Macha Won’t Be Back With A’s

Oakland Athletic Manager Ken Macha was out of a job Wednesday after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract.

“We decided it’s best to part ways at this point,” General Manager Billy Beane said.

“We offered a three-year deal with a club option, and they countered with a three-year deal without a club option,” Beane said. “I don’t think we were ever going to be able to bridge the gap. It was a significant gap.”

Macha led the A’s to the AL West title in his first year as manager in 2003, the club’s fourth playoff berth in a row. But Oakland failed to reach the postseason the last two years.

The Yankees granted the Florida Marlins permission to interview bench coach Joe Girardi for their vacant managerial job.

First base coach Brett Butler’s contract will not be renewed by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The television cameraman hospitalized after a tirade by the Texas Rangers’ Kenny Rogers in June has sued the pitcher and the team.

In his lawsuit, Larry Rodriguez alleges that the Rangers were negligent because Rogers showed signs of anger and violence against media photographers before the attack, yet the team did nothing to curb it.

PRO BASKETBALL

Knicks Are Waiting for Curry to Report

The New York Knicks were waiting for Eddy Curry to report to training camp, along with test results on the irregular heartbeat that prompted Chicago to trade him.

Knick President Isiah Thomas and Coach Larry Brown had hoped Curry would make it to the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., on Wednesday, but by late afternoon, team spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz said Curry probably would not join the team until today.

Until then, the team said it would not reveal anything about the 22-year-old’s health status.

Detroit Piston guard Lindsey Hunter had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles in his left ankle. He will be reevaluated in a week, and no timetable has been set for his return.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Northern Illinois Defeats Miami of Ohio, 38-27

Sam Hurd caught seven passes for a career-high 223 yards and two touchdowns in Northern Illinois’ 38-27 victory over Miami of Ohio in a Mid-American Conference game at DeKalb, Ill.

Phil Horvath completed 19 of 22 passes for 296 yards, and connected with Hurd on scoring plays of 36 and 30 yards for the Huskies, 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the MAC. Garrett Wolfe ran for 197 yards and also scored twice for Northern Illinois, which scored 28 consecutive points to take a 28-7 lead at the half.

Josh Betts threw two second-half touchdown passes to Martin Nance for Miami (2-3, 1-2).

Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson returned to practice and is expected to play Saturday against No. 2 Texas. He had sat out two days of practice because of a sprained right ankle.

TENNIS

ATP Tells Tournament to Not Cancel Doubles

The ATP, which runs men’s professional tennis, informed officials of the upcoming Madrid Masters Series tournament that they could not go forward with their announced plan to suspend the doubles competition and must hold the event.

“The ATP was unaware of the Masters Series Madrid’s decision to announce that they planned to suspend their doubles competition in support of the ATP, which has been sued by a number of doubles players,” said the organization in a statement. “Irrespective of the tournament’s motivation, they have been advised that they are not in a position to unilaterally make such changes.”

Despite this directive, tournament director Manolo Santana told the Spanish sports daily newspaper Marca that the tournament maintained the same intention of suspending the doubles event.

Mariano Puerta defeated Eric Taino, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round of the Japan Open.

The French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported that Puerta tested positive for a banned stimulant after the Argentine’s loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final and could be banned for life.

Charles Russell, a British law firm representing Puerta, said in a statement the player “did not deliberately or knowingly ingest any prohibited substance” and he “strenuously denies that a doping offense has been committed.”

Lindsay Davenport beat Francesca Schiavone, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the Porsche Grand Prix quarterfinals at Filderstadt, Germany.... Dominik Hrbaty beat Florian Mayer, 7-6 (5), 6-1, to move to the quarterfinals of the Open de Moselle at Metz, France.

MLS

Gift Gives Chivas USA a Tie With Colorado

Colorado’s Nat Borchers accidentally deflected the ball into his own goal to give Chivas USA a 1-1 tie with the Rapids at Denver. Colorado’s Dedi Ben Dayan opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, and Chivas tied it in the 35th when Matt Taylor’s hard cross from the left side of the Colorado area caromed off Borchers’ thigh and into the net.

Chivas USA is 4-21-6, and Colorado is 12-13-5.

Chris Armas and Jack Stewart scored late goals to help the Chicago Fire clinch a playoff spot with a 2-2 tie with the MetroStars at Chicago.... Ramon Nunez scored in extra time to lift FC Dallas over Columbus, 2-1, at Dallas.... Freddy Adu scored his fourth goal of the season for D.C. United in a 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at Salt Lake City.

MISCELLANY

Berrier Says He Will Appeal Suspension

Crew chief Todd Berrier plans to appeal his two-race suspension and will be in Kevin Harvick’s pit for Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Kansas Speedway.

Berrier was sent home and Harvick’s Chevrolet was disqualified Friday when NASCAR found several violations in the trunk of Harvick’s car after he qualified second at Talladega Superspeedway.

Also, Michael Waltrip’s penalties for allegedly making an inappropriate gesture during the Sept. 18 race in New Hampshire were overturned when two members of the panel found TV footage “inconclusive.”

Allen Gutterman, who recently left Hollywood Park in part of a front-office shake-up after the sale of the track, was named vice president of marketing at Santa Anita.