Baseball goes down to the wire
NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Baseball negotiators met almost non-stop Thursday in hopes of preventing a potentially devastating player strike scheduled for Friday.
There was no indication of progress, however, as representatives for both sides took brief breaks and then headed back to the bargaining table.
As baseball CEO Bob DuPuy walked quickly through the rain and into the building where negotiations were taking place, he was asked how he felt.
"Tired," DuPuy said.
There were expectations that the two sides would continue meeting until a settlement was reached or they ran out of time.
"We're prepared to meet all day and into Friday morning," said MLB spokesman Rich Levin.
If the sides are unable to reach an agreement, the strike will start with Friday's scheduled contest in Chicago between the Cubs and St. Louis at Wrigley Field.
Commissioner Bud Selig arrived in New York on Wednesday to monitor the bargaining sessions. Hours after Selig's arrival, owners and the Players Association agreed on testing for steroids, a huge step forward as the deadline draws near.
"We have an agreement on the testing topic," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations. "There will be some form of unannounced testing every year of the agreement."
The testing plan would be in place for four years and would include only marijuana and cocaine "on a reasonable cause basis," Manfred said.
However, Selig admitted there remains a rift between the sides on a possible luxury tax on team payrolls and revenue sharing, which are the biggest issues.
Hewitt, Blake set up third-round meeting
NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Top seed and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and American James Blake posted victories at the U.S. Open Thursday, setting the stage for a rematch of their racially charged five-set match of last year.
After rain delayed the start of play just over five hours, Hewitt, seeking his second consecutive Grand Slam title after winning Wimbledon, held off qualifier Noam Akun of Israel, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-1.
Blake fought his way past Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, to set up a showdown with Hewitt in the third round. Last year, Blake had a two sets to one lead over Hewitt in a bitterly contested second round match. But the former Harvard star then began cramping and Hewitt rallied to win in five sets.
Hewitt touched off a major controversy when he appeared to complain to the chair umpire that an African American linesman was favoring Blake, who also is black. Hewitt denied the accusations but the controversy followed him all the way through his run to the championship.
American stars Andre Agassi, Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati also advanced Thursday with impressive victories.
Agassi, seeded sixth, ravaged fellow American Justin Gimelstob, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1, in just 66 minutes. Williams, who is seeded second, blew past Alicia Molik of Australia, 6-1, 6-2, and Capriati, seeded third, took out Tina Pisnik of Slovenia, 6-4, 6-2.
Two other former women's champions were in action. Fourth seed Lindsay Davenport completed her rain-delayed match against Petra Mandula of Hungary with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. No. 6 Monica Seles is took on Barbara Schwartz of Austria.
Davenport led Mandula, 6-4, 2-2, Wednesday night when rain forced the match to be suspended and she won all four games when action resumed Thursday.
Fourth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia turned in a dismal performance and was routed by long-time nemesis Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. Hrbaty is now 8-4 lifetime against Kafelnikov.
Eighth seed Albert Costa of Spain, the French Open champion, also was an upset victim, falling to Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 1-6, 6-7 (11-13), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
Sparks win series opener
NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Mwadi Mabika had 20 points and eight assists and DeLisha Milton scored 17 points Thursday night as the Los Angeles Sparks rolled to a 71-63 victory over the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
Los Angeles dominated the Western Conference playoffs by sweeping its first two postseason series and had little trouble with New York. The Sparks have won eight straight games overall and are unbeaten in six postseason road games dating to last season.
Lisa Leslie collected 15 points and nine rebounds and for Los Angeles, which shot just 41 percent from the floor but made 16 of 21 free throws and had a 37-25 rebounding advantage.
LaTasha Byears grabbed 11 rebounds and rookie Nikki Teasley handed out 11 assists. The Sparks played without starting guard Tamecka Dixon, who suffered a bruised lower back and strained right knee when she slipped in the rain prior to the game.
The games was tied, 43-43, before Los Angeles took the lead for good with six straight points. Milton sank two baskets before Mabika made a fast-break layup for a 49-43 edge with 12:19 to play.
Bellhour makes NL history
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Mark Bellhorn became the first player in National League history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same inning Thursday, powering the Chicago Cubs to a 13-10 victory ovr the Milwaukee Brewers.
In the fourth inning, Bellhorn made his first impact from the right side of the plate when he belted a two-run homer off lefthander Andrew Lorraine. Later in the frame, Bellhorn turned around and hit a three-run blast off righthander Jose Cabrera.
Bellhorn became the second player in baseball history to homer from both sides of plate in the same inning, joining Carlos Baerga, who accomplished the feat for the Cleveland Indians against the New York Yankees on April 8, 1993.
Bill Mueller added a solo homer to cap a 10-run fourth for the Cubs, who gained a split of the four-game series.
Matt Clement (11-9) benefited from the offensive support, allowing four runs and five hits in seven innings. The righthander walked two and struck out 10.
Other National League results: Pittsburgh 4, Atlanta 0; Cincinnati 7, St. Louis 0; San Francisco 10, Colorado 6; Houston 5, San Diego 0; Philadelphia 2, Montreal 1.
Rodriguez hits grand slam
ARLINGTON, Texas, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Ivan Rodriguez's grand slam with two outs in bottom of the sixth inning lifted the Texas Rangers to their seventh straight home victory Thursday night, a 9-6 triumph over the Baltimore Orioles.
