NEW YORK (AP)
-- Duke star J.J. Redick won the Sullivan Award on Wednesday night, becoming the first men's basketball player since Bill Walton in 1973 to be honored as the nation's top amateur athlete. Redick beat out Texas quarterback Vince Young, who led the Longhorns to a national title with a win in the Rose Bowl over Southern California and its two Sullivan Award finalists -- Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. The Duke senior also took the 2005 Sullivan Award over two-time AP women's basketball player of the year Seimone Augustus of LSU, Florida hurdler Kerron Clement, two-time Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo Steven Lopez, Olympic diving champion Laura Wilkinson, 2005 World Cup champion skier Bode Miller, and gymnast Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world gymnastics champion. The Sullivan is presented by the Amateur Athletic Union and a third of the vote is determined by fans voting online. The Sullivan Award went to a men's basketball player for just the third time in its 76-year history. Before Redick and Walton, UCLA's All-America center, Princeton's Bill Bradley won the 1965 award. Last week, the Duke guard took home the John R. Wooden award as the nation's top college basketball player. But for the Sullivan, he was up against tougher competition. Of the other nine finalists, only Augustus, Leinart and Bush had not won the championship in his or her sport in 2005. Leinart and Bush have won the last two Heisman trophies. Redick was also the ACC player of the year. The most recent college basketball players to win the Sullivan were women. Chamique Holdsclaw won in 1998, followed by Kelly and Coco Miller in 1999. Redick plans to hire an agent in the next couple of weeks, then begin training to prepare for the NBA draft in June.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)
-- The New England Patriots reached an agreement with All-Pro defensive lineman Richard Seymour on a contract extension.
The team did not release Wednesday the financial terms or length of the deal.
A call from The Associated Press to Seymour's agent was not immediately returned.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Seymour is entering the final year of the six-year contract he signed as a rookie after the team selected him in the first round, sixth overall, out of Georgia.
Seymour, the cornerstone of the team's young defensive line, held out of camp last season until he was given a raise. He is scheduled to make just over $2 million in base salary next season.
Seymour has 316 tackles, 25 � sacks, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in 71 career regular-season games, as well as 41 tackles, 3 � sacks and one fumble recovery in nine career playoff games.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pedro Martinez vs. Jose Guillen. Bases loaded. One-run game. One who had declared "enough is enough" after the other had hit him twice in one game last week. Both teams playing under a season-long warning to cut out the beanballs.
This was great baseball theater.
Martinez threw a ball. Catcher Paul Lo Duca called time, went to the mound and gave Martinez a hard "Let's go" pat on the behind as they parted. Three pitches later, Guillen hit a 91-mile-per-hour pitch to the shortstop. Double play. Martinez had worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to end the Washington Nationals' last real threat, and the New York Mets went to a 3-1 victory for their fifth straight win.
"Usually in a game like this you're hopeful for one good shot at a pitcher like Pedro," Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. "And we got that in the sixth inning. We couldn't ask for any better chance than we had there, with the people we had coming to the plate. We got nothing out of it."
Martinez (2-0) struck out Jose Vidro, who had earlier homered, with a high fastball before facing Guillen. The sixth inning was the only real trouble for the Mets ace on a night in which he allowed three hits and walked one over seven innings. He struck out only three and allowed the Nationals to hit 11 fly ball outs to the spacious confines of RFK Stadium.
Most importantly, he avoided anything close to a repeat of the troubles that marred last week's series between the teams in New York, when seven batters were hit -- six by Mets pitchers -- and a near-fight ensued after Guillen was plunked for the fifth time by Martinez in his career. Guillen said later: "We used to be friends, but that relationship is over."
Washington right-hander Felix Rodriguez and manager Frank Robinson were suspended by Major League Baseball, although Rodriguez's suspension is under appeal. Guillen was fined. Before Wednesday's game, both Robinson and Mets manager Willie Randolph confirmed that they had been warned by umpires that brushbacks and hit batters would be scrutinized whenever these two teams play for the rest of the season.
It was only fitting, therefore, that Martinez would face Guillen in the game's most crucial at-bat.
"It could happen in any game, but you know what? I don't hold any grudges," Martinez said. "He's probably bitter still, but I'm just going to continue to pray for him, and hopefully it will get better, his temper will change. I still have respect for his bat, he's a good hitter and I'm just going to continue to do what I have to do. And I was glad that, when I'm OK, I don't need to hit anybody."
Guillen had much less to say when asked if he was glad nothing unseemly happened: "They win. It's over."
Then he paused, realizing the teams will face each other 13 more times this season. "It's not over, but they win," he said.
Guillen did give credit to Martinez for a well-pitched game, and he and Vidro took the blame for not converting when given the chance in the sixth. Vidro, perhaps showing frustration over the offensive woes in the Nationals' four-game losing streak, also launched into a lengthy diatribe over his frustrations with RFK, where long fly balls go to die in outfielders' gloves.
"This ballpark is not a good ballpark," said Vidro, who hit his third homer of the season. "It killed us last year, and it's going to kill us again this year. The organization looked deep into it last year, saw what happened and didn't change anything, so I guess they didn't care about it."
Carlos Beltran went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI sacrifice fly for the Mets, whose 6-1 start is their best since they went 8-1 to begin the 1985 season. Carlos Delgado doubled home a run against Tony Armas Jr. (0-2), and David Wright went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple and a run scored to raise his average to .444.
Billy Wagner got his second save.
The fans booed Martinez whenever they could, but he quieted them quickly by retiring the first 10 batters.
The sixth was the real adventure. Brian Schneider singled, Marlon Anderson walked, and Brandon Watson loaded the bases with a bunt single. Then Martinez shut down Vidro and Guillen.
"Pedro, he's just sly like a fox, man," Randolph said. "He plays off what you do, he sets up every at-bat, and you look at the way the game went for him, I think he changes his approach with Vidro and made him chase out of the zone. That set up the double play."
Notes: The Nationals have homered in eight straight games, their longest streak since the Expos went long in nine straight from Sept. 11-14, 2004. ... Wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, one of the Washington Redskins' marquee free agent signings this offseason, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Unlike Vice President Dick Cheney the night before, Randle El got his pitch to catcher Brian Schneider without a hop. ... A day after failing to s

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- LeBron James hopped on his right foot, sparing his sprained left ankle, and the Cleveland Cavaliers gasped a week before their first playoff appearance since 1998.
The Detroit Pistons were routing the Cavs when their star was hurt and they went on finish them off with a 96-73 victory Wednesday night, moving within a game of earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
"It was just another game for us to work toward our goal," point guard Chauncey Billups said.
James landed awkwardly while being guarded by Tayshaun Prince on a three-point play late in the third quarter, and the MVP candidate knew he was injured right away.
"I just wanted to lie down and see how bad it was," he said.
James was checked out on the court by Cavs athletic trainer Max Benton during a timeout, then made a free throw to complete his three-point play. He was taken out a second later, left the court moments afterward and had X-rays taken.
"It's sprained pretty good, but nothing serious," said James, who had 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting. "You never really know until the next day, but I've had them before, and this is nothing that bad."
The Cavs said his status is day to day.
Cleveland hosts the New York Knicks on Thursday, and the Cavs might decide to play it safe by resting James because they can't improve or hurt their position as the fourth-seeded team in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"If I don't feel 100 percent tomorrow, I won't go," James said.
The Pistons will secure home court with one more victory, or a San Antonio loss. Detroit has the tiebreaker because it beat the Spurs in both meetings.
Detroit (63-15) tied the franchise record for victories and if it wins one of the last four games, it will break the record set during the 1988-89 season, when the Bad Boys went on to win the first of two straight titles.
"As I said in the locker room, people die to get to 50 (wins)," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "To get to 60 is really something. Every win beyond that shows that you've been able to play at a pretty high level for a long time."
Detroit is 36-3 at home, one victory away from the team record with games remaining at The Palace against the Knicks and Washington.
The Pistons took control against Cleveland with a 14-0 run midway through the second quarter.
Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Prince and Richard Hamilton each scored 14 for the Pistons, who have won eight of nine. Three reserves -- Maurice Evans (13), Tony Delk (12) and Antonio McDyess (10) -- added to Detroit's balanced attack, which Billups directed with eight assists.
