Mo Williams signs offer sheet with Bucks

RACINE, Wis. — Utah Jazz restricted free agent Maurice “Mo” Williams has signed an offer sheet from the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Jazz have 15 days to decide whether to match the Bucks’ offer and keep the guard in Salt Lake City.

A Bucks spokesman confirmed Saturday that Williams signed the offer sheet Friday.

Williams’ agent, Mark Bartelstein, told The Journal Times of Racine the offer was worth $5.5 million over three years. Williams earned $770,000 last season.

“At this point, there’s not much he can do but sit back and wait,” Bartelstein was quoted as telling the newspaper. “He likes Utah very much, but they have two other point guards, so it’s tough getting playing time there.”

The 6-foot-1 Williams was selected in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2003 draft. He averaged five points and 1.3 assists in 57 games last season.

Auto racing

Busch races to fourth Busch Series victory

CLERMONT, Ind. — Johnny Sauter had the better car. Kyle Busch had the better pit strategy.

With still-fresh tires from an earlier pit stop, Busch was able to stay on the track when all the other leaders came in later. Then he held off the charging Sauter in the closing laps to win the NASCAR Kroger 200 Busch Series race Saturday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

“We were able to capitalize on our pit strategy,” Busch said.

“We already made our last stop and got our tires. I thought it was a little bit too soon, but I figured there would be some cautions in there, and maybe we’d have a long run where we’d be able to get up front a little bit and then the other guys would come in.”

Sauter, also second in the Craftsman Truck race Friday night, dominated from the pole but lost the lead when he pitted after 131 of the 200 laps on the 0.686-mile oval — 19 laps after Busch’s final stop.

Sauter dropped back to 14th but steadily worked his way back toward the front. Then when Greg Biffle and David Green took their final pit stops, Busch stayed on the track and inherited the lead he kept for the final 44 laps.

Sauter moved up during a series of cautions and passed Jason Leffler for second place with 22 laps remaining. He was still three seconds behind Busch at that point but cut the margin to under a second in the final 10 laps.

“I kept watching my mirror and seeing him get closer and closer,” Busch said. “I was, like, ‘Man, I don’t know how I’m going to hold him off.’ So then I just started looking ahead of me and not worrying about the mirror.

“That’s what fixed it right there, just worrying about my own car and how to get around the race track better.”

Busch, winning his fourth race of the season to remain in second place in the series points, beat Sauter to the finish by 0.896 seconds.

Despite the close finish, Sauter said it really wasn’t much of a battle.

“He had pretty good track position,” Sauter said. “I wish I could have had a caution with 10 laps to go and then have a shot on Kyle. I thought we could have had him, but we didn’t get it.”

Leffler was third, and points leader Martin Truex Jr. wound up fourth after an early penalty dropped him to the rear of the field.

Truex started next to Sauter on the front row and appeared to take the lead on the first lap. He was immediately black-flagged and brought into the pits for a stop-and-go penalty for crossing the line ahead of Sauter.

With Truex’s penalty, Sauter was given credit for leading the first 53 laps until the leaders pitted during the second yellow caution. Bobby Hamilton Jr. beat Sauter out of the pits, although the lead went to Ashton Lewis Jr., who did not pit.

When the green came out on the 57th lap, Hamilton quickly passed Lewis, then Sauter passed Hamilton seven laps later to go back into the lead. Sauter led the next 68 laps and finished with 121 laps at the head of the field.

Sauter, who decided against a late stop for tires Friday night in the truck race and lost the lead to Chad Chaffin with less than a half-lap to go, said he didn’t want to make the same mistake again.

“We screwed up last night not taking tires. … We pitted a little later tonight and I thought we made all the right decisions in the pits. It turned out we didn’t.”

Baseball

L.A. Dodgers’ Ishii demoted to bullpen

LOS ANGELES — Kazuhisa Ishii was demoted to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen Saturday and replaced in the rotation by left-hander Wilson Alvarez.

Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was frustrated with Ishii’s inconsistency despite his 11-5 record.

“I probably wasn’t too surprised at anything,” Ishii said through a translator following his closed-door meeting with Tracy. “I’m disappointed, but I’ve got to do what the team wants right now.”

Ishii retired only six of 12 batters in Friday night’s 9-5 loss to Philadelphia and allowed four home runs, but didn’t get the decision as the Dodgers rallied to tie the game before losing in 11 innings.

Ishii has allowed 18 earned runs in 15 innings over his last four starts, raising his ERA to 4.76. He has made 22 starts overall, allowing no more than two earned runs in 11 of them — but has given up at least five earned runs in five of his last nine outings.

“I don’t think it was fair to the club to come out to the ballpark at this late juncture of the season and wonder which guy is going to show up,” Tracy said.

“I’m not looking at him as solely a relief pitcher, but at this time, we’re going to do what’s in the best interests of everyone. Kaz is on board with being used out of the bullpen. He could be put back in the rotation, but that’s all dependent on the five who will be in there.”

Ishii, the only pitcher in the majors to issue at least 100 walks in each of the previous two seasons, again is among the NL leaders in bases on balls with 73 in 123 innings. During his three major league seasons, he has won 29 games before the All-Star break, more than any NL pitcher. But after the break he is 5-10.

Alvarez is 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA this season. In 10 starts, he is 5-2 with a 3.52 ERA.

Thomas says he’ll return to White Sox: Slugger Frank Thomas plans to return to the Chicago White Sox next season, even if he needs surgery to fix the stress fracture in his left ankle.

“I’ll be back next year. Where am I going to gofi” Thomas said Saturday before the slumping White Sox played the Cleveland Indians.

“I’m injured right now. I just have to get myself together and come back to play.”

