BASEBALL

METS’ LO DUCA LEAVES GAME WITH BRUISED LEFT ARM

Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca left last night’s game against the New York Yankees with a bruised left triceps, three innings after he was hit by a pitch.

Lo Duca was plunked on the back of his non-throwing arm by Chien Ming Wang‘s third pitch of the game. He grimaced in pain and walked slowly to first base. The All-Star catcher was slow getting down the line on a fourth-inning groundout and was replaced be hind the plate in the bottom half by Ramon Castro.

PIAZZA WILL CATCH FOR A’S AFTER ALL

So much for the end of Mike Piazza‘s career as a catcher.

The Oakland Athletics have de cided to bring Piazza back from his stint on the disabled list as a catch er and a designated hitter, post poning the scheduled start of his rehab assignment yesterday with Triple-A Sacramento to give him more time to get his arm in shape The 38-year-old Piazza has been sidelined since May 3 with a sprained right shoulder, missing his 41st game Sunday against St Louis.

AUTO RACING

SIX SPECTATORS DEAD AFTER ACCIDENT AT DRAG RACING EVENT

One day after a drag-racing car careened into a crowd and killed six people, witnesses questioned why the driver was allowed to speed down a multilane highway with no guard rails, lined on both sides by hundreds spectators.

“It ain’t really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street,” said 19-year-old Garett Moore, who said he was about 15 feet away from the wreck, but was uninjured. “They shouldn’t have done it.”

Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said Sunday the six killed were in their teens or early 20s. The accident injured at least 18 others, including a 5-year-old boy, who were taken to hospitals in Tennessee and Mississippi.

The crash happened Saturday during an “exhibition burnout” — when a drag racer spins his tires to make them heat up and smoke — at the Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis.

BASKETBALL

SPURS CELEBRATE FOURTH CHAMPIONSHIP WITH FANS

The San Antonio Spurs‘ black and silver was joined by another color yesterday — the gold of the team’s fourth championship trophy in nine seasons.

Lining the banks of San Antonio’s famed River Walk, tens of thousands of fans decked out in the Spurs’ colors waited in the oppressive heat to catch a glimpse of their favorite players and congratulate the team.

“You guys continue to come out and support us,” Spurs star Tim Duncan said. “Hopefully we can get another one.”

Spurs point guard Tony Parker was joined by his bride-to-be, actress Eva Longoria.

“I’m so happy — I feel very blessed and it’s a privilege to play with a great team,” said Parker. He joked that he’d slept with the MVP trophy for the last couple of nights. “I put Eva on the couch,” he said.