

The entire NL staff was announced Thursday. The game will be played July 15 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

La Russa managed the AL All-Star team in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and served as a coach in 1984 and 1987. He formerly managed the Chicago White Sox.

McClendon will be appearing in his first All-Star Game. He is from Gary, Ind.

Baker will also bring his Cubs coaching staff, which includes hitting coach Gary Matthews, first-base coach Gene Clines, third-base coach Wendell Kim, bench coach Dick Pole, pitching coach Larry Rothschild, special assistant Sonny Jackson and bullpen catcher Benny Cadahia.

Trainers for the NL All-Star team will be Tom Probst of the Colorado Rockies and Barney Nugent of the San Francisco Giants.