Mets extend Wright 6 years at $55m

BASEBALL

David Wright became the latest young New York Mets player to get a long-term contract, signing a $55 million, six-year extension yesterday. Wright joins shortstop Jose Reyes, 22, who signed a $23.25 million, four-year contract extension Thursday. Wright, 23, is hitting .308 with 22 homers and 82 RBIs. He has 11 stolen bases and was voted the starting third baseman for the NL All-Star team. His current deal calls for a $374,000 salary this season. The extension calls for a $1.5 million signing bonus and salaries of $1 million next year, $5 million in 2008, $7.5 million in 2009, $10 million in 2010, $14 million in 2011, and $15 million in 2012. There is a $1 million buyout if the Mets do not exercise a $16 million option for 2013. ``I have wanted to be a lifelong Met and this is the first step in that direction," Wright said . . . Texas Rangers righthander Kip Wells flew back to Texas from Anaheim, Calif., to have his sore shoulder examined, and will miss his scheduled start tonight at Oakland. Righthander Edinson Volquez will be recalled from Triple A Oklahoma to make his regular-season debut . . . The Arizona Diamondbacks designated lefthander Randy Choate for assignment and optioned righthander Dustin Nippert to Triple A Tucson while recalling reliever Jeff Bajenaru and infielder Alberto Callaspo . . . Kevin Barker hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs to pace the Syracuse SkyChiefs to a 12-3 romp over the host Pawtucket Red Sox . . . The Portland Sea Dogs suffered their ninth straight loss, a 6-2 decision to the Aeros in Akron. Portland's last win was July 28 at Reading in the opener of a 10-game road trip.

TRACK AND FIELD

Alarmed by the case of Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, track and field's governing body wants to reintroduce four-year bans for first-time serious doping offenders. Calling the Gatlin case a ``disaster for our sport," International Association of Athletics Federation chief Lamine Diack said his group was prepared to go it alone in imposing four-year bans. ``We want to move in that direction," Diack said in Goteberg, Sweden, on the eve of the opening of the European Championships. ``This is the position of the whole IAAF family," said Diack, adding that the athletes' commission of the federation supports such action. The IAAF originally reduced its four-year bans to two years to be in line with the doping policies of other sports. The proposal will be put before the next congress of the IAAF, in Osaka, Japan, in August 2007, Diack said. He wants the World Anti-Doping Agency to lobby governments for the four-year bans . . . British sprinter Christine Ohuruogu was provisionally suspended by UK Athletics after missing three out-of-competition doping tests in the last 18 months. Ohuruogu, the 400-meter champion at the Commonwealth Games, had been expected to compete at the European Championships.

COLLEGES

Former Duke lacrosse coach Mike Pressler was named coach at Division 2 Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., four months after he resigned in the wake of a rape scandal that temporarily shut down the program he guided for 16 seasons. ``I truly believe that everything happens for a reason in the end," Pressler said. ``Now it's up to me to go up there and deliver." Pressler went 153-82 at Duke, winning three Atlantic Coast Conference championships and making 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament. His 2005 team set an NCAA record with 17 wins en route to an appearance in the national championship game, and the Blue Devils were expected to compete for the title again this year. Pressler agreed to a five-year contract at Bryant. He replaces Rory Whipple, who resigned in the spring after seven seasons . . . The Boston College football team elected senior offensive guard Josh Beckman, junior linebacker Jolonn Dunbar, and junior quarterback Matt Ryan captains for the upcoming season.

TENNIS

Arnaud Clement beat Andy Murray, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final in Washington for his second title of the season. Murray struggled with blisters on his racket hand . . . Maria Sharapova outslugged an erratic Kim Clijsters, 7-5, 7-5, to win the championship of the Acura Classic in Carlsbad, Calif. The second-seeded Sharapova snapped Clijster's 24-match winning streak in North American summer hardcourt events . . . At Sopot, Poland, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Florian Mayer, 7-6 (7-6), 5-7, 6-4, to win the Prokom Open . . . Andy Roddick withdrew from this week's Rogers Cup tournament in Toronto, citing the left side strain that also forced him to pull out of the Legg Mason Classic.

MISCELLANY

Bluegrass Cat ran off to a record victory in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport. N.J. A runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in his last two starts, Bluegrass Cat moved into the ranks of top 3-year-olds with his 7-length win over Praying for Cash -- the largest winning margin in 39 runnings of Monmouth's biggest race of the season. Ridden by John Velazquez, Bluegrass Cat moved into contention around the turn, and then blew past pace-setting Praying for Cash for his fifth victory in 10 starts . . . Laure Manaudou of France bettered her own world record in the 400-meter freestyle for her fourth gold medal at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest. Her time of 4 minutes 2.13 seconds improved by nine-10ths of a second the mark she set in May when she broke Janet Evans's 18-year-old record . . . An arbitrator awarded Buffalo center Adam Mair a one-year, $675,000 contract, ending a two-week period in which the Sabres' modest $29 million payroll from a year ago increased substantially . . . World Boxing Organization flyweight champion Omar Narvaez beat Rexon Flores of the Philippines by unanimous decision before a home crowd in Cordoba, Argentina, defending his title for the eighth time . . . Defending champion Levi Leipheimer captured the fifth stage of the Tour of Germany cycling race, which was shortened by 18 miles because of heavy rain . . . Fabian Cancellera of Switzerland won the Tour of Denmark, while Robert Forster of Germany won the sixth and final stage.