Blue Jays' Halladay set for early return

Baseball
Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will return to the rotation this week, coming off the disabled list earlier than expected. Manager John Gibbons said Halladay will start at home Thursday against the White Sox, one day short of three weeks after he had his appendix removed. The procedure was supposed to keep him off the mound for at least a month, but Halladay, 4-2 with a 4.37 ERA in eight appearances, responded well and felt good after throwing 65 pitches in a simulated game Friday. He'll have five days of rest before making his first start since May 10 . . . Padres right fielder Brian Giles went on the 15-day DL with a bone bruise in his right knee. He said he hurt his knee when he ran into a door in the outfield wall at Wrigley Field last month, and tweaked it days later chasing a fly ball at Colorado.

Cycling

The doping scandal in German cycling spread to the amateur ranks when an Olympic team doctor admitted providing performance-enhancing testosterone to riders in the 1980s. Georg Huber, who worked on six Olympic teams, said he gave cyclists testosterone between 1980 and 1990 after two former riders named him in yesterday's editions of the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. Huber, 64, was immediately suspended by German cycling authorities and the University of Freiburg . . . Stefano Garzelli beat Gilberto Simoni in a sprint to win the 14th stage of the Giro d'Italia, and Danilo Di Luca retained the overall lead. Garzelli covered the 120-mile leg from Cantu to Bergamo in 4 hours 58 minutes 34 seconds . . . Vladimir Karpets of Russia remained the overall leader of the Volta of Catalunya (Spain) after Mark Cavendish of Britain won the 110-mile sixth stage in 3:59.55. Karpets goes into today's final stage -- a 74.1-mile ride from Lloret de Mar to Barcelona -- with a 40-second advantage over second-place Michael Rogers of Australia. Soccer David Beckham's quality performances for Real Madrid have forced England coach Steve McClaren to recall him. The former World Cup captain was selected for England's 26-man squad for the first time since last year's World Cup in Germany. "Since Christmas his form has been very good," McClaren said . . . Christian Gomez scored one goal and assisted on another as host D.C. United beat Houston, 2-1, in MLS action . . . Jim Brennan scored in the 49th minute to lift Toronto FC to a 2-2 tie with the host Columbus Crew . . . Herculez Gomez scored in the 71st minute to lift the host Colorado Rapids over the Los Angeles Galaxy, 1-0 . . . Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov scored in the second half to give Chivas USA a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas in Carson, Calif.

Tennis

Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo was upset by sixth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the final of the Strasbourg (France) International . . . Elena Dementieva won the Istanbul Cup when Aravane Rezai withdrew from the final because of a knee injury. Dementieva led, 7-6 (7-5), 3-0, when Rezai retired . . . Juan Monaco defeated Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, to win his second career title at the Hypo Group International in Poertschach, Austria . . . Argentina defeated the Czech Republic, 2-1, in Duesseldorf to win the World Team Cup for the third time.

Miscellany

Marta Fernandez and Mwadi Mabika each scored 19 points and the Los Angeles Sparks routed Connecticut, 88-68, in Uncasville, Conn., ruining the Sun's home opener . . . Jockey Andrew Lakeman remained in critical condition with spinal injuries after taking a spill at Belmont Park Friday. "We got the opportunity to talk to one of the trauma physicians in attendance [at North Shore Hospital]," said Charles Hayward, NYRA president and CEO. "He was extremely unstable, had lost a lot of blood, and had precipitously low blood pressure. He did not suffer any head trauma. He did have severe spine trauma ." . . . Germany's Arthur Abraham stopped Canada's Sebastien Demers in the third round to defend his International Boxing Federation middleweight title in Bamberg, Germany . . . American Steve Cunningham won the IBF cruiserweight title, outpointing Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in Katowice, Poland.