A year after a woman was fatally shot by police during Red Sox celebrations, hundreds more officers will work to control crowds during this weekend's series with the New York Yankees, The Boston Globe reported Friday. A deployment plan obtained by the newspaper calls for 876 officers and commanders to be on duty for each of three games starting Friday night. Only 334 officers were deployed the night 21-year-old Emerson College student Victoria Snelgrove was killed last October when she was shot in the eye by a pepper pellet gun following a Red Sox victory over the Yankees. The department has since banned the pellet guns.

The Devil Rays made official Friday morning what had been rumored for weeks: Lou Piniella will not be returning for his final year as manager. In a prepared statement released by the Rays, the club announced that Piniella and the club have mutually decided to part ways. "Lou is a great baseball man and friend. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays thank him for his service to the team and wish him well in his future endeavors," managing general partner Vince Naimoli said in the statement. General manager Chuck LaMar addressed the timing of the announcement in the statement, adding, "All parties felt it would be best to announce the fact that an agreement has been reached now to end the public speculation and to give Lou the opportunity to address his players and coaches before the end of the season."

Federal agents raided the laboratory and home of an Illinois chemist who authorities believe created one of the steroids at the heart of the BALCO sports doping scandal, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday. