IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Baseball

Red Sox sign former Cy Young-winner Colon

MIAMI: Free agent pitcher Bartolo Colon will get a chance to prove his fitness after he was signed by the Boston Red Sox to a minor league contract Monday and was invited to join their spring training camp.

The 34-year-old former Cy Young winner, who struggled with a sore shoulder in 2005 and elbow problems last season, will audition for the World Series champion Red Sox at their Grapefruit League camp in Fort Myers, Florida.

"Signing Colon to a minor league deal, we think is a no-risk, potential high-reward signing," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein told baseball Website mlb.com.

NHL

Flyers clinch shootout win to end 10-game slump

NEW YORK: Daniel Briere scored in the third round of a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres and bring an end to their 10-game losing streak.

Both teams had scored once in the shootout before former Sabre Briere slipped the puck past Buffalo netminder Ryan Miller for the Flyers' first win since February 5.

The clutch victory came after Philadelphia trailed 3-0 in the first period.

Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell scored for the Flyers in the final six minutes of the period and R.J. Umberger tied the score with a powerplay goal 12:45 into the third period.

Detroit brings back winger McCarty

DETROIT: Right-winger Darren McCarty has signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings, a franchise he played with for 11 seasons, the NHL club announced on Monday.

McCarty, 35, will complete a two-week conditioning assignment before rejoining Detroit, general manager Ken Holland told reporters on Monday.

McCarty played for the Red Wings from 1993 until the lockout season in 2004 and was a member of three Stanley Cup-winning teams before leaving Detroit to sign with Calgary.

SOCCER

Impressive Everton takes back fourth place

LONDON: Everton leapfrogged Liverpool back into fourth place in the Premier League on Monday with an impressive 2-0 victory at Manchester City.

Goals in the first half from Ayegbeni Yakubu and Joleon Lescott were enough for Everton, which moved three points above Liverpool in the race for the fourth Champions League.

Everton has 50 points from 27 games while Liverpool, which has played a game less, is on 47 along with Aston Villa.

City, which also still harbors ambitions of fourth place, had only lost once at home in the league this season and memorably won 2-1 at Manchester United in its last outing, but it was well beaten by Everton.

Kaka hopes to face Arsenal after fresh knee problem

MILAN: AC Milan playmaker Kaka hopes to be fit to face Arsenal next week after the reoccurrence of a knee problem in Sunday's 2-1 win over Palermo.

The Brazilian came off at halftime as a precaution and was expected to miss Wednesday's match at Catania and next Saturday's clash with Lazio in order to be ready for the Champions League last-16 second leg at San Siro next Tuesday.

However, Kaka is more injured than first thought and could be a doubt for the crucial match, with the scores level at 0-0.

"It hurts a lot," the world player of the year told TeleLombardia on Monday. "I hope to be fit for the Champions League match with Arsenal. I definitely won't be there against Catania."

(China Daily 02/27/2008 page24)