Bonds may give elbow a short rest

Baseball

Barry Bonds might not take another Cactus League swing in Arizona, choosing instead to rest his tender left elbow and surgically repaired right knee before the season starts. Bonds was examined by two doctors yesterday for evaluation of his inflamed elbow, and the San Francisco Giants were hopeful the slugger would resume on-field baseball activities today. The Giants host the Angels Thursday at AT&T Park and Bonds is projected to play in that game as well as Saturday's exhibition in Oakland. San Francisco opens the season April 3 at San Diego . . . Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang left in the third inning with a bruised right knee after being hit by a batted ball in the Yankees' 9-8 win over Detroit in Tampa . . . Yankees catcher Jorge Posada worked out for the first time since breaking his nose last Wednesday and said he thinks he'll be ready for Opening Day . . . The St. Louis Cardinals released former Yankees pitcher Jeff Nelson and assigned former Red Sox Brian Daubach to Triple A Memphis.

Carlos Peña was unconditionally released by the Tigers after the first baseman from Haverhill struggled during spring training. Pena batted .160 with one home run in 50 at-bats in exhibition games. He split last season between Detroit and Triple A Toledo. He hit .235 with 18 homers in 79 games with the Tigers and .311 with 12 homers with the Mud Hens. Pena signed a $2.8 million, one-year contract that wasn't guaranteed and will receive $688,525 in termination pay . . . Pedro Martínez gave up just one hit over three strong innings in his spring training debut, helping the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-0, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Sidelined since the beginning of camp with cartilage damage in his right big toe, Martinez struck out two and walked one in facing just 10 batters . . . The Oakland Athletics acquired lefthander Brad Halsey from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for righthander Juan Cruz.

Tennis

Everything seems to be going Amelie Mauresmo's way. She's already won three titles in 2006, including her first Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open. With many of her chief rivals absent or already eliminated from the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., the top-ranked Mauresmo eased into the fourth round yesterday, beating hobbled French compatriot Marion Bartoli, 6-4, 6-0. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne lost their opening matches, Serena and Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport withdrew before the tournament, and Martina Hingis was beaten yesterday by Svetlana Kuznetsova, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (9-7). Hingis lost before the quarterfinals for only the second time in eight events since returning from a three-year layoff. Unseeded Jill Craybas of East Greenwich, R.I., who upset defending champion Clijsters Saturday, swept No. 27 Klara Koukalova, 6-1, 6-2. Also avoiding the upset trend was No. 4 Maria Sharapova, who beat Maria Elena Camerin, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2). . . . In men's play at Key Biscayne, Carlos Moya, who upset No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the second round, was beaten by Agustin Calleri, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

Golf

Jean Van de Velde certainly wanted to avoid another 18th-hole triple bogey. He did -- barely -- and emerged with a one-stroke victory at the Madeira Island Open in Santo da Serra. Despite a double bogey on the final hole, the Frenchman known for his collapse at the 1999 British Open closed with a 4-under 68 to win by one shot over Lee Slattery of England. Van de Velde finished at 15-under 273 for his first European victory since the 1993 Rome Masters. Van de Velde had a three-shot lead going to the last hole at Carnoustie in 1999 when his 2-iron ricocheted off the bleachers and into a stream, leading to triple bogey. He wound up losing in a playoff.

College basketball

Mike Anderson, who led Alabama-Birmingham to a 24-9 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance this season, was hired as Missouri's men's coach, taking over following Quin Snyder's resignation last month. The hiring came on the same day curators discussed but never voted on whether to fire the man who hired Anderson, athletic director Mike Alden, who has been criticized for the handling of Snyder's resignation.

Soccer

Germany's match-fixing scandal reached the Bundesliga for the first time this weekend, 10 weeks before the country hosts the World Cup. The Suddeutsche Zeitung daily and Der Spiegel weekly reported that investigators suspect that under former manager Reiner Calmund, $689,000 was given from Bayer Leverkusen to player agent Volker Graul to rig matches as Leverkusen fought demotion in the 2002-2003 season. In a Munich investigation, Focus weekly reported police searches were triggered by large sums -- reaching $1.2 million -- being bet on games of Bundesliga club FC Nuremberg.

Miscellany

Kris Freeman of Andover, N.H., captured his fifth national title, winning the 50K classic in 2 hours 45 minutes 37.2 seconds at the US cross-country ski championships in Fort Kent, Maine . . . Vermont's Hannah Kearney capped off a successful weekend at the US freestyle championships at Killington, Vt., winning the dual moguls event. She won the individual moguls event Friday . . . Olympian Tyler Jewell of Sudbury settled for second in the parallel giant slalom behind Justin Reiter at the North American Snowboarding Finals at Crystal Mountain, Wash. Alexa Loo of Canada won the women's competition . . . Johnnye Valien triple-jumped 18 feet 3.25 inches to set a world record for women ages 80-84 on the final day of the US Masters Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center.