Glavine out for year, eyes 2009 return

Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine is out for the season, and his illustrious career could be over if he needs major surgery on his injured left elbow. The 42-year-old Glavine still hopes to return next year - unless he needs elbow ligament replacement surgery. A 300-game winner, Glavine said yesterday he will be examined by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama. He said he'd give up his comeback hopes for 2009 if Andrews determines the pitcher needs the procedure, known as Tommy John surgery . . . The Houston Astros placed second baseman Kazuo Matsui on the 15-day disabled list with an irritated disk in his back and purchased J.R. House's contract from Triple A Round Rock . . . Billy Wagner felt discomfort in his pitching elbow after throwing a simulated game, and the New York Mets' closer won't come off the disabled list tomorrow as expected . . . The host Buffalo Bison defeated the Pawtucket Red Sox, 1-0.

Shelton, Conn., took advantage of three errors by Rapid City, S.D., in a seven-run fourth inning to back up Bobby Moretti's pitching in a 9-4 win at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa. Connecticut sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth, including Marcello Ursini, who homered to center . . . In another game, Hagerstown, Md., galloped to an unlikely victory. Maryland manager Bill Abeles Jr. remained in disbelief minutes after his team was no-hit by Jeffersonville, Ind., starter Drew Ellis and still won, 3-2. Maryland scored in the first off a walk and an error, and got two runs in the fifth off a hit batsman, a walk, and four wild pitches.

Nathalie Dechy reached her first final in four years with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 upset of fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo in a semifinal of the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Mason, Ohio. Dechy will play in a final for the first time since losing the championship match at the 2004 New Haven tournament. She will face Nadia Petrova, who beat third-seeded Maria Kirilenko, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the other semifinal . . . Juan Martin del Potro won his 18th consecutive match and a spot in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Tommy Haas in Washington. He will play Viktor Troicki, who beat Igor Kunitsyn, 6-4, 6-2.

University of Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma said Elena Delle Donne, the Huskies' top recruit, has decided not to enroll at the school. Auriemma said the 6-foot-5-inch forward informed him she has decided not to play college basketball. Delle Donne said she needed "some time off" when she left summer school at UConn in June and returned home to Delaware. Delle Donne was last season's national high school player of the year and was courted by UConn, Tennessee, and other schools before she committed to the Huskies . . . Sam Collins, a freshman defensive lineman for Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., died following the second preseason practice. Officials said an official cause of death hasn't been determined. The college said he became ill following a morning workout.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney will be out 3-5 months after surgery to correct a chronic foot problem . . . Carl Edwards took the lead in the pits, then drove away with his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

The pennant race will be heating up in September, and the Globe sports department is not standing pat. The team covering the Red Sox will have a different look for the rest of the season with the signing of a coveted veteran and the move of a key young player into a new spot in the batting order. Joining national baseball writer Nick Cafardo next month will be Tony Massarotti, one of the leading reporters and columnists in Boston for nearly 20 years. Massarotti will become the voice and face of Boston.com sports while also contributing his astute analysis in the newspaper. Amalie Benjamin is the Globe's new Red Sox beat writer, moving one seat over from her position as a backup reporter for the team the last three seasons. Adam Kilgore, a young reporter with roots in Maine, will assume Benjamin's former role. Kilgore, a former intern at the Globe, has worked at the Washington Post the last two years covering colleges and major league baseball.

JOE SULLIVAN