Brewers hire Randolph as bench coach

The Milwaukee Brewers yesterday hired former New York Mets manager Willie Randolph as bench coach. Randolph, 54, who led the Mets within one win of the 2006 World Series, was fired by the Mets June 17. The Mets went 302-253 under his watch, and his .544 winning percentage ranks second to Davey Johnson (.588) in Mets history. Randolph, who is in contention for the manager's job in Seattle, said he has an agreement with the Brewers that if he gets a managerial offer, he can take it . . . Former Mets catcher Gary Carter will be managing in New York next season - with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Carter managed the Orange County Flyers to a championship in the independent Golden Baseball League last year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers released running back Najeh Davenport, five weeks after they brought back their former top backup following a number of injuries. Davenport, the Steelers' starter during their wild-card playoff loss to Jacksonville in January, was let go even though starter Willie Parker is not expected to play today against Indianapolis because of a sore shoulder . . . The Redskins waived cornerback Leigh Torrence to make room for new signee DeAngelo Hall, who agreed to a one-year deal . . . The NFL rescinded a $7,500 fine against Giants defensive end Justin Tuck for a hit on Cowboys quarterback Brooks Bollinger last weekend.

Steve Marino shot a 6-under-par 66 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., to tie Scott Verplank for the lead heading into the final round of the $4.6 million Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney World. Verplank and Marino are tied at 19-under 197 after three rounds of the PGA event . . . Shin Ji-yai won the Mizuno Classic for her second LPGA victory and fifth win overall of the year. She shot a 5-under 67 in Shima, Japan, to easily hold off Mayu Hattori, who closed with a 67 to finish second, six strokes back . . . Australian Geoff Ogilvy's 7-under 65 in the second round put him a stroke behind leaders Sergio Garcia (68) and Henrik Stenson (69) in the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai. Anthony Kim was disqualified for playing with an altered driver after he tapped it on the ground, accidentally hitting a sprinkler head on the seventh fairway. "I wasn't angry or anything, just walking down the fairway," Kim said. "I looked at [the driver] and it looked a little bit different. But I wasn't sure and I put it in my bag." After the 10th hole, he found a rules official, who told him he must disqualify himself for playing with an altered club. "I was pretty shocked," Kim said. "But you know, the rules are the rules and I have no problem with that." . . . Bryce Molder closed in on a PGA Tour card, shooting a 7-under 64 for a share of the third-round lead with Matt Bettencourt in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship in McKinney, Texas.

Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich needs surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb and will miss up to three months. The injury occurred during Friday's 100-83 victory over Phoenix. The Bulls initially called it a sprain, but an exam before last night's game against Cleveland revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament. The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday . . . San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker sustained a moderate lateral ankle sprain Friday and will probably be out more than two weeks . . . New Jersey guard Devin Harris was held out of last night's game against Indiana with a sprained left ankle . . . Georgia Tech guard Lewis Clinch will miss at least the first seven games of his senior season because he is academically ineligible.

Venus Williams advanced to the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic. Williams will face Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Elena Dementieva, 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3, in the other semifinal at the WTA Tour's season-ending event . . . Arthur Abraham (28-0, 22 KOs) defeated Raul Marquez (41-4-1) by technical knockout in Bamberg, Germany, to defend his International Boxing Federation middleweight title for the eighth time . . . Winston Thompson, coming back from an injury-shortened 2007 season, earned his fourth Suffolk Downs riding title in five years. Thompson had 101 victories in 647 mounts. John Rigattieri earned his fifth consecutive trainer's title with 66 winners from 296 starters. Michael Gill was the top owner for the fourth time with 42 victories . . . Vladimir Sobotka scored in overtime to lift the Providence Bruins over the River Rats, 4-3, in Albany, N.Y. Jeremy Reich, Brad Marchand, and Martins Karsums scored Providence's other goals . . . Brad Evans and Robbie Rogers scored to give host Columbus a 2-0 win over Kansas City and a place in the MLS Cup semifinals . . . Dema Kovalenko and Javier Morales scored as Real Salt Lake advanced to the Western Conference final with a 2-2 tie against Chivas USA in Carson, Calif., winning with a 3-2 aggregate score.