NEW YORK — Baseball umpires and management signed an agreement that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field.

Major League Baseball still hasn’t determined when the use of replays will start. Installation of equipment has been going on at ballparks, and officials have said they hoped to start using replay in August.

Replays will be limited to boundary calls, such as determining whether fly balls were fair or foul, or whether they went over fences.

Umpire crew chiefs will determine when replay will be used and will make the final decisions on calls. Up to three umpires will be able to look at the replays, which will be provided from a “war room” at Major League Baseball Advanced Media in New York. It’s possible as many as five umps could review the replays during postseason.

Glavine might be able to return

NEW YORK — Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine was examined by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama and, as expected, tests showed the 42-year-old pitcher has a partial tear in the flexor tendon in his left elbow — but no ligament damage.

The 300-game winner was to have surgery today, performed by Andrews, to repair the tendon and is expected to face four to five months of rehabilitation. That leaves open the possibility Glavine could return next season.

Lohse suspended five games

ST. LOUIS — Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse was suspended five games for throwing a fastball past the head of Cincinnati pitcher Edinson Volquez last weekend. Lohse appealed the penalty, and can continue to play until a hearing is held.

SOCCER

Americans top Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY — Carlos Bocanegra scored on a header in the 69th minute, and the United States escaped from Guatemala with a chippy 1-0 victory Wednesday night in the Americans’ opener in the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying.

Unmarked about 3 yards from the goal, the U.S. captain headed in DaMarcus Beasley’s corner kick for his 10th goal in 59 international appearances.

Beasley had entered the match three minutes earlier when a bleeding Eddie Lewis came off on a stretcher after his head collided with a forearm from Guatemala’s Jose Manuel Contreras when both leaped for the ball.

Road victories are key in qualifying, and Trinidad and Tobago won 3-1 at Cuba, giving the United States and the Soca Warriors a big advantage in the four-team group. The top two teams advance to next year’s regional finals in the North and Central American and Caribbean region.

AUTO RACING

Busch wins truck race

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch earned his third win in the Craftsman Truck Series by dominating the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 23-year-old led the final 130 laps, endured four cautions and a red flag over the final 21 laps and finally iced the victory by holding off the field on a green-white-checker finish.

Busch extended his record for combined victories in NASCAR’s three top series to 17. He also joined Mark Martin and Carl Edwards as the only drivers to win at the .533-mile banked oval in all three series.

Busch, driving a Toyota, took the lead for good on the 71st lap after a lengthy door-to-door battle with Jimmie Johnson. Todd Bodine finished second, followed by pole winner Scott Speed and Johnny Benson. The top four finishers were all driving Toyotas.

PRO FOOTBALL

Rams’ Jackson ends holdout

ST. LOUIS — Rams running back Steven Jackson ended his holdout and St. Louis appeared on the verge of signing him to a new multiyear contract. Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he had agreed “in principle” to terms of a deal. He added that once a few details were ironed out, “We’ll be pretty much done.”

The 235-pound Jackson, a bruising runner and the centerpiece of the Rams’ offense, is entering the final season of a five-year, $7 million deal he signed as a first-round pick in 2004.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

New Mexico placed on probation

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The NCAA put New Mexico’s football program on three years of probation Wednesday and cut five scholarships as punishment for academic violations involving two former assistant coaches.

The sanctions imposed by the NCAA’s infractions committee went beyond the university’s self-imposed penalties, which included two years of probation and fewer scholarship reductions.

New Mexico’s head coach Rocky Long was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

The NCAA concluded that the former Lobos assistants in 2004 improperly helped three recruits to obtain fraudulent academic credits through correspondence courses they never completed at Fresno Pacific University, a fully accredited, four-year college in California that also offers online degrees.

In its report, the infractions committee said course registration materials at Fresno Pacific showed the home addresses for the three UNM recruits as the home address in California of a brother of one former assistant. Coaches’ office or cell phone numbers were listed as the recruits’ phone numbers. The recruits admitted to NCAA investigators that they “received no course materials and did no work” but received course credit.

The recruits took courses from a Fresno Pacific instructor who was an acquaintance of one of the former UNM assistants.

At a news conference, athletic director Paul Krebs said the university fully cooperated with the NCAA during the probe.

“I do think there is some relief that comes with the filing of the report. It allows us to bring closure to what is a sad and embarassing situation for the university,” Krebs said.

Long said the penalities will force his program to be more selective in its recruiting. He said he also would keep a tighter rein on his assistants.

Of the two assistants, Long said: “When they’re out on the road themselves and doing this sort of thing, they’re trying to recruit the best they can. Sometimes you lose sight of what’s important. I think they’re two great guys who made some serious mistakes.”

COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Court rules in favor of cuts

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court has dealt another blow to a coalition of sports participants and fans challenging James Madison University’s plan to eliminate 10 athletic teams.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed a judge’s refusal to block the cuts while a lawsuit is pending.

JMU announced in 2006 that it was cutting seven men’s teams and three women’s teams to comply with a federal law requiring equality in men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports. The goal was to make participation in athletics match JMU’s enrollment of 61 percent female and 39 percent male.

A group called Equity in Athletics sued, alleging unconstitutional gender discrimination. The appeals court said the group failed to show its chances of winning are strong enough to warrant a preliminary injunction.

BASKETBALL

Sonics assets divided

OKLAHOMA CITY — The championship banners and trophies from the SuperSonics’ best days will be staying in Seattle. But the flat screen TV in the coaches’ locker room, that is going to Oklahoma City.

The city of Seattle and Clay Bennett’s ownership group have divvied up the Sonics’ artifacts. The agreement calls for Bennett’s Professional Basketball Club to leave any banners, trophies and retired jerseys. Those will be placed in a curatorship at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry, although the new Oklahoma City franchise would be allowed to borrow them to put on display periodically and make copies.

The franchise is also leaving some KeyArena furniture and equipment in Seattle, noting it will take 150 courtside seats, 24 office chairs, three televisions and other equipment that is still being used by the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. Those items — including 200 CDs, a sound-effects machine, a basketball inflater, radios, headphones and a replay monitor — will be shipped to Oklahoma City when the Storm’s season is over.

Judge rules against Schultz

SEATTLE — Two more strikes against Howard Schultz in his long-shot attempt to void his sale of the former SuperSonics and undo their move to Oklahoma City.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled the NBA can intervene in Schultz’s lawsuit. She also denied Schultz’s motion to split the trial into two separate phases: a liability phase and, if needed, a remedy phase. The trial has been scheduled for June 15.

The lawsuit filed in April by Schultz, the Starbucks Corp. CEO, contends Clay Bennett failed to carry through on a promise to negotiate in good faith for a new arena in Seattle for one full year after he purchased the Sonics. Schultz hopes to undo that sale — so he can initiate a transfer of the team to a buyer who will keep it in Seattle.

Ratliff returns to 76ers

PHILADELPHIA — Theo Ratliff returned to the Philadelphia 76ers, seven years after he was traded from the team during its run to the NBA finals. The 35-year-old Ratliff played 26 games for Minnesota and Detroit and appeared in 12 of the Pistons’ 17 playoff games.

Ratliff has played for six teams during his 13 NBA seasons, including parts of four years with the Sixers from 1997-2001.

 In 705 career games, Ratliff has averaged 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in 27 minutes.