Gomez may rejoin Stars

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, July 28, 1999 | 9:42 a.m.

The Las Vegas Stars may not have seen the last of Chris Gomez this year.

The San Diego Padres shortstop, who underwent double knee surgery June 4 and spent a week on injury rehab with the Stars last week, still has yet to be activated by the Padres.

The reason, according to Stars manager Mike Ramsey, is that Gomez is still bothered by a calf injury he suffered during rehab with Las Vegas.

"Chris is having trouble getting healthy again," Ramsey said. "It's been talked about having him come back here to rehab his injury further so that he can build himself back up to play nine innings again."

When/if Gomez is activated by the Padres, infielder Ed Giovanola, who began the season in Las Vegas and still has minor league options left, is expected to be sent back to the Stars.

* PRIME-TIME GUIEL: Although he is busy playing for the Canadian National Team in the Pan Am Games, the Stars have both seen and heard from outfielder Aaron Guiel.

Guiel could be spotted in a photo in Tuesday's USA Today leading the charge out of the Team Canada dugout following Canada's 7-6 upset of the United States. Just in case his teammates missed the photo, Guiel made sure to call them all and good-naturedly rub in Canada's victory.

* LaROCCA COMEBACK ON HOLD: Infielder Greg LaRocca, who had hoped to play the last month of the season after undergoing surgery in April to repair a torn pectoral muscle, has been told to shut down his comeback by Padres' orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Jan Fronek.

"They're afraid he could re-tear the muscle if he comes back too soon," Stars manager Mike Ramsey said. "They're going to be very cautious with Greg."

* GONZALEZ IMPRESSES: Catcher Wiki Gonzalez, who was promoted from double-A Mobile to replace Ben Davis last month, apparently has played his way to a spot on San Diego's 40-man roster.

Gonzalez, who hit .338 with 10 home runs en route to Southern League All-Star honors before being moved up to Las Vegas, would become a minor league free agent if the Padres fail to add him to their 40-man roster this season.

Gonzalez has hit .375 with two home runs and seven RBIs with the Stars.

"He's a pretty strong candidate to be added to our 40-man roster," Padres' GM Kevin Towers told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

* GAME RECAP: New Orleans (40-62) had just seven hits, including four infield hits and a double off the first base bag by Casey Candaele, but it was good enough to give the Zephyrs a 4-3 win over Las Vegas (45-57) on Tuesday night at Cashman Field.

Mike Darr hit his fifth home run of the season and Gonzalez added two hits to highlight Las Vegas' offense.

* UP NEXT: Game 2 of the series with the Zephyrs is tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Cashman Field. Left-hander Heath Murray (4-1, 2.89) will start for Las Vegas while right-hander Bob Scanlan (6-14, 5.34) gets the nod for New Orleans.