Umpires agree to allow instant replay

Baseball umpires and management signed an agreement yesterday that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field. Major League Baseball still hasn't determined when the use of replays will start. Installation of equipment has been going on at ballparks, and officials have said they hoped to start using replay in August. Replays will be limited to boundary calls, such as determining whether fly balls were fair or foul, or whether they went over fences. Umpire crew chiefs will determine when replay will be used and will make the final decisions on calls.

Tests show Braves pitcher Tom Glavine has no ligament damage in his left elbow, leaving open the possibility he could return next season. Glavine was examined by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. As expected, the test showed the 42-year-old Glavine has a partial tear in the flexor tendon in his left elbow. Glavine has said he would retire if told he needed ligament-replacement surgery. Glavine will have surgery today to repair the tendon and is expected to face a recovery period of 4-5 months. If Glavine is to come back next season, he only wants to pitch for Atlanta, close to his home and family . . . Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse was suspended five games for throwing a fastball past the head of Cincinnati pitcher Edinson Volquez last weekend. Lohse appealed the penalty, and can continue to play until a hearing is held . . . Adam Wainwright will return to the Cardinals' rotation tomorrow against the Braves. Wainwright, 6-3 with a 3.14 ERA, has been on the 15-day disabled list since early June with a ruptured tendon in the middle finger of his right hand . . . The New York Mets agreed with righthander Al Reyes on a minor league contract. The 38-year-old Reyes went 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA for the Rays this season . . . Pikai Winchester homered twice as Hawaii reached the US finals at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., with a 9-4 victory over Washington. Japan advanced to the international finals with an 11-4 victory over Curacao.

NASCAR suspended seven crew members of Joe Gibbs Racing and stripped drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano of 150 points each for cheating after last weekend's Nationwide Series race when magnets were found under the gas pedals of both cars. Crew chiefs Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rogers were suspended indefinitely and fined $50,000 each. Owner Joe Gibbs said he would not appeal the penalties. He indicated he would also personally fine the crew members involved and suspend them through the end of the season . . . Donnie Wingo, crew chief for Sprint Cup driver Reed Sorenson, was fined $25,000 by NASCAR for an improperly attached weight on the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge.

NCAA put New Mexico's football program on three years' probation and cut five scholarships as punishment for academic violations involving two former assistant coaches. The sanctions imposed by the NCAA's infractions committee went beyond the university's self-imposed penalties, which included two years' probation and fewer scholarship reductions. The NCAA concluded that the former Lobos assistants in 2004 improperly helped three recruits to obtain fraudulent academic credits through correspondence courses they never completed . . . Former Marshall football coach Bob Pruett has denied allegations he was involved in an academic scandal or made athletes lie about a jobs program that drew NCAA sanctions in 2001 . . . The NCAA rejected Pittsburgh basketball forward Mike Cook's request for an extra year of eligibility. His senior season was cut short by a knee injury . . . Markieff Morris, an incoming freshman basketball player at Kansas, is facing a battery charge after allegedly firing a BB gun from his dorm window Saturday, injuring a 47-year-old woman . . . American University basketball coach Jeff Jones, who last season led the Eagles to the first NCAA Division 1 men's tournament berth in school history, has been rewarded with a contract extension.

The championship banners and trophies from the SuperSonics' best days will be staying in Seattle. The city of Seattle and Clay Bennett's ownership group have divvied up the artifacts of the NBA's past in the Pacific Northwest. The agreement calls for Bennett's Professional Basketball Club to leave any banners, trophies, and retired jerseys. Those will be placed in a curatorship at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry, although the new Oklahoma City franchise would be allowed to borrow them . . . The Philadelphia 76ers signed center Theo Ratliff . . . Second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova survived three match points in a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Olga Govortsova in a second-round match of the Pilot Pen at New Haven . . . Carlos Bocanegra scored in the 69th minute as the United States beat host Guatemala, 1-0, in the Americans' opener in the semifinal round of World Cup Soccer qualifying . . . Kei Kamara scored two goals and the Houston Dynamo beat visiting Chivas USA, 4-0, in MLS action . . . Former Revolution coach Fernando Clavijo is resigning as Colorado Rapids coach for personal reasons and assistant Gary Smith will take over as interim coach.