Meanwhile, only Zydrunas Ilgauskas helped James carry the scoring load. Ilgauskas, back from an ankle injury, scored 10 points and the Cavs didn't have another scorer with more than eight.
Early in the fourth quarter, Cavs forward Alan Henderson dislocated a finger on his right hand on a missed dunk and did not return.
Cleveland had won 11 of 12, a streak that secured home-court advantage in the first round and a second-round matchup with the Pistons if both teams advance.
"They showed us what playoff basketball is all about," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "It will be good for us to have gone through this if we learn from it."
Before the game, Ilgauskas said it was important to get back on the court because he doesn't want to be rusty when the playoffs start next week. The lumbering center looked sharp early, then was lackluster.
Ilgauskas had eight points and three rebounds when he came out of the game with 3:10 left in the first quarter -- twice as many points as James had at the time.
James later scored five points to put the Cavs ahead -- for the first time -- 19-16, then the Pistons responded by scoring the last 11 points of the quarter and went ahead 27-19.
The Pistons then had their decisive run, which helped them lead 56-29 at halftime.
Other than James and Ilgauskas, the Cavs combined to score four points on 2-of-20 shooting in the first half while the Pistons had eight players with at least four points.
"Flip outcoached me and their players outplayed us on both ends of the floor," Brown said. "Even their cheerleaders did a nice job."
Notes: Cavs center Anderson Varejao was ejected in the second quarter after taking down Rasheed Wallace. Varejao hit Wallace's shoulder on a driving layup, then appeared to push him down. "It was just another soft foul," Wallace said. "I don't know what he was trying to do, but it didn't work." ... Brown said Larry Hughes is "still finding his way," and could not say when, or if, he would return to the starting lineup ahead of shooting guard Ronald Murray. Hughes returned earlier this month missing three months with a broken right middle finger. ... Detroit won the season series 3-1.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Police backed off calling the death of an Alabama football booster a homicide Wednesday, a day after investigators said he died in a fierce, bloody struggle. A police statement referred to a continuing "death investigation" and said a ruling from the medical examiner into the cause and manner of death was pending. The statement did not explain the change or whether investigators were considering possibilities other than murder. A police spokesman did not return a call Wednesday night. Logan Young, who was convicted last year of bribing a high school football coach, was found dead at his Memphis home Tuesday. No arrests had been made and no suspects had been identified. "We're still waiting on the medical examiner's report," police Sgt. Vince Higgins said. "And quite frankly, right now, even if she ruled it a murder, we wouldn't have probable cause enough to charge anyone." Crime scene crews spent most of two days in Young's house, where police said blood or traces of blood were found in several rooms. Young, a 65-year-old multimillionaire and longtime booster of Crimson Tide football, was convicted on federal charges last year of paying a high school coach up to $150,000 to send a top recruit to Alabama. The conviction for money laundering and racketeering conspiracy capped a scandal that put Alabama on NCAA probation and cost Young his favored standing among the university's big-money boosters. Young had a kidney transplant several months after the trial. Young, who was divorced, lived alone much of the time. His son, Logan Young III, an only child, apparently had been staying with him off and on recently, police said. Logan Young III was not at the residence when his father's body was found by a housekeeper. He was located several hours later and taken to police headquarters for questioning. There, he voluntarily gave DNA samples to investigators, including fingernail scrapings, said defense lawyer Steve Farese. Farese said his client denied any part in the death. "He was not involved in any way and found out about it watching television," Farese said. On his federal conviction in June, Young was sentenced to six months in prison plus six months home confinement. He was appealing the conviction and had not yet begun serving the sentence. Former high school coach Lynn Lang, who avoided jail time by pleading guilty to conspiracy, said Young paid him thousands of dollars in cash to get defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with Alabama in 2000. Means was not accused of wrongdoing. He stayed at Alabama one season before transferring to Memphis. Means' recruitment became part of an NCAA investigation that resulted in sanctions against Alabama, and the university announced that Young was no longer welcome as a booster.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Aaron Rowand homered for the first time since coming over to the Philadelphia Phillies. He was more excited about a defensive play.
