Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners agreed to another one-year contract that will keep him in town for what could be his final season. Griffey, who turns 40 Nov. 21, was guaranteed $2 million when he signed to return for the 2009 season. It is believed he will get a slightly higher base salary, with fewer incentives based upon plate appearances and Mariners home attendance . . . The mother of former major league pitcher Victor Zambrano was rescued after a three-day kidnapping ordeal, Venezuelan authorities said. Elizabeth Mendez Zambrano, 56, was rescued late Tuesday during a “commando-style operation’’ in the central state of Aragua, Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores Trosel said.

LeBron James said he won’t talk about his possible free agency next summer until after this season. The Cavaliers star and reigning NBA MVP said all the talk is “getting old.’’ James cut off interviews after being hit with questions about free agency and potentially teaming with Miami’s Dwyane Wade . . . Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Pau Gasol, who is trying to rehabilitate a sore hamstring, might not return until Christmas, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Gasol is expected to miss his eighth straight game tonight . . . The Wizards signed guard Earl Boykins.

Rhode Island senior receiver Shawn Leonard of Stoughton and Colby sophomore quarterback Nick Kmetz earned this week’s Gold Helmet Awards from the New England Football Writers. Leonard had 10 catches for 275 yards and three touchdowns in a 55-42 loss at New Hampshire. Kmetz threw four second-half touchdown passes in a 34-31 come-from-behind win over Tufts, finishing 16 of 26 for 273 yards . . . Marcus Ginyard matched his career high with 17 points to help No. 6 North Carolina beat North Carolina Central, 89-42, in the 2K Sports Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. . . . Hawaii center Douglas Kurtz must sit out the Warriors’ first six games because he played three games in a professional league in his native Brazil in 2007 . . . The Williams men’s and women’s soccer teams finished first in the New England final regular-season rankings. The women’s team is 17-0.

Michael Phelps finished second in the 200-meter medley final at the short-course World Cup in Stockholm. Phelps clocked 1 minute 53.93 seconds, more than two seconds behind South Africa’s Darian Townsend, who won in 1:51.79. Nine world records were set, three by Jing Zhao of China. Americans Jessica Hardy and Peter Marshall broke their previous records. Hardy clocked 28.96 seconds in qualifying for the women’s 50 breaststroke, while Marshall won the 50 backstroke final. Jing improved the women’s 100-meter individual medley record set last month by Sweden’s Therese Alshammark, who beat her own mark in the 50 butterfly. China’s Liu Zige set a record in the women’s 200 butterfly.

Tiger Woods opened the Australian Masters in Melbourne with a 6-under-par 66, putting him atop the leaderboard in his first appearance down under in 11 years. Woods was tied with James Nitties of Australia and Branden Grace of South Africa . . . Anthony Kim won the Kiwi Challenge and a $1 million check despite making a bogey in a playoff, beating Sean O’Hair in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Kim shot a 5-under 66 and was leading over the back nine until O’Hair made a birdie on the 18th hole for a 3-under 69 to force a playoff in the 36-hole exhibition for players under 30 . . . Top-ranked Roger Federer lost to Julien Benneteau of France in the second round of the Paris Masters, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 . . . Mike Tyson allegedly hit a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport and was booked and released on suspicion of misdemeanor battery police said. Tyson and the unnamed photographer both want to press charges for misdemeanor battery, police said. The photographer was treated for a cut to his forehead at a hospital.