Owners toughen drug testing rules

Baseball owners unanimously ratified tougher drug testing rules yesterday, and commissioner Bud Selig said he will now turn his attention to whether maple bats have become dangerous. Players have until next Friday to ratify the drug agreement, which will increase the frequency of tests and the authority of the program's independent administrator. Selig said the executive council discussed players' use of bats made from maple wood, which seem to be shattering more frequently - and in a more dangerous fashion - than those made of ash. Selig said the discussion was "very premature," and baseball officials plan to discuss the issue with the players' association and the rules committee before taking action . . . Tampa Bay Rays executives unveiled a $450 million financing plan for a 34,000-seat waterfront ballpark. Team executives are counting on the sale of their current home, Tropicana Field, the continuation of a hotel bed tax, and $55 million in parking revenues over the life of the new stadium. Any plan would still need voter approval in November.

Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Washington plans to activate first baseman Dmitri Young from the DL today . . . Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to play in the first of three extended spring training games tomorrow. A-Rod, who hasn't seen game action since April 28 because of a strained right quadriceps, hopes to rejoin the team Tuesday . . . The Giants placed righthanded reliever Merkin Valdez on the disabled list with a strained elbow on his throwing arm, but the injury isn't believed to be related to the reconstructive elbow surgery he had in 2006.

The Patriots will sell individual-game tickets for the 2008 season today at 9 a.m. through Ticketmaster. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets will not be sold at the Gillette Stadium box office. Fans are limited to a total of eight tickets, four per game . . . The Patriots signed receiver Robert Ortiz, who entered the league in 2006 as a rookie free agent, to an undisclosed contract. Ortiz, out of San Diego State, has never appeared in a regular-season game . . . The Jacksonville Jaguars gave defensive tackle Rob Meier, a seven-year veteran who is replacing three-time Pro Bowl player Marcus Stroud in the starting lineup this season, a four-year contract extension. Financial details weren't disclosed.

Maria Sharapova rallied from a four-game deficit in the second set to defeat Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), and reach the Italian Open quarterfinals in Rome. Defending champion Jelena Jankovic and 2002 winner Serena Williams also advanced. The fourth-seeded Jankovic routed Maria Kirilenko, 6-1, 6-1, and Williams eliminated wild card Sara Errani, 6-4, 6-3 . . . Rafael Nadal knocked off Andy Murray, 6-3, 6-2, to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Masters in Germany. Defending champion Federer breezed past Robin Soderling, 6-3, 6-2, and will play Fernando Verdasco, who upset fifth-seeded David Ferrer, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. Djokovic defeated Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 . . . Freshman Nikki Reich defeated Leah Weston, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, to lift Williams to a 5-4 win over Washington & Lee in the NCAA Division 3 final in St. Peter, Minn., giving the Ephs their first national tennis title.

Cammi Granato, the former Providence College standout who starred on the first United States women's gold-medal hockey team in 1998, joined Canadians Geraldine Heaney and Angela James as the first female players inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame . . . Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko missed practice because of a problem with his visa, a day before Utah hosts the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. Agent Marc Fleisher said Kirilenko had to finalize a travel visa for a family trip to France this summer and yesterday was the only day he could do it without having to wait another month. Fleisher said Kirilenko told the Jazz about the conflict and was given permission to miss practice . . . Charles Barkley acknowledged he owes a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino and promised to repay it after a prosecutor said the retired NBA star faced criminal charges . . . Former Boston College basketball coach Tom Davis is retiring as an assistant to the athletic director at Drake. Davis, 69, spent 32 years as a Division 1 head coach, racking up 598 wins, including 100 in his five seasons (1977-82) at BC . . . Penn State football coach Joe Paterno spent several hours at a hospital in State College, Pa., being treated for dehydration before returning home late last night . . . Omar Cummings scored in the 65th minute and Christian Gomez added a goal on a penalty kick in the Colorado Rapids' 2-0 victory over visiting Real Salt Lake in an MLS game.