Reds Trade Brantley to Cardinals

The Cincinnati Reds traded pitcher Jeff Brantley to the St. Louis Cardinals for first baseman Dmitri Young on Monday.

Brantley, 34, spent most of last season on the disabled list and did not pitch after May 19 because of injuries to his right shoulder and rotator cuff.

Brantley, who is to earn $5.6 million in salary over the next two seasons, was replaced as the Reds’ top reliever by Jeff Shaw, who led the National League with 42 saves last season. Shaw will make $650,000 next season.

The trade gives St. Louis another closer in case Dennis Eckersley, 43, does not return. Eckersley, the oldest player in the major leagues last season, has filed for free agency. He had 36 saves last season.

Young, 24, has not yet spent a full season in the major leagues. He batted .258 with five home runs and 34 runs batted in with the Cardinals.

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Kansas City Royal pitcher Kevin Appier tore ligaments in his right pitching shoulder in a fall at his home and will undergo surgery today.

Tennis

Pete Sampras, ranked No. 1 in the world, drew three tough opponents for the preliminary round of the ATP Tour World Championship at Hanover, Germany. Sampras, the defending champion, will face Patrick Rafter, Greg Rusedski and Carlos Moya in round-robin play.

Steffi Graf withdrew from next month’s inaugural Masters of Champions tournament in Frankfurt, Germany.

Graf, 28, has not played since losing to Amanda Coetzer in the quarterfinals of the French Open on June 3. A week later, she had surgery on an irritated tendon near her left kneecap.

Graf also has withdrawn from the Nov. 25 First Union/Signet Bank Tennis Challenge in Baltimore.

Second-seeded Martin Sinner of Germany won his first-round match, defeating Cecil Mamiit of Los Angeles, 6-2, 7-5, at the Luxor Las Vegas-USTA Men’s Challenger.

Lisa Raymond broke open a tight second set with two service breaks of Helena Sukova to win her first-round match in the Advanta Championships at Villanova, Pa., 6-3, 6-4.

In another first-round match, Jennifer Capriati’s comeback trail hit another pothole. Japan’s Ai Sugiyama dispatched Capriati, 6-1, 6-2, marking the fifth consecutive tournament that Capriati has lost in the first round.

Patricia Hy-Boulais, president of the WTA Tour Players Assn., said her organization wants to “put power back in the players’ hands” and provide more opportunities for women to play professionally.

Horse Racing

Singspiel, who fractured a cannon bone in his right front leg in a workout last week for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, will stand as a stallion at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, England.

Miscellany

Ousted New Mexico State basketball coach Neil McCarthy updated his breach-of-contract lawsuit to seek reinstatement and to allege his removal as coach was in retaliation for the lawsuit.

When McCarthy initially filed suit Oct. 3 over his contract dispute, he had not yet been reassigned as an assistant athletic director. He was subsequently replaced by Lou Henson.

Oscar Maldonado (18-6-2) of Ensenada, Mexico, stopped Baudilio Hernandez (21-5-1) of Reynosa, Mexico, in three rounds of a scheduled 10-round junior featherweight bout at the Forum.