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Seattle Mariners

Seager selected for All-Star team

Kyle Seager of the Mariners will be making his All-Star game debut. (Associated Press)
Kyle Seager of the Mariners will be making his All-Star game debut. (Associated Press)

SEATTLE – With diapers in one arm and his young son in the other, Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager got the phone call Monday he was hoping to get a day earlier.

Seager was selected to replace injured Toronto first baseman Edwin Encarnacion on the American League’s roster for next week’s All-Star game.

Encarnacion, who has 26 home runs and 70 RBIs, was put on the 15-day disabled list Monday because of a strained right quadriceps.

Seager said he was just walking out of Babies”R”Us with his wife and son when he noticed manager Lloyd McClendon calling.

“I put the diapers down and answered the phone,” Seager said. “It worked out pretty good.”

The 26-year-old Seager, a first-time All-Star, entered Monday with a .274 average, 13 homers, 59 RBIs and 21 doubles. But those numbers came after a miserable first three weeks of the season that had Seager sitting at .156 with no homers and four RBIs through the first 19 games.

In the 66 games since, Seager is hitting .304 with 57 RBIs and a .914 on base plus slugging.

Seager will join teammates Felix Hernandez and second baseman Robinson Cano.