Rowand hit a two-run homer, Pat Burrell also homered and the Phillies won for only the second time this season, beating the Atlanta Braves 7-5 Wednesday night.
Rowand was in on a number of key plays.
His blistering grounder in the second was booted by Atlanta shortstop Edgar Renteria, letting in two unearned runs. In the bottom half of the inning, Rowand fielded a ball off the wall and hit the cutoff man, who threw out Brian McCann at the plate for the third out.
Then, in the seventh, Rowand gave the Phillies a 6-3 lead with his first NL homer, a towering shot down the left-field line.
"It was great to get it out of the way," said Rowand, acquired from the Chicago White Sox during the offseason in the Jim Thome trade.
The center fielder was more fired up about the play on McCann. He played Wilson Betemit's double off the wall and threw to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who easily gunned down the slow-running McCann trying to score all the way from first.
"It was huge," Rowand said. "Defensive plays are momentum-swingers. It was a big play at the time, and it turned out to be a bigger play."
Added winning pitcher Cory Lidle: "I'm just glad that McCann was the baserunner."
The Phillies, who lost six of their first seven games, jumped ahead 4-0 in the second inning and held on at end.
Betemit, filling in for injured third baseman Chipper Jones, had three doubles, including a two-out liner down the left-field line that brought home two runs and the tying run to the plate in the eighth. But Arthur Rhodes struck out pinch-hitter Matt Diaz to end the threat.
Tom Gordon, signed to replace Billy Wagner, pitched a perfect ninth for his first save with the Phillies. Lidle (1-0) scattered 10 hits in six innings and scored a run after drawing a walk.
The Phillies went ahead in the second on Mike Lieberthal's two-run double off Jorge Sosa (0-2). Two more runs scored in the inning when Renteria failed to come up with Rowand's grounder, which should have been the third out but instead deflected into center field.
McCann led the Braves back. The 22-year-old catcher had an RBI single in the second -- before getting thrown out at the plate -- and a solo homer with two outs in the fourth.
Atlanta wasn't done after McCann's third homer of the season. Betemit doubled down the right-field line and came home on Pete Orr's pinch-hit triple to the gap in left-center field. But Lidle didn't give up the lead, fanning Marcus Giles to end the inning.
Philadelphia extended its lead in the seventh against Chuck James, who to that point had pitched eight scoreless innings on the season -- giving up only one hit. The rookie left a changeup over the plate to Rowand.
"He hit it. Hard," James said. "It's going to happen every now and then."
Two batters later, Burrell drove a fastball into the seats in left-center for his third homer of the year.
"I missed a spot, and he hit that one out, too," James said.
Sosa went four innings, an improvement on the 2 1-3 innings he lasted in his first start. He's only one loss shy of his total for all of 2005, when he went a surprising 13-3.
"He threw the ball OK," McCann said. "In the second inning, he wasn't hitting his locations like he wanted to. But he should be fine."
Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins had two more hits and scored a run. He's hit safely in five straight games since his 38-game streak ended last week, going 10-of-21 during that span.
The Braves outhit the Phillies 14-8.
