BASEBALL

SANCHEZ WON’T APPEAL STEROID SUSPENSION

Tampa Bay outfielder Alex Sanchez won’t appeal his 10-day suspension for violating baseball’s steroids policy. Sanchez, the first player penalized under the tougher rules put in place last month, made his decision yesterday, four days after he was suspended by Commissioner Bud Selig.

After the commissioner’s office announced the suspension Sunday, Sanchez said he was innocent. “I’m going to fight it, because I’ve never taken steroids or anything like that,” he said.

Several substances that previously were available over the counter were made prescription drugs as of January 15 under federal legislation and were added to baseball’s banned list. Because of that, it is possible Sanchez tested positive for a substance that he purchased legally before January 15.

BASKETBALL

KENTUCKY’S AZUBUIKE HEADING TO NBA

Junior swingman Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky’s leading scorer this past season, said he has signed with an agent and will forgo his final season of eligibility. In a statement released by the university, Azubuike officially announced his intention to enter the NBA draft and not return for his senior season.

CYCLING

ARMSTRONG HINTS AT RETIREMENT

Lance Armstrong is considering retiring after he tries for a record seventh straight Tour de France victory this July.

“It’s a possibility,” Armstrong said yesterday at a Central Park appearance to support New York’s 2012 Olympic bid. “I am still thinking about that.”

Comments Armstrong, 33, made to Italian media last week that he missed his kids and the pressure was taking a toll on him fueled speculation that this year’s Tour de France would be his last. “Four more months and it’s over …” he was quoted as saying in Gazzetta dello Sport. His new two-year contract to race for the Discovery Channel team requires he race just one more Tour de France.

TENNIS

MARTIN SPOILS KUERTEN’S COMEBACK IN VALENCIA

Alberto Martin of Spain halted Gustavo Kuerten’s comeback from a hip injury with a 6-2, 6-0 second-round win at the Valencia Open yesterday.

In other matches at the clay-court tournament, Rafael Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, seventh-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia defeated Potito Starace of Italy 7-5, 6-1, and fifth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain beat Irakli Labadze of Georgia 6-3, 6-4.

– Associated Press