Jose Altuve, Carlos Rodon, Nolan Arenado all out of MLB All-Star Game

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, San Francisco Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and Miami Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr won't be playing in Tuesday's All-Star Game.

Altuve, an eight-time All-Star who was selected as a starter in fan voting, was struck on the left knee leading off Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Angels. He was kept out of the lineup Friday night.

MLB announced Saturday that Altuve is being replaced in the starting lineup by Cleveland's Andres Gimenez, who is making his first appearance. Toronto's Santiago Espinal will replace Altuve on the AL roster.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Anderson, who is 10-1 with a 2.96 ERA in 17 games with 81 strikeouts, is taking the place of Rodon on the NL roster, LA said in a news release. It wasn't immediately clear why Rodon isn't playing in the All-Star Game; he was originally added to the roster on July 12 in place of Milwaukee closer Josh Hader.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley, who has 100 hits and a .913 OPS this season, will replace Arenado on the NL team.

Arenado, a seven-time All-Star, said Saturday that he's had lower back soreness for three to four weeks, that MRIs found nothing and that he'll take the All-Star break to rest.

«It's been a problem lately It didn't really make sense for me to go do that,'' said Arenado, who lives less than an hour from Los Angeles. „Probably made more sense for me to go home, relax and just chill. Go home. Get treatment. Get some work done. I've got some trainers. I've got a physical therapist back home, ready to go.''

Altuve said of his knee on Saturday that he was ``waiting to see how it responded today and I think we all agree that we're making