Notes: Jeff Francoeur went hitless in his first three at-bats, including two strikeouts, to drop his average to .056 (2-for-36). He raised it to .081 with a single to right in the eighth, scoring on Betemit's double with a headfirst slide across the plate. Francoeur had a big smile as he pulled himself up. "I haven't done much running in these nine games," he said. "It felt good -- anything to get me going." ... Lidle was the first Philadelphia starter to earn a win in 2006. ... Australian reliever Peter Moylan made his major league debut for the Braves with a scoreless eighth. He gave up a double to David Bell but struck out David Dellucci to end the inning. ... Gordon picked up his first NL save since 2001, when he had 27 for the Chicago Cubs.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)
-- North Carolina State has plenty of money to spend on its next basketball coach. Finding someone to take it apparently is a problem. John Calipari became the latest to turn down an opportunity to replace Herb Sendek, deciding instead to stay at Memphis. Calipari agreed to a contract extension Wednesday that comes with a nice pay raise, at least giving the impression he might have used his flirtation with the Wolfpack to his advantage. "Is it possible?" said Rick Spell, a prominent Memphis booster and a friend of Calipari's. "Yeah, but let me tell you something. North Carolina State presented themselves well." According to various reports, Wolfpack athletic director Lee Fowler offered Calipari about $2 million a year, a similar deal to the one Texas coach Rick Barnes declined over the weekend. Barnes also got more money from the Longhorns, although a new contract hasn't been announced yet. "It's a different business these days," Spell said. Fowler, through a school spokesman, declined an interview request. Sendek was 191-132 in 10 seasons with the Wolfpack, and he led them to appearances in the NCAA tournament during each of his final five seasons. That tied the late Jim Valvano for the best run in school history. Sendek was introduced as the new coach at Arizona State on April 3. Once Barnes was off the list, Fowler reportedly turned his focus to Calipari, who led the Tigers to a 33-4 record last season, his sixth at the school. They lost to UCLA 50-45 to fall one victory shy of their first trip to the Final Four since 1985. "Cal has done a magnificent job, and he was the perfect hire for us," Spell said. "I believe he was the perfect hire for N.C. State, too. Cal would have rejuvenated that program. It was a very appealing option. In fact, he was somewhat blown away by it." Where do Fowler and N.C. State turn now? With some key recruiting weekends coming up -- including national AAU tournaments around the country -- they need to find someone quickly. "If it continues to drag on, it will affect their spring recruiting," said Dave Telep, the national basketball recruiting director for Scout.com. "You don't want to go deep in April without hiring a coach. These weekends are essential to recruiting." Despite losing out on its first two choices, N.C. State does have an appealing job. The RBC Center, its home arena, is less than 10 years old and seats about 19,000 people. Also, the Wolfpack have won two NCAA titles under two different coaches, a total surpassed by only five schools. Unfortunately for N.C. State fans and alumni, two of those are North Carolina (four) and Duke (three). "In spite of things we are all hearing right now, professionals in this business believe the N.C. State job is a good one and that they will get a good coach," East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. He coached at Virginia for 17 years and retired as the winningest coach in school history with a 326-173 record. "The fact that they have been turned down actually shows that they are setting their sights high and it is hard to understand how that can be considered by some as such a negative," Holland wrote.

CONCORD, N.C. (AP)
-- Greg Biffle's girlfriend faces a reprimand from NASCAR about her pit-road confrontation with Kurt Busch's fiance after the two drivers wrecked at Texas Motor Speedway.
Busch hit the back of Biffle's car early in Sunday's race, causing an accident that ended Biffle's day. Biffle, the defending race winner, had led 49 of the first 82 laps before the crash and wound up 42nd.
Moments after the wreck, TV cameras caught girlfriend Nicole Lunders slamming a water bottle on Biffle's pit box. She then marched down pit road and climbed halfway up Busch's box and had a heated exchange with Eva Bryan. The brief confrontation created a buzz in NASCAR, and the sanctioning body wants to cool down the emotions.
"There will be some conversations that will be had with the people that participated, and we'll make sure that this doesn't carry on and into the garage or anywhere else," Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition, said Wednesday. "You've got to remember, most everybody in the garage area is friends, and those two girls in particular have a close relationship. Tempers flare, and we'll look at that and we'll make sure it doesn't carry on any further than that."
Biffle and Busch spent three seasons as Cup teammates at Roush Racing and had a friendly relationship that often put their girlfriends in the same social settings. Both drivers were testing at Richmond International Raceway on Wednesday and not immediately available for comment.
NASCAR does not have a steadfast rule against team members entering other pit boxes, but generally frowns upon it if the reason for approaching the area stems from something that happened in race.
"When altercations and things like that happen, we recommend that you stay in your own area," Pemberton said. "You can go have a conversation, but it can't be heated per se."
Family members are typically given entrance to the track on a "license" that recognizes them as a team member, meaning their actions can be policed by NASCAR and the sanctioning body reserves the right to revoke their pass at any time.
Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler said wives and girlfriends had a stormy history during NASCAR's early days and many have been thrown out of tracks because of their behavior.
"That kind of stuff was common back in the old days, everybody was fighting back then, especially the women," Wheeler said. "But there wasn't the TV coverage we have today, so it wasn't that big of a deal."

