BASEBALL

Two University of Maine players were selected Tuesday in the baseball amateur draft.

Jeremy Pena, a junior shortstop, was taken by the Houston Astros with the 102nd pick in the third round.

Pena, 20, was the only member of the Black Bears to start all 54 games this season. He led the team with 50 runs, five triples and 19 multihit games. He was second in batting average (.308), hits (65) and on-base percentage (.393). He also had five home runs and stole 10 bases. He is considered an exceptional defensive shortstop.

His father, Geronimo Pena, played seven major league seasons with the Cardinals and Indians.

Senior catcher Christopher Bec was selected two rounds later, 146th overall, by the Toronto Blues Jays.

Bec, a Miami native, led the Black Bears in batting average (.315), was second in slugging percentage (.539) and third in hits (56).

HORSE RACING

BELMONT: Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify will break from the No. 1 post as the early 4-5 favorite in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes as the colt tries to complete a Triple Crown sweep.

Justify will take on nine rivals in the 11/2-mile race.

Hofburg was made the 9-2 second choice. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the colt finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness.

FOOTBALL

NFL: New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman has lymphoma and will soon begin treatment, and he said he is encouraged by the prognosis.

Gettleman, hired in the offseason, released a statement about his health. Gettleman said he plans to continue working “as much as the treatment process will allow.”

Assistant general manager Kevin Abrams is likely to assume some of Gettleman’s duties while the GM is undergoing treatments.

n The Chicago Bears placed veteran tight end Zach Miller on the physically unable to perform list one day after he signed a one-year contract. Miller is attempting to return from a gruesome injury last October that nearly cost him his left leg.

n The Browns signed free-agent linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who started last season for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

XFL: Former NFL quarterback Oliver Luck is leaving his high-ranking position at the NCAA to become commissioner of the XFL, the second edition of professional wrestling mogul Vince McMahon’s football league.

Luck is the father of Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

SPORTS BETTING

DELAWARE: The market for legal sports gambling in the United States widened significantly with expanded betting in Delaware, putting legal wagering within driving distance of three major East Coast cities less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to accept the bets.

HOCKEY

NHL: Lou Lamoriello moved quickly to shake up the New York Islanders by firing GM Garth Snow, a former UMaine goalie, and Coach Doug Weight and naming himself the team’s new GM just two weeks after taking over as president of hockey operations.

The Islanders missed the playoffs eight times in Snow’s 12 years as general manager. He has four years left on his contract.

– Staff and news services report

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