Blue Jays lose Wells for 6-8 weeks

Vernon Wells will go from leading the Toronto Blue Jays in home runs and RBIs to leading the team in cheers. The two-time All-Star outfielder was placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a broken left wrist and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. He was injured while making a diving catch Friday night. Wells is batting .281 with five homers and 24 RBIs. The Blue Jays also placed reliever Jeremy Accardo on the 15-day DL with tightness in his right forearm. Toronto recalled infielder Joe Inglett and purchased the contract of 35-year-old reliever Armando Benitez from Triple A Syracuse.

With a new ballpark finally on the horizon, the Florida Marlins are beginning to loosen their purse strings. Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez has agreed to the framework of a $70 million, six-year contract to remain with the Marlins, a person familiar with the negotiations said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press because the deal hadn't been completed. It's expected to be announced next weekend when the team returns home from a seven-game trip . . . After blowing his major league-leading fifth save Friday night, the Cardinals' Jason Isringhausen was removed from the closer role. Ryan Franklin and Russ Springer will share closing duties . . . Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson had his six-game suspension for charging the mound Thursday night reduced to five games by Major League Baseball, and began serving his suspension last night . . . Alex Rodriguez said he could rejoin the Yankees later this week if an MRI tomorrow shows improvement on his strained right quadriceps . . . The Angels placed third baseman Chone Figgins (hamstring) on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 4.

Strategy was almost as important as speed as Scott Dixon won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 with a big gamble by his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team. Dixon and teammate Dan Wheldon, who took the second spot, both took advantage of Indy's unique qualifying format, which allows each entry up to three tries on each of the four days of time trials. Dixon canceled out a four-lap average of 225.178 miles per hour earlier in the day and made it pay off with four laps at 226.366 that held up for Ganassi's third Indy pole. The run came with a little more than two hours left in the session and only moments after Ryan Briscoe, the first driver to qualify, withdrew his earlier speed of 224.833 and put his Team Penske entry on top briefly with a run of 226.080. Wheldon's top run came at 226.110. Danica Patrick set the early pace at 225.197, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd of about 40,000, the biggest turnout for pole day in more than a decade . . . Felipe Massa of Ferrari won the pole position for the Formula One Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul for the third straight year.

First, Andy Roddick pulled out of his Rome Masters semifinal with a back problem after falling behind, 3-0, in the first set against Stanislas Wawrinka. Then Radek Stepanek stopped his semifinal while trailing Novak Djokovic, 6-0, 1-0, after appearing affected by the heat. Total elapsed time for the two matches: 49 minutes. "I felt a little something last night in my back when I was getting treatment. Then, one wrong movement and I had a complete spasm," Roddick said. The ATP said it was the first time in the history of the Masters Series that both semifinals ended with withdrawals . . . Elena Dementieva beat second-ranked Ana Ivanovic, 6-2, 7-5, to reach the final of the German Open in Berlin. The ninth-ranked Dementieva will face No. 17 Dinara Safina, who beat teenager Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-1.

Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said he'll return for an eighth season with the team. The 62-year-old Lemaire led the Wild to their first Northwest Division title this season, but also a first-round flameout in the playoffs . . . In qualifying-round play at the world hockey championship, Canada routed Germany, 10-1, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as Eric Staal scored four goals. In Quebec City, Alexander Ovechkin scored with six seconds left in regulation to lead Russia to a 3-2 comeback win over Sweden . . . The Dallas Mavericks officially announced the hiring of Rick Carlisle as coach, and scheduled a news conference for Wednesday . . . Natasha Kai had her first career hat trick to lead the US women's soccer team to a 6-0 win over Canada in a friendly at RFK Stadium in Washington . . . Recapturetheglory, the colt that finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby, might skip next Saturday's Preakness Stakes after developing a fever.