TORONTO -- BASEBALL
Blue Jays' Ryan will miss 4 to 6 weeks; Glaus going on DL
TORONTO - Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan will miss four to six weeks with an elbow sprain, and All-Star third baseman Troy Glaus will be placed on the disabled list today.
Leftfielder Reed Johnson also opted for surgery to repair the herniated disc in his lower back. Johnson, who was placed on the disabled list Friday, will have the procedure done today in St. Petersburg, Fla., and will be out until July. Johnson was batting .265 this season with a home run and seven RBIs. Adam Lind will start in place of Johnson.
Ryan was placed on the DL on Sunday after he blew two of his first five save chances. The injury first bothered him during spring training and worsened.
Jason Frasor will be the closer in Ryan's absence.
Glaus has a bone spur in his left heel and a sore hamstring. There was no timeline given for his return.
Reds and Freel agree on 2-year extension
CINCINNATI - Versatile veteran Ryan Freel agreed to a $7 million, two-year contract extension through the 2009 season with the Cincinnati Reds.
Freel, 32, is the starting centerfielder this season, but also is expected to see time in the infield. He has started at all three outfield positions and second and third base for the Reds since he signed as a minor league free agent before the 2003 season.
Freel will get base salaries of $3 million next year and $4 million in 2009, when he would have been eligible for arbitration. He is in the final year of a two-year deal that pays him $2,325,000 this season.
In other baseball news:
nMinnesota Twins third baseman Nick Punto will miss only one or two more games after an MRI exam on Monday revealed no structural damage to his left ankle. Punto, who missed the previous two games, has a sprained ankle with light swelling, the Twins said.
nCuban baseball great Antonio Pacheco was released from a hospital on Monday, a day after he began having chest pains while managing Santiago de Cuba into the National Series.
FOOTBALL
Chiefs' Shields will retire after 14 seasons
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City guard Will Shields is retiring after 14 NFL seasons, during which he made a record 12 Pro Bowl appearances and anchored one of the top offensive lines in the league.
The 35-year-old announced his decision on his Web site - www.willtosucceed.org - on Sunday. He blamed the physical requirements of pro football.
Shields, who made a team-record 224 starts, made his 12th Pro Bowl appearance last season to tie the record held by Minnesota guard Randall McDaniel.
Shields had strongly contemplated quitting after the 2005 season.
Olbermann will work on NBC pregame show
NEW YORK - Keith Olbermann will return to sports for the first time in six years to join Cris Collinsworth as co-host of the pregame show for NBC's Sunday night NFL telecasts.
Olbermann, who hosts a prime-time newscast and opinion show called 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' on MSNBC, will join with host Bob Costas and analysts Jerome Bettis, Tiki Barber and Peter King on NBC's 'Football Night in America.'
In other football news:
nReceiver Cortez Hankton signed with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, leaving Jacksonville after four seasons.
nThe Seattle Seahawks are bringing back veteran guard Chris Gray, who turns 37 in June and will be starting his 15th season, giving him a two-year contract worth $2.1 in base salary plus bonuses.
BASKETBALL
Texas coach gets raise to $2 million a year
AUSTIN - University of Texas regents approved a $200,000 raise for Rick Barnes, boosting his salary to $2 million per year.
Barnes has led the Longhorns to the NCAA tournament in each of his nine seasons, including a trip to the Final Four in 2003.
Texas went 25-10 last season behind freshman Kevin Durant, who last week announced he would leave to enter the NBA draft.
In other basketball news:
nGeorge Washington junior Maureece Rice made himself available for the NBA draft, but he plans to retain his NCAA eligibility and could return to school.
CYCLING
Hamilton buoyed by first U.S. race since '01
MACON, Ga. - Tyler Hamilton wasn't sure what to expect in his first cycling race in the United States after a two-year doping ban.
After the first stage of the Tour de Georgia on Monday, the former Olympic gold medalist was encouraged.
Hamilton was 56th, finishing in the middle of a huge peloton about a minute behind the stage winner, Daniele Contrini of Italy. Contrini finished the 97-mile ride from Peachtree City to Macon in 3 hours, 24 minutes, 26 seconds.
Hamilton is attempting to reclaim his place among the elite in cycling after his suspension in September 2004 for blood doping. He has been racing in Europe since January but Monday was his first sanctioned race in his home country since the 2001 San Francisco Grand Prix.
In other cycling news:
nFrance's anti-doping laboratory began analyzing Tour de France champion Floyd Landis' 'B' urine sample Monday.
Briefly
Gaetan Duchesne, who played in the NHL for 14 seasons and helped the Minnesota North Stars reach the 1991 Stanley Cup final, died while training at a gym Monday in Quebec. He was 44. The Tennis Channel will nearly double its reach under a multiyear distribution agreement with satellite provider DirecTV announced Monday. There isn't a firm date yet for the launch, CEO Ken Solomon said, but it probably will happen in late August.
