Shoulder injury sidelines Zambrano

Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano has right rotator cuff tendinitis and inflammation, an MRI confirmed yesterday, a potential obstacle to Chicago's chances of winning the World Series for the first time in a century. Zambrano received a shot of anti-inflammatory medication and hopes to return to the rotation next week. Zambrano, 13-5 this season, left his start Tuesday night against the Astros after five innings, saying he did not feel well. Zambrano is 1-1 over his last six starts and has made it past the fifth inning only twice. Sean Marshall will start in Zambrano's place Sunday at Cincinnati. The Cubs have a five-game lead in the NL Central . . . The Washington Nationals, who rank in the bottom half of Major League Baseball in attendance despite a new ballpark, are lowering some of their season ticket prices for next season. Prices will go down for 7,500 seats in the 41,888-seat Nationals Park, mostly in the outfield sections. Seats in most of the discounted sections will cost $5 to $10 less per game, lowering the stadium's average season ticket price for a non-premium seat to approximately $29 . . . Todd Cruz, an infielder with the 1983 world champion Baltimore Orioles, died. He was 52. Cruz died while swimming at the apartment complex in which he lived in Bullhead City, Ariz. The cause of death is pending results of an autopsy. . . . Philadelphia Phillies third base coach Steve Smith was suspended for two games and fined because of an argument with umpires during a game in Chicago last week.

Connecticut and Tennessee's rivalry is moving from the basketball court to the football field. UConn announced that Tennessee will visit Rentschler Field in 2015, and the Huskies will travel to Knoxville the following year. The two women's basketball powers had met annually, until Tennessee canceled the series a year ago . . . Penn State coach Joe Paterno kicked one player off the team and said three others will not face Oregon State this weekend because of separate, undisclosed off-field issues. Backup defensive back Willie Harriott has been kicked off the team and defensive linemen Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma, and tight end Andrew Quarless will sit out tomorrow's game in State College, Pa. . . . Former Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk testified that a foot injury prevented him from playing or even practicing at times during his freshman season in 2003 at Wake Forest, where he played before transferring to Cincinnati. Mauk is suing to gain a sixth year of eligibility because of the injury after being rejected five times by the NCAA. Hardin County (Ohio) Judge William Hart turned down the NCAA's request to dismiss the case.

A three-man panel of the National Stock Car Racing Commission rescinded the probation handed down to Tony Stewart and Joey Logano after the Joe Gibbs Racing team was caught trying to manipulate an engine horsepower test following the Nationwide race at Michigan last month. The team did not appeal the suspensions and fines of crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Ratcliff.

Curlin will get his chance to become thoroughbred racing's richest horse later this month in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in New York. The 2007 Horse of the Year, fresh from a victory in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, has earned $9,796,800 with 10 wins in 13 career starts. The record of $9,999,815 is held by Cigar.

Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt will race against Jamaican rival Asafa Powell in the 100-meter race tonight at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels, but not American Tyson Gay, who said he withdrew because the prospect of running in brisk weather was too risky as he recovers from a hamstring injury . . . Sue Bird scored 19 points to help the Seattle Storm clinch a playoff berth with a 70-62 victory over the Chicago Sky in a WNBA game . . . In Major League Soccer play, Mike Petke scored in the 60th minute for his first goal in nearly a year to lead Colorado past FC Dallas, 1-0, in Frisco, Texas, helping the Rapids snap a 13-game winless streak at FC Dallas dating to May 5, 2001 . . . Australia's Alicia Molik has retired from international tennis after a long run of injuries, including a debilitating inner-ear virus. Molik, 27, peaked at a No. 8 ranking after reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2005 . . . The Belarus silver and bronze medalists in the men's hammer throw at the Beijing Olympics are being investigated for doping offenses by the International Olympic Committee. Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan tested positive for traces of testosterone after the hammer final Aug. 17, the Russian news agency Allsport reported.