Sports briefs 5/21/04

Baseball

The Chicago Cubs aren't taking any chances with Kerry Wood. Wood (3-3) went on the disabled list Thursday after the Cubs decided they didn't want the right-hander returning to the rotation until his sore triceps is completely healed.

Cubs ace Mark Prior threw three hitless innings in his first minor league rehabilitation start of the season. Prior, on the disabled list all year with an inflamed Achilles' tendon and a sore elbow, pitched for Class-A Lansing of the Midwest League. He struck out five and walked one.

Zack Greinke, the 20-year-old top pitching prospect who began the season with Kansas City's Omaha farm club, is being called up and will start for the Royals Saturday when they play the A's in Oakland. He's started six games for the Class AAA farm club and is 1-1 with 2.51 ERA over 28 2/3 innings. Greinke was Kansas City's first round draft choice in 2002, the sixth player chosen that year.

Basketball

Detroit ended New Jersey's reign in the Eastern Conference. Chauncey Billups scored 22 points, Richard Hamilton had 21 and Ben Wallace added 18 to lead the Pistons past the Nets 90-69 in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal. Detroit took the lead for good in the middle of the first quarter and turned the game into a blowout early in the third by using its dominant defense to hold the Nets to just two points in the first six-plus minutes while opening a 24-point lead.

Chris Mullin made a bold first move in his new position with the Golden State Warriors. Coach Eric Musselman was fired after just two seasons with the Warriors. He will be replaced by Stanford's Mike Montgomery, a Pac-10 source told The Associated Press. Mullin also appointed Rod Higgins as the new general manager to replace Garry St. Jean, who was stripped of his duties and moved into a new role with the team.

The United States Basketball League quietly has reinstated St. Louis coach Floyd Irons, lifting a suspension that followed his pulling the SkyHawks off the floor in a game in Iowa. Irons sat out two games after being suspended May 10. The league formally lifted the suspension Monday.

Golf

Craig Perks had a bogey-free 6-under 64, including two chip-in birdies, and took the first-round lead at the Colonial. He led by a stroke over Jesper Parnevik. Steve Flesch and Stewart Cink were among five golfers at 66. Defending champion Kenny Perry shot 67, his Colonial-record eighth straight subpar round.

Silvia Cavalleri, Nadina Taylor and Young-A Yang each shot 5-under-par 66s to tie for the first-round lead at the Sybase Classic.

-- From wire reports