NEW YORK (AP)
-- Duke star J.J. Redick won the Sullivan Award on Wednesday night, becoming the first men's basketball player since Bill Walton in 1973 to be honored as the nation's top amateur athlete. Redick beat out Texas quarterback Vince Young, who led the Longhorns to a national title with a win in the Rose Bowl over Southern California and its two Sullivan Award finalists -- Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. The Duke senior also took the 2005 Sullivan Award over two-time AP women's basketball player of the year Seimone Augustus of LSU, Florida hurdler Kerron Clement, two-time Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo Steven Lopez, Olympic diving champion Laura Wilkinson, 2005 World Cup champion skier Bode Miller, and gymnast Chellsie Memmel, the 2005 world gymnastics champion. The Sullivan is presented by the Amateur Athletic Union and a third of the vote is determined by fans voting online. The Sullivan Award went to a men's basketball player for just the third time in its 76-year history. Before Redick and Walton, UCLA's All-America center, Princeton's Bill Bradley won the 1965 award. Last week, the Duke guard took home the John R. Wooden award as the nation's top college basketball player. But for the Sullivan, he was up against tougher competition. Of the other nine finalists, only Augustus, Leinart and Bush had not won the championship in his or her sport in 2005. Leinart and Bush have won the last two Heisman trophies. Redick was also the ACC player of the year. The most recent college basketball players to win the Sullivan were women. Chamique Holdsclaw won in 1998, followed by Kelly and Coco Miller in 1999. Redick plans to hire an agent in the next couple of weeks, then begin training to prepare for the NBA draft in June.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)
-- The New England Patriots reached an agreement with All-Pro defensive lineman Richard Seymour on a contract extension.
The team did not release Wednesday the financial terms or length of the deal.
A call from The Associated Press to Seymour's agent was not immediately returned.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Seymour is entering the final year of the six-year contract he signed as a rookie after the team selected him in the first round, sixth overall, out of Georgia.
Seymour, the cornerstone of the team's young defensive line, held out of camp last season until he was given a raise. He is scheduled to make just over $2 million in base salary next season.
Seymour has 316 tackles, 25 � sacks, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in 71 career regular-season games, as well as 41 tackles, 3 � sacks and one fumble recovery in nine career playoff games.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pedro Martinez vs. Jose Guillen. Bases loaded. One-run game. One who had declared "enough is enough" after the other had hit him twice in one game last week. Both teams playing under a season-long warning to cut out the beanballs.
This was great baseball theater.
Martinez threw a ball. Catcher Paul Lo Duca called time, went to the mound and gave Martinez a hard "Let's go" pat on the behind as they parted. Three pitches later, Guillen hit a 91-mile-per-hour pitch to the shortstop. Double play. Martinez had worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to end the Washington Nationals' last real threat, and the New York Mets went to a 3-1 victory for their fifth straight win.
"Usually in a game like this you're hopeful for one good shot at a pitcher like Pedro," Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. "And we got that in the sixth inning. We couldn't ask for any better chance than we had there, with the people we had coming to the plate. We got nothing out of it."
Martinez (2-0) struck out Jose Vidro, who had earlier homered, with a high fastball before facing Guillen. The sixth inning was the only real trouble for the Mets ace on a night in which he allowed three hits and walked one over seven innings. He struck out only three and allowed the Nationals to hit 11 fly ball outs to the spacious confines of RFK Stadium.
Most importantly, he avoided anything close to a repeat of the troubles that marred last week's series between the teams in New York, when seven batters were hit -- six by Mets pitchers -- and a near-fight ensued after Guillen was plunked for the fifth time by Martinez in his career. Guillen said later: "We used to be friends, but that relationship is over."
Washington right-hander Felix Rodriguez and manager Frank Robinson were suspended by Major League Baseball, although Rodriguez's suspension is under appeal. Guillen was fined. Before Wednesday's game, both Robinson and Mets manager Willie Randolph confirmed that they had been warned by umpires that brushbacks and hit batters would be scrutinized whenever these two teams play for the rest of the season.
It was only fitting, therefore, that Martinez would face Guillen in the game's most crucial at-bat.
