HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Quarterback Erik Ainge, the New York Jets’ fifth-round draft pick, signed a contract with the team Thursday.

The left-handed Ainge became a starter in his freshman year and started 35 games overall for Tennessee. He won two bowl games and ranks third in school history in completions (516), pass attempts (854) and touchdown passes (51). He also ranks fourth for Tennessee with 6,308 yards passing and third with 6,107 yards of total offense.

The 6-foot-5 Ainge is from Hillsboro, and is the nephew of Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge. He likely will compete for the third-string job behind Chad Pennington and former Oregon star Kellen Clemens.

New York also signed Oregon State offensive lineman Kyle DeVan, who was not drafted this year. DeVan originally signed with Washington, but was released. He appeared in 50 career games with 38 consecutive starts for the Beavers.

Vikings hire new RBcoach

PORTLAND — Portland State alum Jesse Thompson has been named the Vikings’ new running backs coach.

Thompson replaces Frank Geske, who took a job as coach at Marist High School in Eugene.

Thompson said his goals are to help the Vikings’ running backs have fun playing football, get a degree and “win a bunch of games along the way.”

Last season Thompson was the running backs coach at Northern State in South Dakota. Before that, he was an assistant coach at Lewis and Clark College in his native Portland.

Thompson is a 2001 graduate of Portland State with a degree in health education.

BASEBALL

Oakland trades another pitcher

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics traded away their second starting pitcher this month, dealing burly right-hander Joe Blanton to the Philadelphia Phillies for three minor leaguers.

A’s general manager Billy Beane swapped Blanton a week after sending Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs — and that’s with his team very much in contention in the AL West, six games behind the first-place Los Angeles Angels.

“Philadelphia was aggressive,” Oakland assistant GM David Forst said. “They made it clear they needed a starting pitcher to help out and we were able to get the deal done.”

The minor leaguers involved are left-hander Josh Outman, who was in Double-A, and second baseman Adrian Cardenas and outfielder Matt Spencer, both players in Single-A.

The 27-year-old Blanton, a 14-game winner last season, was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA in 20 starts for Oakland. He has underachieved in 2008 in his fifth big league season after being the opening day starter in March against the Boston Red Sox in Tokyo.

“We’ve been attempting to upgrade our rotation and we feel like we’ve done that,” Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle said. “We think Joe is a very strong, competitive pitcher that has the mental makeup to pitch productively in a pennant race. He pitches a lot of innings and takes some burden off the bullpen.”

Hideo Nomo retires

NEW YORK — Hideo Nomo, who pitched a pair of no-hitters and led a rush of Japanese players to the major leagues, is finished.

Nomo announced his retirement, agent Don Nomura said. Once known for a deceptive delivery and a devastating forkball, the 39-year-old Nomo was released by the Kansas City Royals in late April.

Nomo’s 123 wins are the most in the majors by a Japanese pitcher. He was the 1995 NL Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is one of only four pitchers to throw no-hitters in the AL and NL.

Out of the majors since 2005, he made a comeback this year and earned a spot in the Royals bullpen. But slowed by an injury late in spring training, Nomo had an 18.69 ERA in three relief appearances in which he gave up 10 hits, including three home runs, in 4 1-3 innings.

A star in Japan before he signed with the Dodgers, Nomo made an immediate impact in the majors. He led the NL in strikeouts in 1995 and went 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA.

Nomo also created a wave of “Nomo-mania” wherever he pitched. Many fans were curious to see his “tornado” windup, in which he paused with his arms overhead and then twisted his body before throwing.

Marzano was intoxicated at time of fatal fall in April

PHILADELPHIA — Former major leaguer and baseball commentator John Marzano was intoxicated when he fell down the stairs and died in his home, the medical examiner’s office said Thursday.

The cause of Marzano’s death was determined as “postural asphyxia contributed to by blunt trauma and ethanol intoxication,” said Jeff Moran, spokesman for the medical examiner’s office. Moran said he could not elaborate.

Marzano, known as “Johnny Marz,” died in April at the age of 45. He was from Philadelphia and had been working for Major League Baseball’s Web site, where he co-hosted a show on weekday mornings.

Before joining MLB’s Web site, Marzano was a baseball analyst on Comcast SportsNet for the station’s Philadelphia Phillies postgame shows. He had also appeared regularly on WIP-AM, a sports radio station.

A graduate of Temple University, Marzano earned a spot as a catcher on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team that included future major league stars Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin and Will Clark. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 1984 amateur draft.

Marzano played 10 seasons in the big leagues for the Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners before retiring in 1998. He also played in the minors for the Phillies and the Cleveland Indians.

BASKETBALL

Beavers hire Grace

CORVALLIS — David Grace has been named director of basketball operations for Oregon State.

Grace comes to the Beavers from the University of San Francisco, where he spent a season in the same position.

He was previously an assistant coach at Sacramento State, where his duties included recruiting, on-floor coaching and scouting, and working with the team’s back court.

Grace served in the Air Force and is a 2003 graduate of Park University in Parkville, Mo.

TRACK & FIELD

Pistorius not picked for        SouthAfrica’s Olympic team

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius was not chosen today to be on South Africa’s Olympic team for the Beijing Games.

Besides failing to meet the qualifying standard to run in the 400 meters, Pistorius was left off the 1,600-meter relay team. Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene said four other South Africans had faster times, and two others were chosen as alternates.

Pistorius has battled with authorities for months, ultimately winning an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May that allowed him to compete against able-bodied athletes and more recently facing concerns that he could pose a danger to other athletes.

But Pistorius fell short of the 400 qualifying time of 45.55 seconds. On Wednesday, he recorded a personal best of 46.25. He said in May that his legal battles had prevented him from focusing on training, and that it might be more realistic to aim at qualifying for the 2012 London Olympics.

Efforts to reach Pistorius were not immediately successful. His manager, Peet Van Zyl, said he hadn’t heard any official word about the decision. However, he said considering Pistorius’ recent times, he didn’t expect the runner to be asked to join the team.

“From the beginning, we knew that he had to qualify,” Van Zyl said. “We didn’t expect him to be granted any special opportunity or anything. The rules are the rules.”

GOLF

Ace helps Johnson take lead

MILWAUKEE — Richard S. Johnson aced the 14th hole on his way to shooting a 63 that gave him a one stroke lead over the Pappas brothers after the first round of the U.S. Bank Championship.

Deane and Brenden Pappas could have become the first brothers to share the lead at a PGA event, but Johnson birdied from about 10 feet on the 18th hole to edge ahead.

LPGA Tour

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Christina Kim shot a 9-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead at the State Farm Classic, a tournament she just missed winning last year.

The field was stacked with low scores, including a 67 from Michelle Wie that was her best of the year for the part-time golfer and full-time Stanford student. Wie, playing on a sponsor’s exemption, and most of the lowest-scoring golfers teed off early in the morning, before temperatures neared 90 degrees.

South Korean Sun Young Yoo, one of the few golfers to tee off at midday and keep her score down, finished a stroke behind Kim at 64 after shooting an 8-under 28 over the first nine holes.

She sank short putts for six birdies and added an eagle on the par-5 16th hole. The 28 ties her with seven other players for the best nine-hole score in LPGA history.

Kristy McPherson and Jee Young Lee shot 65s and were tied for third.