Aching elbow sends A's closer to DL

Baseball
The Oakland Athletics took another injury hit yesterday, placing closer Huston Street on the disabled list with nerve irritation in his right elbow. Street, the 2005 AL Rookie of the Year, is scheduled to get a second opinion on his throwing arm from orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum this morning along with a second MRI. "As a pitcher, you have numbness and tingling and it goes away. This has been a week," said Street, who is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA with nine saves. Justin Duchscherer will assume the primary closer job, but he has been bothered by an arthritic hip . . . Lefthander Ron Villone, 37, will be added to the Yankees' roster in an effort to provide relief to the team's overworked bullpen. The UMass product will replace lefthander Sean Henn, who was sent to Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre . . . Righthander Byung-Hyun Kim, demoted to the minors by Colorado earlier this season, will move into the Marlins' rotation and is expected to start Friday at Tampa Bay . . . The Texas Rangers placed righthander Kevin Millwood on the 15-day disabled list, a day after returning to the team and aggravating a hamstring injury that had kept him out for two weeks. Reliever Ron Mahay also was put on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his ribcage . . . The Braves activated closer Bob Wickman, who blew back-to-back save opportunities before being placed on the DL April 30 with tendinitis in his upper back.. . . Kevin Cash had a grand slam and six RBIs and Jeff Bailey had five hits, including three doubles, as Pawtucket beat visiting Durham, 15-6, in International League action.

football

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards pledged $1 million to fund scholarships for Cleveland students, doubling the charitable donation he made to his college alma mater last year. Through Edwards's program, 100 eighth-graders from the Cleveland Municipal School District will be offered scholarships for college tuition upon their graduation from high school. The participating students, who will be mentored and tutored, must keep at least a 2.5 grade-point average and accumulate at least 15 hours of community service each year. They will not be allowed any unexcused absences from school. Last year, Edwards announced a $500,000 scholarship endowment fund to the University of Michigan for team members who wear the school's No. 1 football jersey . . . The New York Jets signed five free agents, including former UMass defensive back James Ihedigbo and former Virginia Commonwealth basketball star Jesse Pellot-Rosa, who tried out at wide receiver. Pellot-Rosa, who helped lead the Rams to a Colonial Athletic Association title and a first-round upset of Duke in the NCAA Tournament in March, last played organized football in high school. He was recruited by Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia to play football, but chose to play basketball at VCU, which doesn't have a football team. The Jets released four players, including former Maine defensive end Matt King of Stoughton . . . Brett Favre plans to skip the Packers' mandatory minicamp this weekend, saying the move is not related to his frustration with the team's unwillingness to trade for wide receiver Randy Moss. Favre told the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun-Herald that because he is unable to practice while recovering from ankle surgery, he is going to stay home in Mississippi. "To be honest, we have [daughter] Brittany graduating in two weeks," he said. "Instead of going up there and not doing anything, I will be better off being at home because of graduation parties and banquets." However, according to Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb, as far as coach Mike McCarthy was concerned, "the camp is mandatory." Favre said he isn't skipping the minicamp as a protest with the team's front office. "I am frustrated," Favre told the paper. "But being frustrated and not going are not related."

Auto racing

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 100 points, and his crew chief was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for an illegal part at Darlington Raceway last weekend. NASCAR inspectors said the rear wing on Earnhardt's Car of Tomorrow was improperly mounted when it was checked Saturday. The brackets used to mount the piece were confiscated . . . The Colts have no problem with Peyton Manning starting the Indianapolis 500, they just don't want a Colts car running in the May 27 race. PDM Racing primary owner Paul Diatlovich said he had asked permission to paint Jimmy Kite's No. 18 car in the Colts team colors -- dark blue and white -- with a message on the car's side that read simply "Go Colts." Indianapolis officials nixed it because of sponsorship concerns. "I'm extremely upset with the narrow-minded, pinheaded leadership of the Colts team and the NFL," said Diatlovich, who lives in the city. "It's inexcusable. All we're trying to do is say thank you." Because of NFL policies, the car is now blue and orange. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league prohibits cross-promotion between sports . . . NASCAR penalized Bill Davis Racing for allowing an unlicensed driver behind the wheel of Johnny Benson's truck during a test session last week. Mike Lichty, a friend of Benson's, took some laps in Benson's truck during Thursday's test at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- but Lichty wrecked, and NASCAR kicked the team out of the test when it discovered Benson wasn't behind the wheel. Benson was fined $10,000 and docked 50 points, and crew chief Trip Bruce was suspended for two races.

Blood doping

The Italian cycling federation suspended Ivan Basso and another Italian rider, Michele Scarponi, a day after the Olympic committee recommended such action. Ettore Torri, the Italian Olympic Committee's antidoping prosecutor, accused Basso of reneging on his promise to provide information about the Operation Puerto doping scandal, even though he acknowledged involvement in the Spanish blood-doping investigation . . . Lyubov Denisova, a two-time Los Angeles Marathon winner (2002, '05) and a runner-up in Boston ('03), has been banned from competition for two years after failing a doping test.

Miscellany

The US Soccer Federation called a news conference to announce that interim coach Bob Bradley, 49, will become the permanent coach. Bruce Arena, hired after the Americans finished last at the 1998 World Cup, was told after last year's tournament he wouldn't be brought back for another four-year cycle. Following the withdrawal of Juergen Klinsmann, Bradley was hired on an interim basis Dec. 8. Since then, the Americans have gone 3-0-1 in exhibition games . . . David Beckham, who will join the Los Angeles Galaxy in July, in planning to set up a soccer academy in China and tour the nation with his new MLS team . . . Madison Pressel, the 15-year-old sister of LPGA Nabisco champion Morgan Pressel, advanced to sectional qualifying for the US Women's Open with a par on the first hole of a 10-way playoff for five spots in Naples, Fla. Isabelle Lendl, the daughter of tennis great Ivan Lendl, shot 79 and failed to qualify. Her sister, Marika, shot a 73 despite battling illness Monday and was one of the qualifiers. Also qualifying Monday was 12-year-old Alexis Thompson of Coral Springs, Fla. . . . Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland withdrew from this week's Irish Open with a hamstring injury sustained in a soccer match with his sons last month . . . Trainer Todd Pletcher most likely will have two chances to win Saturday's $1 million Preakness and end an 0-for-26 streak in Triple Crown races. Pimlico officials said that Circular Quay, who finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby, is set to join Pletcher's King of the Roxy in what would be a field of nine 3-year-olds. Final entries for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness will be taken today . . . Jean Saubert, who won a silver (giant slalom) and a bronze (slalom) at the 1964 Olympics, died in Bigfork, Mont. She was 65 . . . The Middlebury men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Division 3 semifinals for the fifth consecutive year with a 5-2 win over DePauw. The Panthers (21-1) will meet Emory today at 11 a.m. in St. Louis. In the other bracket, Williams (15-7) was bounced by Gustavus Adolphus, 5-4 . . . The Amherst women's tennis team rallied from being down, 3-0, to beat Gustavus Adolphus, 5-4, and advance to the NCAA Division 3 semifinals in Fredericksburg, Va. Amherst (17-4) will face Sewanee today at 9 a.m. The other semifinal will feature Williams against Washington & Lee (23-1) at 2 p.m. The Ephs (19-4) advanced by topping tripping Pomona, 5-2. Middlebury (13-5) had its season come to an end with a 5-3cq loss to Washington & Lee . . . Senior Nicole Plante (North Adams) earned the No. 1 seed in the 10,000 meters and No. 2 seed in the 5,000 at the NCAA Division 2 Track and Field championship, which starts Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.