AREA

AREA
Panezich, Kinseycompete in Canada
SHERBROOKE, Quebec -- Nick Panezich of Springfield High and Dan Kinsey of Beaver Local are competing at the 2003 World Youth Track & amp; Field Championships.
Panezich finished 12th of 27 competitors in the shot put, with a throw of 59 feet, 11 inches.
Kinsey was 19th in the octathlon by scoring 55.92.
NATION
Ramirez outfor All-Star Game
DETROIT -- Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez will not play in the All-Star game next week due to a sore left hamstring.
Ramirez, who was the designated hitter Saturday night against the Detroit Tigers, has been playing despite the injury.
"It's disappointing not to go to the All-Star game, but this is for the best," Ramirez said in a statement before Saturday's game. "My priority is to try to help the Red Sox, and I need to take care of this injury so it does not become something that will bother me for the rest of the season."
Ramirez was voted in by fans as an American League starter for the fifth year in a row. He has been named to the All-Star team seven times in all, including six starts.
His replacement will be Chicago White Sox right fielder Magglio Ordonez.
Delgado, Pujolsto challenge Giambi
CHICAGO -- Jason Giambi will try to defend his title in the All-Star home run derby against Carlos Delgado and Albert Pujols in a competition that for now is missing some of baseball's top sluggers.
Barry Bonds, leading the majors with 29 home runs, has said he will not take part.
Chicago's two hometown homer favorites -- Sammy Sosa and Frank Thomas -- did not even make the rosters for the game Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field.
Six stars are locked in for the 10-player event Monday night. Delgado, leading the AL with 28 home runs, will be joined by Giambi, Bret Boone and Garret Anderson from the AL. Giambi hit his 25th homer Saturday for the New York Yankees.
Pujols and St. Louis teammate Jim Edmonds are the only NL players who have committed to taking part.
Aeros lose
ALTOONA, Pa. -- Ray Navarrete went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Tom Fordham pitched five shutout innings as the Altoona Curve beat the Akron Aeros 5-1 Saturday night.
Navarrete gave Altoona (54-37) a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a double that scored Shawn Garrett and Josh Bonifay.
Akron (60-36) cut the lead in half in the sixth when Eric Crozier walked and scored on Joe Inglett's two-out single.
The Curve answered with a run in their half of the sixth, thanks to a two-out error by left fielder Luke Scott.
Chris Duffy lifted a short fly ball down the line in left, and Brett Roneberg scored when Scott had the ball bounce off his glove as he raced in.
Altoona added insurance runs on Garrett's RBI double in the seventh and Navarrete's run-scoring single in the eighth.
Fordham (3-0) struck out six, walked three and allowed five hits over five innings.
Akron starter Oscar Alvarez (0-1) gave up three runs -- two earned -- over 5 2-3 innings to take the loss.
Kevin Nicholson went 3-for-5 for Altoona, which is a franchise-best 17 games over .500.
Bouchard,Sabres agree
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent defenseman Joel Bouchard.
Bouchard, who agreed to terms Friday, is expected to sign a one-year contract next week.
Bouchard has played for seven teams in the last five years. Last season, he split time with the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh, and was part of the trade that sent Penguins forward Alexei Kovalev to the Rangers.
Picked in the sixth round of the 1992 draft by the Calgary Flames, Bouchard has 20 goals, 58 points and 231 penalty minutes in 311 NHL games.
Bouchard's best season came in 1998.
Scioscia getspact extension
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Angels gave Mike Scioscia a two-year contract extension Saturday, just three days after the World Series champions rewarded general manager Bill Stoneman with a four-year extension.
Scioscia's deal, which locks up last year's AL manager of the year through 2007, comes with a one-year club option.
In his fourth season with the Angels, Scioscia already has managed the club for more consecutive seasons than anyone since Bill Rigney -- who held the reins through their first eight seasons and was replaced by Lefty Phillips 39 games into the 1969 campaign.
The Angels were 304-273 under Scioscia -- including a franchise-best 99 wins last season, when they won their first AL pennant and World Series title. The only season of managerial experience the former two-time All-Star catcher brought to Anaheim was one season with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Albuquerque farm club in 1999.
CANADA
Expos decisionpostponed
NEW YORK -- A decision on the future home of the Montreal Expos might not be made until September, a high-ranking baseball official said Saturday.
The commissioner's office originally had targeted the All-Star break for a decision. Northern Virginia, Portland, Ore., and Washington all want the Expos to relocate to their areas for the 2004 season.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the commissioner's office now hoped to have a decision by Labor Day, and that the end of the regular season was the current "drop-dead date."
WORLD
Rangers forwardburied in Russia
MOSCOW -- New York Rangers forward Roman Lyashenko was buried in his Russian homeland Saturday, less than a week after he was found dead in a Turkish hotel room.
Players and trainers from the Lokomotiv hockey team attended the funeral service at a cemetery in Yaroslavl, about 150 miles northeast of Moscow, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Last season, he played two games with New York, spending the year with Hartford for the American Hockey League, where he had 23 goals and 35 assists.
Staff/wire reports