League cracks down on ref criticism

Dave Clark met with the Houston Astros, the first of 10 candidates the team said it will interview in its search for a manager. Clark, 47, was the Astros’ third base coach in 2009 and took over as interim manager when the team fired Cecil Cooper Sept. 21. General manager Ed Wade said Clark has been guaranteed a spot on next year’s staff, even if he’s not hired as a manager. Another Astros coach, Al Pedrique, also met with the team yesterday. He was the minor league coordinator and was promoted to third base coach when Clark replaced Cooper. Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills and first base coach Tim Bogar are also expected to talk with the Astros . . . Manager Bruce Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean each received two-year contract extensions with a club option, keeping the pair with the Giants . . . Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo turned down a one-year deal, ending a 15-year run during which the Rangers were among the most feared lineups in baseball.

Canucks defenseman Sami Salo will miss 3-5 weeks with a suspected sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Salo, who has missed 79 games over the last four seasons, is the Canucks top all-around defender while playing on the top power-play and penalty-kill units . . . Blue Jackets defenseman Jan Hejda, whose plus-8 rating in five games tied him for the best in the NHL, will miss 4-6 weeks with a sprained left knee.

Binghamton basketball coach Kevin Broadus has been placed on an indefinite paid leave of absence. The move comes after Friday’s announcement that Broadus admitted having contact with prospective recruits that violated NCAA regulations. Assistant coach Mark Macon will take over in the interim. University president Lois DeFleur called for an audit of the entire athletic program after the releases last month of star basketball player Emanuel “Tiki’’ Mayben, who’s facing drug charges, and five of his teammates . . . Brown quarterback Kyle Newhall and Bentley cornerback Chris Carroll received the Gridiron Club’s Gold Helmets from the New England Football Writers. Newhall broke an Ivy League record with his 46 completions (on 61 attempts) for 431 yards and two TDs in the Bears’ 34-31 upset of Holy Cross. Carroll had three interceptions in a 17-14 win over Southern Connecticut.

In what could be a sneak preview of the London Olympics, teenagers Rebecca Bross of the United States and Romanian Ana Porgras finished 1-2 in qualifying at their first World Gymnastics Championships in London. Bross finished with 57.4 points, just one-10th ahead of Porgras. Australia’s Lauren Mitchell was third and Deng Linlin, a member of China’s gold medal team in Beijing, fourth. US champion Bridget Sloan was fifth (56.075) after a fall on balance beam. Scoring starts over in tomorrow’s all-around final . . . Andy Williams and Fabian Espindola scored and Real Salt Lake kept its Major League Soccer playoff hopes alive with a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls at Sandy, Utah . . . NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. headlined the five inductees into the first class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He was joined by Richard Petty, Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt, and Junior Johnson . . . American Steven Lopez won the welterweight gold medal in the WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen to become the first five-time world champion . . . Sea The Stars was retired after becoming the first horse to sweep the three top European races in the same season. Owner Christopher Tsui had said he was considering entering the 3-year-old Irish colt in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 7 . . . Full siblings Mount Wilton and East Coaster won consecutive races at Suffolk Downs.