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Giambi faces Thursday deadline
Discipline could await if Yankees slugger fails to discuss steroids.

Jason Giambi has until Thursday to agree to a meeting with steroids investigator George Mitchell or else face possible discipline from Commissioner Bud Selig.

Lawyers from the players’ union and Major League Baseball resumed talks yesterday after a weekend break to set rules for a Giambi-Mitchell meeting.

The deadline is only for an agreement to meet, not for the actual session to take place.

Selig said June 6 that he wanted the meeting to take place within two weeks. Because Selig issued his announcement late that day, the deadline was set for this Thursday morning, a person involved in the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no public statements had been authorized.

When he requested the meeting, Selig threatened the New York Yankees designated hitter with discipline, saying he would factor the player’s level of cooperation with Mitchell into his decision.

No active players are known to have met with Mitchell, whose probe was announced by Selig in March 2006 and has gone more slowly than envisioned by the former Senate Majority Leader. But Giambi gave Selig increased leverage to force a meeting when the former AL MVP was quoted last month by USA Today as seeming to admit to steroids use. Giambi then met with baseball lawyers to discuss those remarks.

LEE, YOUNG SUSPENDED FIVE GAMES: Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee and San Diego pitcher Chris Young were suspended for five games each yesterday following a bench-clearing brawl last weekend. Cubs hitting coach Gerald Perry was suspended for three games for his role in Saturday’s fight at Wrigley Field.

Philadelphia third-base coach Steve Smith was suspended for three games and catcher Carlos Ruiz for one following an argument in Sunday’s game against Detroit. The players’ union appealed Ruiz’s suspension, meaning it can’t start until after the case is heard and decided.

In Saturday’s game at Wrigley, Lee was hit by a pitch from Young, walked to first, had words with the pitcher, then threw a punch. Young swung back and the benches emptied.

During Sunday’s game in Philadelphia, Smith, Ruiz and Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel were ejected by plate umpire Bill Welke. Manuel got angry Welke didn’t consult with first-base ump Laz Diaz on a check swing call. Smith sprinted out of the dugout and had to be restrained by Manuel.

FIGGINS’ SIX HITS PACE ANGELS: Chone Figgins finished 6 for 6 with an RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Los Angeles Angels a 10-9 victory over the Houston Astros last night. The speedy third baseman had a double and four singles to go with his first triple of the season. He became the first major leaguer to get six hits since Seattle’s Raul Ibanez on Sept. 22, 2004, at Anaheim, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The modern big-league record for a nine-inning game is seven hits, accomplished by Rennie Stennett of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 16, 1975, against the Cubs.


Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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