"It could happen in any game, but you know what? I don't hold any grudges," Martinez said. "He's probably bitter still, but I'm just going to continue to pray for him, and hopefully it will get better, his temper will change. I still have respect for his bat, he's a good hitter and I'm just going to continue to do what I have to do. And I was glad that, when I'm OK, I don't need to hit anybody."
Guillen had much less to say when asked if he was glad nothing unseemly happened: "They win. It's over."
Then he paused, realizing the teams will face each other 13 more times this season. "It's not over, but they win," he said.
Guillen did give credit to Martinez for a well-pitched game, and he and Vidro took the blame for not converting when given the chance in the sixth. Vidro, perhaps showing frustration over the offensive woes in the Nationals' four-game losing streak, also launched into a lengthy diatribe over his frustrations with RFK, where long fly balls go to die in outfielders' gloves.
"This ballpark is not a good ballpark," said Vidro, who hit his third homer of the season. "It killed us last year, and it's going to kill us again this year. The organization looked deep into it last year, saw what happened and didn't change anything, so I guess they didn't care about it."
Carlos Beltran went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a RBI sacrifice fly for the Mets, whose 6-1 start is their best since they went 8-1 to begin the 1985 season. Carlos Delgado doubled home a run against Tony Armas Jr. (0-2), and David Wright went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple and a run scored to raise his average to .444.
Billy Wagner got his second save.
The fans booed Martinez whenever they could, but he quieted them quickly by retiring the first 10 batters.
The sixth was the real adventure. Brian Schneider singled, Marlon Anderson walked, and Brandon Watson loaded the bases with a bunt single. Then Martinez shut down Vidro and Guillen.
"Pedro, he's just sly like a fox, man," Randolph said. "He plays off what you do, he sets up every at-bat, and you look at the way the game went for him, I think he changes his approach with Vidro and made him chase out of the zone. That set up the double play."
Notes: The Nationals have homered in eight straight games, their longest streak since the Expos went long in nine straight from Sept. 11-14, 2004. ... Wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, one of the Washington Redskins' marquee free agent signings this offseason, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Unlike Vice President Dick Cheney the night before, Randle El got his pitch to catcher Brian Schneider without a hop. ... A day after failing to s

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- LeBron James hopped on his right foot, sparing his sprained left ankle, and the Cleveland Cavaliers gasped a week before their first playoff appearance since 1998.
The Detroit Pistons were routing the Cavs when their star was hurt and they went on finish them off with a 96-73 victory Wednesday night, moving within a game of earning home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
"It was just another game for us to work toward our goal," point guard Chauncey Billups said.
James landed awkwardly while being guarded by Tayshaun Prince on a three-point play late in the third quarter, and the MVP candidate knew he was injured right away.
"I just wanted to lie down and see how bad it was," he said.
James was checked out on the court by Cavs athletic trainer Max Benton during a timeout, then made a free throw to complete his three-point play. He was taken out a second later, left the court moments afterward and had X-rays taken.
"It's sprained pretty good, but nothing serious," said James, who had 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting. "You never really know until the next day, but I've had them before, and this is nothing that bad."
The Cavs said his status is day to day.
Cleveland hosts the New York Knicks on Thursday, and the Cavs might decide to play it safe by resting James because they can't improve or hurt their position as the fourth-seeded team in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"If I don't feel 100 percent tomorrow, I won't go," James said.
The Pistons will secure home court with one more victory, or a San Antonio loss. Detroit has the tiebreaker because it beat the Spurs in both meetings.
Detroit (63-15) tied the franchise record for victories and if it wins one of the last four games, it will break the record set during the 1988-89 season, when the Bad Boys went on to win the first of two straight titles.
"As I said in the locker room, people die to get to 50 (wins)," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "To get to 60 is really something. Every win beyond that shows that you've been able to play at a pretty high level for a long time."
Detroit is 36-3 at home, one victory away from the team record with games remaining at The Palace against the Knicks and Washington.
The Pistons took control against Cleveland with a 14-0 run midway through the second quarter.