The Rangers have homered in 16 consecutive games, hitting 32 in that span and Rodriguez's fifth career grand slam rallied them from a 6-0 deficit.
After the Orioles scored in each of the first three innings, the Rangers pulled within 6-5 by the sixth.
Orioles reliever Rick Bauer (6-6) started the sixth by striking out Michael Young and Todd Hollandsworth. But he surrendered base hits to rookie Kevin Mench and Alex Rodriguez before Rafael Palmeiro walked, setting the stage for Ivan Rodriguez.
Other American League results: Seattle 2, Minnesota 0; Toronto 7, New York 4.
Americans enjoy fast start
INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Team USA scored the game's first 13 points Thursday night and Elton Brand produced 11 of them en route to a 110-60 rout of Algeria in the opening round of the World Basketball Championship.
Paul Pierce scored 22 points in 18 minutes to lead the Americans in scoring while Brand and Michael Finley scored 17 apiece. The United States shot 53 percent from the field and outrebounded Algeria, 47-24.
The expected outcome ended the first day of action, during which Yugoslavia looked impressive and Germany's Dirk Nowitzki turned in the top individual performance.
Yugoslavia dominated Angola in Group A, 13-63, after which Spain ran over Canada, 85-54. In Group B, Brazil was a 102-73 winner over Lebanon and Puerto Rico downed Turkey, 78-75.
The United States win came in Group C with the other game in that group finding Germany defeating China, 85-76. In Group D, New Zealand won over Russia, 90-81.
Friday night's schedule will feature a meeting between the United States and Germany.
Reggie Miller, who missed the past two practice days with a sprained right ankle suffered in an exhibition game against Germany, was in uniform Thursday night but did not play because he was not needed.
Brand got the United States off to a fast start Thursday night, but Algeria countered with a 10-3 spurt to close to 16-10. Pierce then took over. The Boston Celtics star scored 11 points to fuel a 24-3 run that spread the lead to 40-13 early in the second period.
Unable to get anything going against the bigger, stronger U.S. front line, Algeria relied almost exclusively on the three-point shot. In the first half, eight of the team's 11 baskets were three-pointers.
Germany's win over China featured two players who should draw plenty of attention for years to come in the NBA.
Nowitzki, an All-Star for the Dallas Mavericks, scored 30 points while making nine of 12 shots from the field and all nine of his free throws. China's Yao Ming, drafted No. 1 by Houston earlier this year, scored 16 points.
Jets extend Martin's contract
NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Curtis Martin, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his seven NFL seasons, cashed in with a contract extension Thursday and provided the New York Jets with salary cap relief.
Terms were not disclosed, but Martin reportedly received a signing bonus of $10 million.
"Curtis Martin is the consummate professional athlete both on and off the football field," Jets general manager Terry Bradway said at a news conference. "This contract extension provides him with the opportunity to continue and finish his career in New York."
Martin's deal is probably in the same neighborhood as the one recently signed by St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, who inked a seven-year contract worth $43.95 million that included a signing bonus of $9.3 million.
Martin's extension provides the Jets with flexibility to make more personnel moves. He was to count $9.5 million against the cap this season and $10 million in 2003. But the Jets can now convert most of Martin's base salary in 2002 into the signing bonus, prorating it over the length of the contract. That should save the team more than $3 million on this year's cap.
Giants blank Ravens
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A fifth-round draft pick last year, Jonathan Carter scored on a spectacular 75-yard touchdown reception midway through the fourth quarter Thursday night as the New York Giants blanked the Baltimore Ravens, 13-0.
The contest was a sloppy affair played before a sparse crowd at Giants Stadium on a rainy night, but Carter electrified the few remaining fans.
He reached behind his back to catch an underthrown pass from Jason Garrett with one hand, then used his speed to race down the left sideline for the game's only touchdown. Carter was used sparingly last year on returns.
Prior to Carter's touchdown -- the Giants' offense consisted of two field goals -- a 26-yarder by Owen Pochman with 11 seconds left in the first half and a 39-yarder by Matt Bryant with 8:04 left in the third quarter.
Other NFL exhibition results: Miami 24, Chicago 22; Atlanta 27, Cincinnati 14; Pittsburgh 17, Minnesota 14; Detroit 20, Buffalo 13; New England 28, Washington 14; Dallas 28, Jacksonville 25; Oakland 31, Arizona 3; Denver 31, Seattle 0.
Frost leads Air Canada Championship
SURREY, B.C., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- David Frost, winless in the last five years, shot a bogey-free, 6-under 65 Thursday that put him one shot in front of the Air Canada Championship.
With most of the good scores turned in during the morning half of the field, Peter Lonard, Shigeki Maruyama, Scott Gump and Hank Kuehne all shot a 66.
Kuehne, a former U.S. Amateur champion, has won twice this year on the Canadian Tour and his status as leading money winner on that circuit earned him a spot in the field.
Among those at 67 were David Gossett, Esteban Toledo and Steve Lowery. Fred Funk and Chris Riley, two of the hottest players on the tour over the past month, both shot 68. Riley won last week at the Reno-Tahoe Open while Funk had his second straight high finish at the NEC Invitational.
