■ Cycling
Ballan wins Tour of Flanders
Alessandro Ballan of Italy beat Leif Hoste of Belgium in a sprint to the finish line to win the Tour of Flanders classic on Sunday. Ballan and Hoste broke away with 16km to go and kept out of reach of the chasing favorites. Luca Paolini of Italy was third, beating Karsten Kroon of the Netherlands and Vladimir Gusev of Russia. The race was the second major classic of the season. Lampre rider Ballan covered 259km in 6 hours, 10 minutes, 15 seconds. It was the 27-year-old's second victory in less than a week after winning the Three Days of De Panne but only the fifth win of his career.
■ Baseball
Matsui put on disabled list
The New York Yankees put Hideki Matsui on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday, a day after he strained his left hamstring. New York planned to recall Kevin Thompson from Triple-A Scranton of the International League. "When you play baseball this long, these things happen. There's nothing you can do about it," Matsui said through a translator. Matsui was sidelined from May 11 to Sept. 12 last year with a broken left wrist. New York is short on outfielders. Center fielder Johnny Damon hasn't started since last Monday's opener because of a strained right calf but did enter in the late innings on the weekend.
■ Champ Cars
Will Power wins race
Team Australia's Will Power became the first Australian to win a Champ Car World Series race on Sunday with a triumph in the Vegas Grand Prix. Power started from pole and dominated throughout to take the flag ahead of Dutch rookie Robert Doornbos and Canadian Champ Car veteran Paul Tracy. Three-time defending champion Sebastien Bourdais of France capped a frustrating opening weekend by failing to finish, along with his Newman-Haas teammate Graham Rahal. Bourdais, who started from the last row of the grid after brushing the wall in qualifying on Saturday, crashed after 30 laps of the 68-lap race on the temporary circuit through the streets of Las Vegas.
■ Baseball
Orioles catcher on sick list
Baltimore Orioles catcher Ramon Hernandez was put on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday because of a strained left oblique, and left-hander Kurt Birkins was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. Hernandez was scratched from last Monday's opener, and the DL move was made retroactive to March 31, one day after his last spring training game. He is eligible to be activated on Sunday. "Before he starts swinging the bat, we want that soreness to be gone. And he still has a little spot there," Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. Hernandez will rehab along with left fielder Jay Payton (strained right hamstring) at the Orioles' complex in Sarasota, Florida.
■ Rugby League
Toddler downs tough guy
Hulking South Sydney Rabbitohs forward David Kidwell suffered a season-ending injury on Sunday when he tripped over his two-year-old daughter. Kidwell sustained suspected torn knee ligaments after falling as he tried to avoid crushing his daughter during a game at a barbecue. "Playing 10 years of first grade and no knee problems and something like this happens at home," Kidwell said yesterday. "That's definitely my season. I'm pretty shattered." The New Zealander has a reputation as one of the toughest forwards in Australia's National Rugby League, making an infamous tackle on Australia forward Willie Mason during last year's Tri-Nations series.
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