Rasheed Wallace had 16 points and nine rebounds, while Prince and Richard Hamilton each scored 14 for the Pistons, who have won eight of nine. Three reserves -- Maurice Evans (13), Tony Delk (12) and Antonio McDyess (10) -- added to Detroit's balanced attack, which Billups directed with eight assists.
Meanwhile, only Zydrunas Ilgauskas helped James carry the scoring load. Ilgauskas, back from an ankle injury, scored 10 points and the Cavs didn't have another scorer with more than eight.
Early in the fourth quarter, Cavs forward Alan Henderson dislocated a finger on his right hand on a missed dunk and did not return.
Cleveland had won 11 of 12, a streak that secured home-court advantage in the first round and a second-round matchup with the Pistons if both teams advance.
"They showed us what playoff basketball is all about," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "It will be good for us to have gone through this if we learn from it."
Before the game, Ilgauskas said it was important to get back on the court because he doesn't want to be rusty when the playoffs start next week. The lumbering center looked sharp early, then was lackluster.
Ilgauskas had eight points and three rebounds when he came out of the game with 3:10 left in the first quarter -- twice as many points as James had at the time.
James later scored five points to put the Cavs ahead -- for the first time -- 19-16, then the Pistons responded by scoring the last 11 points of the quarter and went ahead 27-19.
The Pistons then had their decisive run, which helped them lead 56-29 at halftime.
Other than James and Ilgauskas, the Cavs combined to score four points on 2-of-20 shooting in the first half while the Pistons had eight players with at least four points.
"Flip outcoached me and their players outplayed us on both ends of the floor," Brown said. "Even their cheerleaders did a nice job."
Notes: Cavs center Anderson Varejao was ejected in the second quarter after taking down Rasheed Wallace. Varejao hit Wallace's shoulder on a driving layup, then appeared to push him down. "It was just another soft foul," Wallace said. "I don't know what he was trying to do, but it didn't work." ... Brown said Larry Hughes is "still finding his way," and could not say when, or if, he would return to the starting lineup ahead of shooting guard Ronald Murray. Hughes returned earlier this month missing three months with a broken right middle finger. ... Detroit won the season series 3-1.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Police backed off calling the death of an Alabama football booster a homicide Wednesday, a day after investigators said he died in a fierce, bloody struggle. A police statement referred to a continuing "death investigation" and said a ruling from the medical examiner into the cause and manner of death was pending. The statement did not explain the change or whether investigators were considering possibilities other than murder. A police spokesman did not return a call Wednesday night. Logan Young, who was convicted last year of bribing a high school football coach, was found dead at his Memphis home Tuesday. No arrests had been made and no suspects had been identified. "We're still waiting on the medical examiner's report," police Sgt. Vince Higgins said. "And quite frankly, right now, even if she ruled it a murder, we wouldn't have probable cause enough to charge anyone." Crime scene crews spent most of two days in Young's house, where police said blood or traces of blood were found in several rooms. Young, a 65-year-old multimillionaire and longtime booster of Crimson Tide football, was convicted on federal charges last year of paying a high school coach up to $150,000 to send a top recruit to Alabama. The conviction for money laundering and racketeering conspiracy capped a scandal that put Alabama on NCAA probation and cost Young his favored standing among the university's big-money boosters. Young had a kidney transplant several months after the trial. Young, who was divorced, lived alone much of the time. His son, Logan Young III, an only child, apparently had been staying with him off and on recently, police said. Logan Young III was not at the residence when his father's body was found by a housekeeper. He was located several hours later and taken to police headquarters for questioning. There, he voluntarily gave DNA samples to investigators, including fingernail scrapings, said defense lawyer Steve Farese. Farese said his client denied any part in the death. "He was not involved in any way and found out about it watching television," Farese said. On his federal conviction in June, Young was sentenced to six months in prison plus six months home confinement. He was appealing the conviction and had not yet begun serving the sentence. Former high school coach Lynn Lang, who avoided jail time by pleading guilty to conspiracy, said Young paid him thousands of dollars in cash to get defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with Alabama in 2000. Means was not accused of wrongdoing. He stayed at Alabama one season before transferring to Memphis. Means' recruitment became part of an NCAA investigation that resulted in sanctions against Alabama, and the university announced that Young was no longer welcome as a booster.