Schilling’s doctor says surgery needed

Curt Schilling’s doctor insists the only way the 20-year veteran can pitch again is through surgery on a torn shoulder tendon that resembles strands of pasta.

Boston’s team physician disagrees. He believes the tendon is damaged, not torn, and rehabilitation gives Schilling the best chance to play this season.

“The problem has probably been building up for two years, and he just went over the red line,” Schilling’s physician, Craig Morgan, said Friday in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

“Instead of being a single tendon, it’s like three pieces of spaghetti or linguine, and when that happens it’s end-stage disease in the tendon.”

A third doctor, Mets medical director David Altchek, agreed that the tendon was torn but said surgery would probably sideline him for the season, Morgan said.

Schilling, concerned that the Red Sox would invalidate his one-year, $8-million contract if he chose surgery, then agreed to rehab.

“On our conference call on Wednesday it was their strong recommendation that he go with the conservative approach,” Morgan said.

Morgan operated on Schilling’s right shoulder in 1995 and 1999. In his blog Thursday night, Schilling praised Morgan.

Left-hander Erik Bedard was acquired by the Seattle Mariners from the Baltimore Orioles in a long-delayed trade for five prospects.

Baltimore received outfielder Adam Jones, who is projected to start in center field on opening day. The Orioles also obtained reliever George Sherrill and pitchers Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio.

Former Angel Ramon Ortiz pitched five scoreless innings and the Licey Tigers won their 10th Caribbean Series with an 8-2 victory over the Cibao Eagles at Santiago, Dominican Republic. The Dodgers’ Rafael Furcal hit a two-run homer for the Eagles.

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TENNIS

Roddick, Blake give U.S. 2-0 lead

Andy Roddick and James Blake won opening singles matches at Vienna to give the defending champion U.S. a 2-0 lead over Austria in the first round of the Davis Cup.

Roddick defeated Jurgen Melzer, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, on the indoor clay court. Blake beat Stefan Koubek, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

Top-seeded Anna Chakvetadze defeated sixth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Open Gaz de France in Paris. She will play third-seeded Marion Bartoli, who beat Virginie Razzano, 6-1, 7-6 (3).

Seventh-seeded Agnes Szavay upset second-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, 7-6 (4), 6-1, to earn a semifinal berth against fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-5, 6-2.

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GOLF

McNulty, Pate share first-round lead

Mark McNulty holed an 86-foot chip for eagle on the par-five 18th for a six-under-par 66 and a share of the first-round lead with Jerry Pate in the Allianz Championship at Boca Raton, Fla. Pate missed an eight-foot birdie attempt on the 18th moments after McNulty’s eagle. Jay Haas was at 67 in the Champions Tour event, along with Bobby Wadkins, Tom Purtzer, Scott Hoch, Keith Fergus, Gil Morgan and Phil Blackmar.

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Stanford hires Lynn as defensive coordinator

Stanford hired Ron Lynn as co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Lynn, who has 38 years of coaching experience in college and the NFL, will share the defensive coordinator duties with linebackers coach Andy Buh. They will replace Scott Shafer, who left last month to take the defensive coordinator job at Michigan.

Washington State starting defensive tackle A’i Ahmu of San Diego and reserve safety Xavier Hicks Jr. of Fullerton were suspended indefinitely for violating team rules, a school spokesman said.

USC announced that its 2008 football opener at Virginia will be played as scheduled Aug. 30.

The schools had exploratory discussions with television networks about possibly moving the game to Labor Day, Sept. 1, but decided to stay with the original date.

-- Gary Klein

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MISCELLANY

Rapids acquire Gomez from D.C. United

The Colorado Rapids signed Argentine midfielder Christian Gomez, one of the most prolific scorers in MLS, to a two-year contract worth about $400,000.

The Rapids acquired his rights from D.C. United for a first-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft and future considerations.

Hernan Gomez quit as Guatemala’s national team soccer coach after a string of losses that culminated in a a 5-0 rout by Argentina in an exhibition at the Coliseum on Wednesday.

Former national figure skating champion Christopher Bowman died from an accidental drug overdose and an enlarged heart, the coroner said. Bowman, 40, was found dead inside a motel room in North Hills on Jan. 10.

Chief Coroner’s Investigator Craig Harvey said the two-time champion’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.12. He said the toxicology tests also showed cocaine, Valium and marijuana. Also present was the prescription medicine Seroquel, which is used to treat bipolar disorder.