Sports briefs 6/26/04

Baseball

Free agent third baseman Aaron Boone has reached a tentative agreement on a two-year contract with the Cleveland Indians, The Associated Press learned Friday. Boone, 31, whose 11th-inning homer in Game 7 of the ALCS last season put the New York Yankees in the World Series, hasn't played since injuring his left knee during a basketball game in January.

Hockey

The Dallas Stars traded goaltender Jason Bacashihua to St. Louis for the rights to defenseman Shawn Belle. Belle was the Blues' first-round selection in the 2003 NHL entry draft. He scored nine goals and had 20 assists in 55 games last season for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. Bacashihua was the Stars' first-round selection in the 2001 entry draft. He played in 39 games with Utah of the AHL last season. He had a 13-19-5 record with a 2.66 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.

Motorsports

Jeff Gordon won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR's Nextel Cup race with a record-breaking lap at Infineon Raceway, a 1.99-mile, 10-turn circuit . Gordon took his second pole in a row, third of the season and 49th of his career with a time of 1:15.968, breaking the record of 1:16.522 set last year by road-racing specialist Boris Said. Gordon's speed was 94.303 mph. Gordon was the 10th of 42 drivers who made qualifying attempts for the Dodge/Save Mart 350. Rusty Wallace and Kurt Busch also were quicker than Said's record, but couldn't match Gordon.

NASCAR has rejected Roush Racing's bid to sign a hard liquor company as primary sponsor for Jeff Burton's No. 99 Ford. Though beer and malt liquor sponsors are allowed by NASCAR, spirits advertising is not permitted at any of its events or as team sponsors. Roush had negotiated a deal with British liquor giant Diageo, but it was contingent on NASCAR changing its policy that began in the days when many counties in the South were dry.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who has worked to raise money and awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and skin cancer, was named winner of the Sporting News "Good Guy" award. Schilling will be honored prior to today's game at Fenway Park. The Sporting News also named "Good Guy" winners in five sports: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, Seattle Mariners pitcher Jamie Moyer, Atlanta Hawks guard Sharef Abdur, Los Angeles Kings winger Ian Laperriere, and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

Soccer

Defending champion France was knocked out of the European Championship on Friday night, losing 1-0 to Greece in a quarterfinal that became the latest upset in a tournament filled with surprising results. For the first time in the history of the quadrennial tournament, which began in 1960, Europe's five biggest soccer powers all failed to make the semifinals. Germany, Italy and Spain were eliminated in the first round, and England lost its quarterfinal to Portugal on Thursday.

-- From wire reports