Sports briefs 6/4/04

Baseball

Talented and temperamental Dodgers center fielder Milton Bradley was suspended for four games Thursday for his tantrum earlier this week after an ejection. Los Angeles manager Jim Tracy was suspended for one game. Bradley and Tracy also were fined undisclosed amounts by Bob Watson, baseball's vice president of on-field operations. Bradley is hitting .271 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs for the NL West leaders.

Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right side muscle and Yadier Molina was promoted from Triple-A Memphis. Molina, 21, becomes the third member of his family to make it to the majors as a catcher. Brothers Bengie and Jose play for the Anaheim Angels. The Cardinals purchased Molina's contract from Memphis. He hit .310 with one homer and 14 RBIs at Memphis, and threw out 61 percent of the runners who tried to steal against him.

Arizona Diamondbacks slugger Richie Sexson will undergo season-ending surgery early next week to repair torn cartilage in his left shoulder. Sexson made the decision after getting a second opinion Wednesday from Dr. James Andrews, a noted sports surgeon in Birmingham, Ala. Sexson, acquired from Milwaukee in a nine-player deal in the offseason, played in just 23 games for Arizona. He hit .233, but had nine home runs and 23 RBIs in 90 at-bats.

Football

Vinny Testaverde wants another chance at age 40 to be a starting quarterback. His former coach is giving it to him. Testaverde and Bill Parcells were reunited when the quarterback signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys. Testaverde's agent, Mike Azzarelli, said the quarterback could make as much as $5 million this season, based on playing time and performance.

Hockey

The supposedly unwanted Calgary Flames are one victory away from winning the Stanley Cup. Oleg Saprykin scored his first goal in 18 games, grabbing the rebound of a slap shot by Jarome Iginla from the right circle and ramming it past Nikolai Khabibulin at 14:40 of overtime to give the Flames a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals. Calgary, a long shot just to make the playoffs, leads the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can win its first Cup since 1989 -- and Canada's first since Montreal in 1993 -- at home Saturday night.

-- From wire reports