Knee injury puts Beltran on the DL

Carlos Beltran is going on the disabled list, an enormous blow to a struggling New York Mets team already devastated by key injuries.

The All-Star center fielder was put on the 15-day DL on Monday because of a bone bruise on his right knee -- the same injury that sidelined him for a couple of games in late May. An MRI exam Monday showed the bruise has gotten worse.

Beltran could be out longer than 15 days. Asked if the Mets might wait until after the All-Star break to activate him, General Manager Omar Minaya said that was something the team would have to consider.

The Mets already are missing star shortstop Jose Reyes (hamstring) and slugging first baseman Carlos Delgado (hip). Neither is expected back soon.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Alex Gonzalez has had surgery to remove four bone chips in his right elbow.

He is expected to miss four to five weeks.

Gonzalez went on the 15-day disabled list Saturday, a day after he felt pain on a swing during batting practice.

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura had only a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and had an arthroscopic procedure performed instead of reconstructive surgery that would have sidelined him the rest of the season.

Instead, Iwamura could return in six to eight weeks.

--

PRO FOOTBALL

Defensive tackle Glover retires

La’Roi Glover, a six-time Pro Bowl selection at defensive tackle who led the NFL in sacks in 2000, announced his retirement after 13 seasons.

Glover, who turns 35 on July 4, spent the last three seasons with the St. Louis Rams. He was not re-signed following the 2008 season, when he had 30 tackles and one-half of a sack.

--

BASKETBALL

USC hires two assistant coaches

USC has hired two assistant coaches in women’s basketball, completing the staff of new Coach Michael Cooper and associate head coach Ervin Monier. Kelley Gibson and Mary Wooley will join the Trojans for the 2009-10 season.

Gibson has been an assistant at Maine for two seasons. She was an all-conference player at Maryland and played for the Houston Comets of the WNBA. Wooley has been the director of operations at Temple for three seasons. She played for South Carolina Aiken.

LeBron James is moving his King’s Academy summer basketball camp from his hometown of Akron, Ohio, to the campus of UC San Diego. It will run from July 24-28.

--

JURISPRUDENCE

Jayson Williams to remain free

Retired NBA player Jayson Williams will remain free on bail after a judge in Somerville, N.J., rejected a prosecutor’s request to revoke the bail and send him to prison for covering up the shooting of a hired driver more than seven years ago.

State Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman noted that Williams hasn’t been convicted of anything since his 2004 trial and continues to show up to court as required.

The attorney for an 18-year-old man accused of attacking a UCLA tennis player and leaving him in a coma suggested his client was defending himself against a “physical attack.”

Chancellor Jay Hutcheson of Plano, Texas, surrendered to authorities, posted bond and was released from the Dallas County Jail. He is charged with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony.

Hutcheson is accused of attacking Jeffrey “Jake” Fleming, 20, of Newport Beach after a concert in Dallas on June 13.

Fleming’s family said he was sucker-punched as he was about to catch a taxi.

--

ETC.

Kupets is top female athlete

Georgia senior gymnast Courtney Kupets won the Honda-Broderick Cup, given to the nation’s top female college athlete.

Kupets led Georgia to its fifth straight NCAA crown in April, amassing individual titles in the all-around, bars, beam and floor competition.

Lizette Salas shot a four-under-par 68 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of stroke-play qualifying in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at Devens, Mass.

The 19-year-old Salas, of Azusa, opened her back nine with three consecutive birdies at Red Tail Golf Club.

Chivas USA will be without leading scorer Eduardo Lillingston as well as two other starters tonight when it plays the Chicago Fire at Bridgeview, Ill., (5 PDT, TeleFutura) in the first round of soccer’s eight-team SuperLiga tournament.

Lillingston, who has scored six goals in his first MLS season, was ejected from Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to Tigres UANL of Mexico at the Home Depot Center.

Chivas USA will also be minus defender Jonathan Bornstein and midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who are in South Africa with the U.S. national team for Wednesday’s semifinal game against Spain in the Confederations Cup.

-- Grahame L. Jones