SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Police said a suspected drug trafficker offered to pay $30,000 for the shooting that wounded David Ortiz, who was sitting near the intended victim.
A National Police spokesman, Frank Felix Duran Mejia, told a news conference Sunday that the alleged mastermind of the attack had so far paid only $10,000 to people hired to arrange the killing of Sixto David Fernandez, his cousin.
Duran Mejia said Victor Hugo Gomez Vasquez feared Fernandez would tell police of his presence in the Dominican Republic and blamed the cousin for an earlier arrest. Gomez Vasquez has denied trying to kill Fernandez or Ortiz, who remains hospitalized in Boston.
Police said they arrested 14 people in the case and are searching for others.
ALL-STAR GAME: Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and four of their Houston teammates will lead the American League at the All-Star Game in Cleveland on July 9. The only Red Sox players on the team are Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez.
The Astros top all big league clubs with six players. No other AL club has more than three.
Alex Bregman, George Springer and Michael Brantley will be in the starting lineup for the AL, and Verlander, Cole and Ryan Pressly are on the pitching staff. It will be the first trip to Cleveland for those Astros since Game 3 of last year’s AL division series, when Houston won 11-3 to complete a sweep.
The Dodgers, Brewers and Rockies lead the NL with four players each. The Los Angeles contingent includes Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler – plenty of familiar faces for Manager Dave Roberts.
• Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 20, will become the youngest participant in Home Run Derby on July 8 in Cleveland. He’ll join a group that includes Christian Yelich of Milwaukee, Ronald Acuna Jr. of Atlanta, Pete Alonso of the Mets, Josh Bell of Pittsburgh and Carlos Santana of Cleveland. The full field will be revealed Wednesday.
BRAVES: Reliever Anthony Swarzak was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, a significant blow to the bullpen for the NL East leaders.
The team hopes Swarzak will be ready to return immediately after the All-Star break July 12.
The move was made retroactive to Saturday. Right-hander Chad Sobotka was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett.
Manager Brian Snitker said Swarzak mentioned some discomfort when he came off the mound Friday night.
METS: In the franchise’s latest embarrassment, the team publicly apologized to two living members of its 1969 World Series championship team who were included in a video montage of dead players during the 50th anniversary celebration.
With a scoreboard message, the Mets expressed regret to Jim Gosger and Jesse Hudson for displaying their names and images during the “We Remember” segment of Saturday’s ceremony. The Mets also misspelled Hudson’s name in the apology.
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