On Friday the White Sox ruled Thomas out for the remainder of this season. The two-time MVP has been on the disabled list since July 10, and the team initially was hoping he’d be back the last few weeks.

But after examining Thomas on Friday, White Sox podiatrist Dr. Lowell Weil recommended he spend another six to eight weeks in a cast. If that doesn’t heal his injury, Thomas faces surgery.

Thomas was hitting .271 with 18 homers and 49 RBIs when he got hurt, and the two-time AL MVP was leading the league with 64 walks and a .434 on-base percentage.

The 36-year-old has options for $8 million in 2005 and $10 million in 2006, a year that has a $3.5 million club buyout attached to it.

The White Sox are just 10-13 since Thomas went on the DL. They are also without star right fielder Magglio Ordonez, who is also probably done for the season with a knee injury.

Before Saturday night’s game with the Indians, the White Sox had lost 10 of 12.

Thomas said he expects to be ready by spring training, even if surgery is necessary, but isn’t taking anything for granted.

“This is one of those injuries where you just have to wait,” he said. “It’s like a car wreck, you break a bone and you just wait for it to heal.”

Thomas said after he first hurt the ankle he continued to play for almost 20 games.

“It got worse. It started as a small stress fracture and I probably played it to a real major fracture,” he said.

Golf

Stupples builds lead to three at Corning Classic

SYLVANIA, Ohio — Women’s British Open winner Karen Stupples shot a 3-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead in the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic.

The Englishwoman had an 8-under 205 total on the Highland Meadows course.

Marilyn Lovander, a 49 trying to become the oldest player to win an LPGA Tour event, was second after a 69. U.S. Women’s Open champion Meg Mallon (74) was another stroke back along with Jeong Jang (68).

Se Ri Pak, attempting to match Mickey Wright’s tour record of five victories in one event, topped a group at 3 under after a 72. Wright won the Sea Island Open in 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1963.

3M Championship: At Blaine, Minn., Tom Purtzer shot a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Kite into the final round of the Champions Tour’s 3M Championship.

Purtzer and Kite (69) were tied through 16 holes, but Kite’s bogey and Purtzer’s birdie on the par-3 17th gave Purtzer a two-stroke lead. Both birdied the 18th, leaving Purtzer at 12-under 132. First-round co-leader Craig Stadler was third at 9 under after a 71, and Sammy Rachels (71) was another stroke back.

HP Open: At Stockholm, Sweden, Sweden’s Carin Koch and Wales’ Becky Morgan shared the third-round lead in the HP Open, two strokes ahead of Annika Sorenstam.

Koch shot a 68 to match Morgan (69) at 7-under 209. Sorenstam shot a 69.

KLM Open: At Hilversum, Netherlands, Australia’s Richard Green shot a 3-under 67 to take a three-stroke lead after the third round of the KLM Open.

Green had a 15-under 195 total. England’s David Lynn (65) was second.

Tennis

Mauresmo reaches Rogers Cup final

MONTREAL — Amelie Mauresmo survived a first-set tiebreaker and a rain delay and went on to beat Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup on Saturday.

Mauresmo, who won the event in 2002, will face Elena Likhovtseva, a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 semifinal winner over French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, in Sunday’s final.

With the victory, Mauresmo extended her domination of Zvonareva, raising her record against her to 4-0.

“I know her game well — what she does well and what she does that’s not so good,” Mauresmo said.

“I don’t think she likes my game too much, but this was probably the closest match we’ve played.”

Likhovtseva reached the final with her fourth straight upset. She has beaten eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova, 11th-seeded Francesca Schiavone, fifth-seeded Jennifer Capriati and the third-seeded Myskina.

Nordic Light Open: At Stockholm, Sweden, third-seeded Alicia Molik of Australia and Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine won semifinals by identical 7-5, 6-3 scores Saturday to reach the title match in the Nordic Light Open.

In sweltering heat at Olympic Stadium and with Martina Navratilova looking on, Molik beat second-seeded Silvia Farina Elia of Italy in the first semifinal. Perebiynis defeated Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic.

Neither Molik nor the unseeded Perebiynis has dropped a set in four matches en route to Sunday’s final.

Molik will be looking for her second WTA singles title, her previous win coming at Hobart in 2003.

This will be her second final of the year, the other in Vienna in May. Molik also will play in Sunday’s doubles final with Austrian partner Barbara Schett.

Perebiynis previously made only one quarterfinal in four years on the main tour. She lost eight of her first nine matches this year but reached the third round at the French Open and Wimbledon. She then needed to rest her lower back.

Myskina files lawsuit over nude photos: French Open champion Anastasia Myskina filed an $8 million federal lawsuit against GQ magazine, claiming it allowed topless photographs of her to appear in a Russian magazine without her permission.

The Russian tennis star said she never intended for two shots of her appearing shirtless to be published anywhere, her attorney said Saturday. The lawsuit was filed Friday in Manhattan federal court.

The photos were taken by GQ photographer Mark Seliger for a spread in the October 2002 GQ edition, and one approved photo of her fully clothed was published along with a profile of the tennis player.

Myskina’s lawyer, Alexander Berkovich, said his client retained the right to approve the photos prior to publication and resale was not permitted in the contract.

“These were photos were taken in a closed environment and this was not the arrangement,” he said.

The lawsuit against Seliger, GQ and its corporate parent Conde Nast alleges that Seliger sold the photos to Medved magazine and that GQ failed to stop him.

“The photos published in the July/August 2004 issue of the Medved are highly embarrassing and have caused Ms. Myskina great emotional distress and economic harm and injury to her reputation,” she says in the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B2.