Foulke decides to retire

Before he got a chance to finish another game, Keith Foulke closed his career.

Foulke, 34, who had battled elbow, back and knee injuries the last two seasons, retired Friday just as he was about to begin a two-man competition with Joe Borowski to be Cleveland’s closer.

“Over the last few weeks, while preparing for the 2007 season, my body has not responded as it has in years past,” Foulke said in a statement.

The Indians, whose slide from 93 wins in 2005 to 78 and a fourth-place finish last season was tied to a poor bullpen, signed Foulke to a one-year, $5-million contract in January.

The club would have had to honor that deal if Foulke had reported to camp and then retired.

Foulke’s retirement means Borowski, signed in December to a one-year, $4.25-million deal, will start the season as the Indians’ closer. He had 36 saves in 43 chances last season for the Florida Marlins.

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Washington Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson, whose 2006 season ended early because of a broken right leg, still isn’t sure when he’ll be able to play again.

After arriving at spring training in Viera, Fla., he said it might be June.

Johnson said his leg gets sore when he walks and that he’s not yet able to jog. A team doctor is to examine X-rays Monday, General Manager Jim Bowden said.

Johnson was hurt Sept. 23 in a collision with right fielder Austin Kearns while going after a ball in a game against the New York Mets.

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Outfielder Wily Mo Pena and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a one-year contract worth $1,875,000 before their arbitration hearing in Phoenix.

Pena, who made $1.25 million last season, had asked for $2.2 million in arbitration and the Red Sox had offered $1,725,000.

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Former Cincinnati Reds pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall has been hospitalized in Florida for tests for a recurrence of lymphoma, his son said.

The 78-year-old Nuxhall was in Sarasota for the start of the team’s spring training when he went to Sarasota Memorial Hospital on Wednesday for previously scheduled tests, son Kim Nuxhall said.

That’s when doctors found the recurrence of lymphoma, first detected in September 2003.

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Games stopped with a tie score in the bottom of the fifth inning or later will be suspended rather than replayed under a rule change.

Suspended games will be completed before the next scheduled game between the two teams at the same location under the change by baseball’s rules committee. If no games are left at that field, the game will be completed at the other team’s park.

The change is the committee’s first revision of playing rules since 1996, when the strike zone was redefined.