DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies and right-handed reliever Rafael Betancourt agreed Wednesday to an $8.5 million, two-year contract that guarantees him an additional $4.25 million.
Betancourt, 36, was due $4 million this year under a contract agreed to last January, a deal that included a $4.25 million mutual option for 2013 with a $250,000 buyout. Under Wednesday's new deal, this year's salary is the same, 2013 becomes guaranteed at $4.25 million and a mutual option for 2014 is added with a $250,000 buyout.
Daryle Ward, an 11-season veteran who hasn't played in the major leagues since 2008, has been suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned amphetamine under the minor league testing program. Ward, 36, spent last season in the minor league systems of the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. He played 99 games for the Charlotte Knights in 2009 and is currently is a free agent.
Andruw Jones and the Yankees finalized a $2 million, one-year contract that keeps him in New York for a second season. The deal, agreed to last month and finalized Wednesday, allows him to earn another $1.45 million in performance bonuses.
Cardinals closer Jason Motte agreed to a $1.95 million, one-year contract after helping St. Louis win the World Series.
Motte, 29, was 5-2 with a 2.25 ERA and nine saves last season, earning the closer's role in late August and getting five saves in the postseason. He made $435,000 last year. He had asked for $2.4 million in arbitration and had been offered $1.5 million.
Solo injured: Goalkeeper Hope Solo's leg injury could keep her out of the game that determines whether the U.S. women's national team goes to the Olympics.
Coach Pia Sundhage said she needs to see how Solo is recovering from a pulled right quad before deciding on the lineup for Friday's game against Costa Rica in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Solo has needed extra work to get back into shape after appearing on "Dancing With the Stars" following last year's World Cup. She said she pulled the quad a few days ago, and the injury was aggravated during the first half of Tuesday night's 4-0 win against Mexico.
The winner of Friday's game earns one of the region's two berths for the London Games.
In Tuesday's victory against Mexico, Carli Lloyd scored the first of her three goals in the seventh minute, and Heather O'Reilly added a goal a minute later.
Ninety-seven people have been arrested for selling fake tickets and bogus hotel rooms ahead of the London Olympics.
The demand for tickets and hotels in London during the July 27-Aug. 12 games has been huge - some rooms are going for almost $1,000 per night.
Russian pair wins short program: Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov took advantage of the late withdrawal of their main rivals, leading a Russian sweep in the pairs short program at the European figure skating championships in Sheffield, England.
Volosozhar and Trankov are on the brink of their first major title after scoring a season-best 72.80 points in a near-flawless routine to the chilled strains of Evanescence's "Bring Me Back To Life." They lead by nearly six points going into today's free skate and won't have a better chance to capture gold, with the defending champions now out.
Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany were widely regarded as the favorites coming into a competition they have won four of the past five years, but a flare-up of an old injury to Savchenko led to them pulling out at the last minute.
It was also a successful day for Russia in the ice dance, with Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev edging defending champions Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France by 0.17 points in the short dance.
Gold medalist out: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott of Maine is out for the season after surgery to repair a torn muscle but he's expected to make a full recovery.
Wescott tore his pectoral muscle during the snowboardcross World Cup last Thursday in Veysonnaz, Switzerland. Octagon, his management agency, confirmed that he had successful surgery Monday in Vail, Colo., to reattach the muscle to the bone in his upper arm.
