All-Star Game keeps link to home field

Home-field advantage in the World Series this year will again go to the league that wins the All-Star Game next month, owners and players agreed yesterday. Originally a two-year experiment in 2003 to make the midsummer classic more attractive to fans and more meaningful for the teams, the idea was extended last season. ``It's great for the game, especially the fans," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. ``The fans don't think it's another exhibition game, a showcase. We played for something that helped us last year." Guillen will manage the AL team July 11 at Pittsburgh. Adding extra weight to the All-Star Game, however, has not helped the television ratings: Last year's matchup in Detroit drew its worst TV number ever -- surpassing the low mark set the previous season . . . Five Florida spring training sites are eligible to receive $15 million each over the next 30 years under a bill signed by Governor Jeb Bush that also provides the Orlando Magic with $60 million to refurbish their arena. Six baseball teams -- the Orioles, Reds, Indians, Mets, Pirates, and Devil Rays -- will be able to apply for the money, which would be split into $500,000 annual payments to help keep Arizona's Cactus League from raiding the Florida Grapefruit League . . . Dustin Pedroia went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and Marc Deschenes (4-2) threw five shutout innings of relief as Pawtucket erased a five-run deficit in an 8-5 International League victory over the Braves in Richmond, Va. . . . Kason Gabbard pitched seven shutout innings and Jeremy West hit two of host Portland's four homers as the Sea Dogs beat Connecticut, 9-0, in Eastern League action . . . David Cooper went 5 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs, including the go-ahead single in the eighth inning, in Cal State Fullerton's 7-6 victory that eliminated top-seeded Clemson from the College World Series in Omaha. In the nightcap, Mike Stutes allowed one run in six-plus innings as Oregon State eliminated Miami, 8-1.

The Kansas City Royals sent lefthander J.P. Howell, their best minor league pitching prospect, to Tampa Bay for speedy outfielder Joey Gathright and infielder Fernando Cortez. Royals manager Buddy Bell said Gathright would play center field and David DeJesus would shift to left. Selected as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the 2004 draft, Howell was 3-5 with a 6.19 ERA in 15 games for Kansas City last season. Gathright started the season with the Devil Rays, hitting .201 with 12 stolen bases in 55 games before being optioned to Triple A Durham (N.C.) June 6. The Devil Rays also optioned Seth McClung to Durham, a move designed to see if the righthander can go from the rotation to a future role as a closer. ``You look at my stuff, it's good. I know it's good. I just have to learn how to harness it," said McClung, who went 2-10 with a 6.81 ERA in 15 starts this year . . . The Texas Rangers placed righthander Kameron Loe on the 15-day disabled list with a bone bruise on his right elbow. Loe attributed the injury to excessive weight lifting during the offseason. ``I was a little too big shoulder-wise," said Loe, who is 3-6 with a 5.86 ERA in 15 starts . . . Righthander Jason Johnson, one of the bigger disappointments for the struggling Cleveland Indians, was designated for assignment. The Indians' patience with Johnson finally ran out following the club's 12-8 loss to the Chicago Cubs Monday. Johnson, who signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract in the offseason, allowed six runs in five innings to drop to 3-8.

Once again, navigation proved the key to winning the Newport-Bermuda Race as Bella Mente, a JV66 -- not considered one of the favorites -- took line honors as she sailed across the St. David's Lighthouse finish line. In this Centennial celebration of the 635-mile race, the maxi-class boat Maximus was widely favored. But as the race that started last Friday developed into one of the most prolonged light-air crossings in memory, the decision was made to sail down the west side of the rhumb line, where better wind and a favorable current carried Bella Mente into Bermuda well ahead of Maximus and Kodiak II.
TONY CHAMBERLAIN

A back injury has forced defending champion Sergio Garcia, ranked ninth in the world, to withdraw from the Booz Allen Classic, which begins tomorrow in Potomac, Md. . . . Nick Price teamed with Tim Clark to win the CVS Charity Classic best-ball tournament in Barrington, R.I., with Price holing a 12-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff against Brad Faxon and Mike Weir. Barrington native Brett Quigley, using a 9-iron on the 145-yard 17th, made his first ace in pro competition . . . Tara Joy-Connelly of Duxbury, last year's WGAM player of the year, shot 76 to win the Edith Noblit Baker Trophy at Sankaty Head Golf Course on Nantucket. Joy-Connelly's two-day total of 151 bested Cheryl Krueger by one shot.

NASCAR team owner Gene Haas was arrested at his home in Camarillo, Calif., Monday on federal tax fraud charges of trying to avoid paying about $20 million in income taxes, the Department of Justice said. Haas, 54, allegedly put about $50 million of bogus expenses on the books at his machine tool company, Haas Automation Inc., to avoid paying taxes. He also owns Haas CNC Racing, which operates Jeff Green's No. 66 Nextel Cup car and Johnny Sauter's No. 00 Busch car . . . Nykesha Sales scored 15 points and Asjha Jones added 14 to help the visiting Connecticut Sun beat the Charlotte Sting, 90-66, and move back into sole possession of first place in the WNBA's Eastern Conference . . . Mary Pierce, 31, pulled out of Wimbledon because of tendinitis in her right foot, joining Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport as former Grand Slam winners out of the tournament that begins Monday. .content>