Surgery could end Matsui's season

Hideki Matsui's left knee swelled, increasing the possibility he will need season-ending surgery and perhaps giving the New York Yankees reason to contemplate signing Barry Bonds. General manager Brian Cashman said yesterday that Matsui was running out of options to rehabilitate his knee, which has sidelined him since June 22 and kept him from playing the outfield since June 15. Asked about Bonds, Cashman said, "I would say any rampant speculation on us involving a player of that magnitude would be extremely premature. I would caution everybody to not misunderstand that since I'm not saying no to it, that that means, 'Oh my gosh, that that might be happening down the line.' It's not something we're focused on at this point." Another Yankees outfielder, Johnny Damon, also is slower to recover than anticipated. Damon, eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday, continues to have soreness in his injured left shoulder, and probably won't start hitting off a tee until at least late this week . . . Prosecutors in Tampa have dropped their case against Rays pitcher Al Reyes, who was charged after a bar fight in April.

The Los Angeles Clippers acquired center Marcus Camby from the Denver Nuggets for the option to exchange second-round picks with the Clippers in 2010. The Nuggets also will receive a $10 million trade exception in the deal. Camby led the NBA in blocked shots with 3.61 per game last season, only the second player in league history to do so in three straight seasons, and averaged 9.1 points and 13.1 rebounds . . . The Orlando Magic signed veteran free agent point guard Anthony Johnson as a backup to starter Jameer Nelson. Johnson, 33, played in 69 games last season for the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings . . . Lisa Willis scored a career-high 18 points and the visiting New York Liberty beat Connecticut, 77-71, handing the Sun their fourth straight WNBA loss. Lindsay Whalen scored 19 for the Sun.

Detroit Red Wings forward Dallas Drake announced his retirement a month after raising the Stanley Cup for the first time in his 16-year career. Drake, 39, had 177 goals, 300 assists, and 885 penalty minutes in 1,009 regular-season games. He played for Winnipeg, Phoenix, and St. Louis in addition to the Red Wings. General manager Ken Holland also said he expects to speak later this week with free agent Chris Chelios, who will turn 47 next season. "He wants to come back. I told him we've got a spot for him," Holland said . . . The Montreal Canadiens, which will celebrate their 100th season in 2009, will host the NHL draft June 26-27 at Bell Centre. It's the first time in 17 years the draft will be held in Montreal.

The Tour de France resumes today and Frank Schleck of Luxembourg is trying to figure out how to erase his one-second deficit to race leader Cadel Evans of Australia. After 10 stages and more than 46 hours of racing, competitors took a rest day after two punishing days in the Pyrenees in which Evans captured the yellow jersey for the first time in his career. Schleck's Team CSC is strong and has many assets with which to challenge Evans. The last day in the Alps (Stage 17) finishes at the legendary Alpe d'Huez, where Schleck won a stage in 2006. "Put it this way, we're not going to let Frank Schleck go in an early breakaway on the stage to the Alpe d'Huez the way he did that year," Evans said . . . The 17 UCI ProTour cycling teams at the Tour de France unanimously agreed not to renew their ProTour licenses for the 2009 season, a challenge to the International Cycling Union, which four years ago organized the sport around a ProTour circuit of 15 events featuring 18 of cycling's best professional teams.

The Spectrum, once home to Philadelphia's title-winning 76ers and Flyers teams, will close in 2009 and be demolished to make way for an entertainment development, arena owner Comcast-Spectacor announced. The arena will close following the 2008-09 minor league hockey and soccer seasons . . . Trevor Graham, track coach for many athletes connected to doping, including Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, and Tim Montgomery, received a lifetime ban from the US Anti-Doping Agency for his role in helping his athletes obtain performance-enhancing drugs. Graham has been banned from participating in any event sanctioned by the US Olympic Committee or any group that participates in the World Anti-Doping Agency program . . . Ivan Ljubicic won his first match in more than a month and advanced to the second round of the Croatia Open in Umag with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin . . . Former US national captain and current New York Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna plans to announce his retirement today, less than two seasons after returning from Europe to join Major League Soccer. Reyna has been bothered by hamstring and back injuries this season . . . Luis Gabriel Rey scored two goals to lead Atlante to a 3-2 victory over D.C. United in the teams' second match in the 2008 SuperLiga tournament at RFK Stadium. In another Superliga matchup, Omar Arellano scored the only goal as Chivas de Guadalajara held off host Houston, 1-0 . . . Ronaldinho transferred to AC Milan, leaving FC Barcelona after the club's new coach declared the team would plan for next season without the Brazilian playmaker. AC Milan will pay $33.4 million for Ronaldinho . . . Former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque agreed to a two-year contract to replace Luis Aragones as Spain's soccer coach.