Yost picks Gardner to replace Gordon in ASG

KANSAS CITY -- Royals and American League All-Star manager Ned Yost made his decision to replace injured starting left fielder Alex Gordon with Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner in Tuesday's All-Star Game, presented by T-Mobile.

Gordon suffered a grade 2-plus strain of his left groin on Wednesday night and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He is expected to miss eight weeks.

"Tough decision," Yost said. "I sat there all morning trying to figure it out. The choice really boiled down between, for me, [Michael] Brantley, [Yoenis] Cespedes and Brett Gardner. Their numbers are comparable. Cespedes has more home runs. Gardner is more of a speed guy. But you look at the stats over the last six weeks or so, Gardner had an OPS of over 1.000 in June and he's, since May 1, .901.

"Cespedes is right about .806, so you kind of look at the combination of [Gardner's] speed, the on-base percentage and the ability to play the outfield to his degree. I'm trying to put this team together, trying to put together the best team we can to win this baseball game, and we just went with him."

Adam Jones of Baltimore will start in place of Gordon as he was the next leading vote getter among the players. Yost has indicated Jones will likely play left, with Mike Trout in center and Lorenzo Cain in right field.

"Basically I've got three center fielders," Yost said, "but Cain feels comfortable in right."