Texas' Hamilton due knee 'scope

TEXAS RANGERS designated hitter Josh Hamilton will have an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee today, and the team hopes he'll return before the end of the season.

Rangers manager Jeff Banister says Hamilton will have meniscus surgery.

Hamilton flew back to Dallas yesterday. He was hitting .257 in 40 games with six home runs and 21 RBI.

Hamilton was on the 15-day disabled list last month with left knee inflammation and had two pinch-hit at-bats since Sept. 1.

He began the season on the DL after right shoulder surgery and was bothered by a left hamstring strain in June.

Said Banister: "We're not ruling out he would be available to us at some point the rest of the way."

* Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto likely will find out today about any possible punishment for his volatile argument with plate umpire Bill Welke during the Reds' 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh. Votto was ejected after he tried to call timeout in the eighth inning before a second called strike. He threw down his batting helmet, yelled at Welke from close range and seemed to spray spit on the umpire.

* New York Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen, 62, was admitted to an Atlanta hospital after experiencing an irregular heartbeat.

* Spring-training baseball had an estimated economic impact of $810 million for the Phoenix metropolitan area in the past year. One study released yesterday said the 15-team Cactus League directly brought in nearly $300 million from outside the Phoenix area this year through indirect and presumed spending. Another report found that baseball's year-round operations and other uses for the Cactus League's stadiums helped bring in about $266 million. The $810 million economic impact figure is up 29 percent from three years ago.

The reports conducted by FMR Associates of Tucson also found that two thirds of out-of-town visitors stayed in hotels, motels or resorts during spring training. About 56 percent of the visitors rented a vehicle and more than a third took in other sightseeing activities during their stay.

* At Seattle, Nelson Cruz reached 40 home runs for the second straight season, Felix Hernandez (17-8) pitched three-hit ball for eight innings and the Mariners downed Texas, 5-0. The Rangers' lead for the second AL wild-card spot was cut to one game over idle Minnesota.

* At San Diego, Nolan Arenado hit his NL-leading 38th home run, his eighth in 11 games, in Colorado's 4-3 win over the Padres. Arenado also is the league's RBI leader with 108.

* At New York, the opener of the four-game series between the AL East-leading Blue Jays and second-place Yankees was postponed by rain and will be made up in a doubleheader tomorrow.

Blue Jays ace David Price had been set to start against Yankees rookie Luis Severino. They will each get the ball tonight.

New York will start Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova tomorrow, but manager Joe Girardi did not say in what order. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Marco Estrada will start the first game and Marcus Stroman will make his season debut in the nightcap.