BASEBALL

METS DESIGNATE LAWRENCE FOR ASSIGNMENT

One day after Brian Lawrence squandered a four-run lead and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals, the right-hander was designated for assignment by the slumping Mets yesterday.

Lawrence started Monday night’s 12-4 loss — the fourth straight defeat for the first-place Mets — and allowed four runs in 3.1 innings after New York grabbed an early 4–0 lead. He was 1–2 this season with the Mets with a 6.83 ERA in six starts.

To fill his roster spot, New York purchased the contract of veteran left-hander Dave Williams from Triple-A New Orleans yesterday.

FOOTBALL

FALCONS SIGN FORMER JAGUARS’ STARTER LEFTWICH

The Atlanta Falcons signed former Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich yesterday, giving the team immediate depth and a potential contender for the starting job. Leftwich’s agent, Tom Condon, said the former first-round draft pick passed a physical, worked out for the team and signed a two-year, $7 million deal.

“He’s very pleased to be in Atlanta, for whatever role they have in mind,” Condon said. “At this time of year, at the time Byron was released, it makes it difficult for teams, because clearly he is a starting caliber quarterback. Nevertheless, it’s going to take a period of time before he learns the offense.

“Byron is an extremely bright guy. I think it will happen relatively quickly.”

SUSPENDED DT TANK JOHNSON SIGNS CONTRACT WITH DALLAS

Suspended defensive tackle Tank Johnson signed a two-year contract yesterday with the Dallas Cowboys.

Johnson, who played the last three seasons for the Chicago Bears, can’t play for the Cowboys until he completes his eight-game NFL suspension for violating probation on a gun charge. He has served the first two games of that suspension. Johnson signed after visiting with the Cowboys and taking a physical.

“For a lot of reasons, he really just felt the Cowboys were the right fit,” said Johnson’s agent, Jerrold Colton. “He’s so thankful to them for giving him this opportunity. He is very determined to prove they made a wise decision in believing in him.”

Johnson could provide late-season depth on a defensive line that lost starting nose tackle Jason Ferguson for the year because of a torn right biceps in the opener.

DONOVAN MCNABB TELLS HBO BLACK QBs FACE MORE SCRUTINY

Philadelphia Eagles star Donovan McNabb says black quarterbacks face greater scrutiny than their white counterparts.

In an interview on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” to be broadcast Tuesday, McNabb said black quarterbacks “have to do a little bit extra” because there are relatively few of them, adding “people didn’t want us to play this position.”

McNabb said if he passes for 300 yards and his team wins by a touchdown, critics will say, “Oh, he could have made this throw here. We would have scored more points if he would have done this.” Asked if white quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer are held to the same standards, McNabb replied: “Let me start by saying, I love those guys. But they don’t get criticized as much as we do. They don’t.”

McNabb is one of six black starting quarterbacks in the NFL. The others are David Garrard of Jacksonville, Vince Young of Tennessee, Steve McNair of Baltimore, Jason Campbell of Washington, and Tarvaris Jackson of Minnesota.