Wells, Johnson Are All-Star Starters

ATLANTA (AP) â€” Toronto's David Wells will start against Arizona's Randy Johnson in Tuesday night's All-Star game. <br><br>In a year when seven of 16 elected starters are unable to play, the

Monday, July 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) â€” Toronto's David Wells will start against Arizona's Randy Johnson in Tuesday night's All-Star game.

In a year when seven of 16 elected starters are unable to play, the starting lineups announced Monday by AL manager Joe Torre and NL manager Bobby Cox were vastly different from the ones selected by fans.

Cleveland's Roberto Alomar â€” who is ``iffy'' according to Torre after getting hit by a pitch Sunday â€” is tentatively down to lead off for the AL and play second base.

New York shortstop Derek Jeter bats second, followed by Yankees teammate Bernie Williams in center field.

Oakland first baseman Jason Giambi bats cleanup, followed by Boston's Carl Everett in left field, Texas' Ivan Rodriguez at catcher, Kansas City's Jermaine Dye in right field, Cleveland's Travis Fryman at third base and Wells.

Jeter replaced Seattle's Alex Rodriguez, Fryman subbed for Baltimore's Cal Ripken and Everett for Cleveland's Manny Ramirez.

``It's very unfortunate how many players we lost due to injuries the last couple of weeks,'' Torre said. ``You feel that something's missing, no question.''

Torre chose Jeter over Boston rival Nomar Garciaparra, partly because he plays for him on the Yankees.

``It's an easy decision because you know you're picking from prime stuff all the time,'' Torre said.

Cox wasn't even sure of one spot in his lineup, waiting until later Monday to choose between Gary Sheffield of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Vladimir Guerrero of the Montreal Expos in left field.

Guerrero has first dibs ``if he wants to play left field and start,'' Cox said.

``The original idea was to have him pick up (Sammy) Sosa in right field,'' Cox said.

Cox's lineup has Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin leading off, followed by Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones, Guerrero or Sheffield, and Sosa hitting cleanup.

San Francisco second baseman Jeff Kent bats fifth, followed by Atlanta first baseman Andres Galarraga, St. Louis center fielder Jim Edmonds, Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall and Johnson.

Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds of San Francisco had been elected to start in the outfield, St. Louis' Mark McGwire at first base and the New York Mets' Mike Piazza at catcher.

Wells leads the major leagues in wins, going 15-2 with a 3.44 ERA. Johnson tops the NL in victories, going 14-2 with a 1.80 ERA and 198 strikeouts in 144 2-3 innings.

Boston's Pedro Martinez, who started for the AL last year and struck out five batters at Fenway Park, also is on the disabled list and wasn't picked for the AL team.

Johnson is a seven-time All-Star, while Wells was picked for the third time.