FanFare 6/2/03

Briefly

Baseball

Roger Clemens was denied his 300th career victory for the second time Sunday when the host Detroit Tigers rallied from six runs down and tied the New York Yankees in the seventh inning.

Clemens pitched six innings and was in position to become the 21st pitcher in history to win No. 300, but New York's bullpen and defense let him down.

The Yankees led 7-1 and Clemens appeared to be on his way to history. But New York made three errors as Detroit scored five times in the fifth to pull within one run.

Clemens got through the sixth, but was lifted after throwing 107 pitches. He watched helplessly from the bench in the seventh when Shane Halter's sacrifice fly off Antonio Osuna tied it at 8. The Yankees went on to win 10-9 in 17 innings.

Clemens lost his first attempt at 300 on May 26 against the Boston Red Sox.

Matt Williams, the last of the original Diamondbacks and a five-time All-Star with 378 career home runs, has played his final game for Arizona.

The Diamondbacks announced Sunday that the 37-year-old third baseman has been designated for assignment. The move follows the team's acquisition of third baseman Shea Hillenbrand from Boston for pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim.

Williams, in his 16th major league season, was told of the decision Saturday night. After Arizona's 8-7 loss in San Diego, he packed his belongings, exchanged hugs with several teammates and quietly confirmed to reporters that he had been released.

Basketball

Larry Brown will be introduced as the coach of the Detroit Pistons at a news conference today, a source within the league said.

Brown reached an agreement on a five-year deal worth about $25 million, said the source, who had knowledge of the discussions between the Pistons and Brown and spoke Sunday to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Brown replaces Rick Carlisle, who was fired Saturday. Brown did not return numerous phone messages left at his home during the weekend.

Carlisle was fired after leading Detroit to a 50-win season and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1991.

Brown resigned as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers on May 26 after six seasons.

Paul Silas will be the new coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after reaching agreement with the team on a long-term contract, The Associated Press learned Sunday.

The deal was being finalized Sunday, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Silas beat out former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, who had several discussions with Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund and general manager Jim Paxson about the possibility of becoming LeBron James' first pro coach.

The Cavaliers have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft and have said they will select James, the 18-year-old high school phenom from Akron.

Silas was let go by the New Orleans Hornets at the conclusion of the regular season following his fifth season with the team.

The Philadelphia 76ers still have not received permission from the Portland Trail Blazers to talk to Maurice Cheeks about their vacant head coaching job, team president Billy King said Sunday.

The Trail Blazers on Wednesday turned down Philadelphia's request to speak to Cheeks as a possible replacement for Larry Brown, who resigned last Monday.

Colleges

Southwest Missouri State defeated Nebraska 7-0 on the Cornhuskers' home field Sunday and advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time.

Bob Zimmermann scattered five hits, walked none and struck out seven in the first complete game of his career. Zimmermann (5-3) hadn't started a game since April 27.

SMS (38-24) advances to a super-regional matchup with Ohio State, which won the Auburn Regional. The site for the three-game series that starts Friday will be announced today.

The Huskers (47-18), who lost to SMS 4-2 on Saturday, had needed to beat the Bears twice Sunday to advance to the super regionals for a fourth year in a row. They forced a second game with a 9-5 victory earlier in the day.

Hockey

Veteran goaltender Fred Brathwaite, who played this season with St. Louis, has signed a one-year deal to be Marc Denis' backup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"I'm very excited," Brathwaite, 30, said in an interview with The Columbus Dispatch. "I've got a chance to go to a young team and hopefully make a difference. In St. Louis, I didn't play too much. Hopefully I can contribute a little more in Columbus, push Marc Denis and help them become a better team."

The contract was believed to have a base value of $500,000, with several performance bonus clauses.