Bruins sign Rabbit to multiyear pact

Hockey

The Bruins signed center Wacey Rabbit, who has played the last three seasons in the Western Hockey League, to a multiyear contract, general manager Peter Chiarelli announced yesterday. Rabbit, 19, was selected 154th overall by the Bruins in the 2005 draft. He is in his second training camp with Boston. Last season, Rabbit had 28 goals and 28 assists with the Saskatoon Blades. Contract terms weren't disclosed.

Baseball

Pedro Martínez felt good after a four-inning simulated game, and the New York Mets ace is on track to return to the rotation, possibly next weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Martínez threw 75 pitches -- 45 in game conditions -- from the Shea Stadium mound on a warm and humid morning in front of manager Willie Randolph and pitching coach Rick Peterson. He has been sidelined since Aug. 14 because of a strained right calf. Martínez (9-5) threw 15 pitches in the first ``inning," nine in each of the next two, and 12 in his final frame. The only batter to get a hit was rookie second baseman Anderson Hernandez, who singled in the fourth . . . The Brockton Rox clinched a championship berth in the Can-Am League with a 2-1 victory over the New Haven County Cutters. The Rox will face the winner of the North Shore-Quebec series. North Shore leads the series, 2-1, after last night's 5-2 victory. Game 4 is today.

Cleveland Indians designated hitter Travis Hafner will miss the rest of the season with a broken right hand. Hafner was injured Sept. 1 when Texas Rangers righthander C.J. Wilson hit him with a pitch in the eighth inning. Hafner, who tied a major league record with six grand slams this season, was hitting .308 with 42 home runs and 117 RBIs. Hafner will travel to Baltimore tomorrow to be re-examined by a hand specialist. Cleveland trainer Lonnie Soloff doesn't think Hafner will need surgery, calling it a ``remote possibility." . . . Oakland center fielder Mark Kotsay will return to the Bay Area to get treatment for his back and is not expected to play until Friday. Kotsay missed six games with back spasms last month. A's righthander Rich Harden, out since June 5 with a sprained ligament in his right elbow, will throw a simulated game tomorrow . . . Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba will miss the rest of the season with a strained right shoulder.

Cycling

Floyd Landis's lawyer wants US doping authorities to drop their case against the Tour de France winner, contending there were ``inconsistencies" in the way the drug tests were handled. Attorney Howard Jacobs said he plans to submit a formal request tomorrow to the US Anti-Doping Agency that it dismiss evidence showing the cyclist tested positive for testosterone after capturing the sport's showcase race in July. Landis has insisted he is innocent, and Jacobs said the positive tests point to a premature public conviction. ``In our review of the documents detailing the tests on both the `A' and `B' sample, we have found evidence that supports our request for USADA to drop the doping charges against Landis," Jacobs said in a statement posted on Landis's website Friday. ``While I cannot comment on the full details of our findings, we now have the foundation for a very strong defense should the case proceed to arbitration."

Track and field

The world's fastest man was too slow out of the blocks, and too tired to go for another record. Just to stay unbeaten was enough of a chore for Jamaica's Asafa Powell at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany. Powell still managed enough of a finishing kick to clinch a record 12th sub-10-second race and run his winning streak in the 100 meters to 22 this season. ``The legs are really tired. I wish I could have done a lot more," Powell said after winning in 9.89 seconds. American Jeremy Wariner has also won every 400 race this year, clocking 44.02 to fall just 0.03 seconds shy of joining his manager, Michael Johnson, as the only athletes to post four sub-44 races in a season. In the 110 hurdles, world record-holder Liu Xiang of China came from behind to beat Allen Johnson. Liu won in 12.93 seconds, 0.05 seconds off the world mark he set earlier this season.

Miscellany

Electrocutionist, winner of the $6 million Dubai World Cup, died of what his owner said was a suspected heart attack. The death of the 5-year-old horse, who won 8 of 12 career starts, was announced by Godolphin Stables in Newmarket, England. The highlight victory came in the March 25 Dubai World Cup, the world's richest race. Electrocutionist's last race was the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot July 29, when he was runner-up to Hurricane Run . . . Rafael Nadal pulled out of the China Open tomorrow in Beijing and will not be able to defend his title because of an ankle injury. Nadal was upset by Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals of the US Open last week . . . Yohannes Christian John of Indonesia retained his World Boxing Association featherweight title in Jakarta with a unanimous decision over Renan Acosta of Panama.