All-Star Allen injures knee in win

Steve Guiremand

Friday, July 16, 1999 | 10:14 a.m.

Dusty Allen experienced a full range of emotions over a 24-hour span.

On Wednesday night, the Stanford product was in New Orleans representing the Las Vegas Stars in the triple-A All-Star Game.

"A great, great experience," Allen said.

But elation turned to pain and fear Thursday night at Cashman Field.

Allen, playing first base, collided with second base teammate David Newhan while chasing a foul ball down the right-field line in the fourth inning of the Stars' 5-2 victory over Oklahoma and left the game with a left knee injury.

Allen spent several minutes on the ground before getting up and walking off under his own power. Trainer George Poulis called the injury a knee sprain and said Allen is day-to-day.

But Allen, who is scheduled to undergo further medical tests today, wasn't as optimistic.

"I'm really concerned about it," Allen, who leads the Stars with 55 RBIs, said. "It feels very unstable."

Allen has spent the bulk of his time playing left field this year for the Stars. He said no one was to blame for the collision.

"It was just two guys going after it 100-percent," he said. "There wasn't any time for one of us to call it. When we hit, my ankle and knee went one direction and my body went the other. My leg and ankle kind of rolled under my body."

Allen has never injured his knee before.

"It really scared me," he said. "I'm just praying it isn't anything serious."

* MURRAY HEADED BACK TO STARS: Tony Gwynn, scheduled to come off the disabled list on Thursday in Seattle, was a late scratch after tweaking his injured calf again.

That prevented the Padres from sending a pitcher down to Las Vegas to make room for Gwynn on their 25-man roster. Although it was originally speculated that reliever Carlos Almanzar would return to Vegas, Stars manager Mike Ramsey said that lefty Heath Murray will be the man sent down.

Murray, who was 4-1 with Las Vegas before getting promoted to San Diego in May, is penciled in to start the Stars' game on Sunday against Oklahoma. It is believed that Gwynn will be activated by Saturday at the latest.

The Padres want Murray, recently delegated to the bullpen, to get in at least a couple of starts at triple-A in case he needs to replace sore-armed Brian Boehringer in the rotation.

Boehringer, scheduled to start for the Padres on Sunday in Anaheim, recently had a cortisone shot because of pain in his right shoulder.

* GOMEZ STARTS REHAB: Padres shortstop Chris Gomez, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees on June 4, began a rehab assignment with the Stars on Thursday.

The plan is for Gomez to play for a week with the Stars before returning to San Diego next weekend at Houston.

"There's still some pain (in the knees) but I'm at the point where I can begin strengthening my legs again," Gomez said. "Before the surgery my left leg was starting to get weaker and weaker."

Gomez played just three innings Thursday and grounded out and struck out in two at-bats. He is expected to play five innings tonight, seven innings on Saturday night and then a full nine innings on Sunday.

* UMPIRE STRIKE? Hunter Wendelstedt, the home plate umpire for Thursday night's game, said he was unaware of a report that said minor league umpires will vote today whether to join their major league counterparts and walk off their jobs.

"We haven't heard anything about it," Wendelstedt said.

According to the story, minor league umpires are complaining about poor working conditions including being forced to stay at low priced motels in dangerous areas, doubling up on rooms, and poor salaries (an average of $11,000 per year).

"Those are some legitimate concerns we have," Wendelstedt admitted.

* GAME RECAP: Buddy Carlyle and Matt Whiteside combined for an eight-hitter and catcher Wiki Gonzalez had two hits and two RBIs in his first triple-A appearance to lead Las Vegas (40-50) to a 5-2 victory over Oklahoma (49-40) at Cashman Field on Thursday night.

* UP NEXT: Game 2 of the series with the RedHawks is tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Cashman Field. Right-hander Pete Smith (0-1, 2.45 ERA) will start for the Stars against Oklahoma lefty Matt Perisho (8-6, 5.90).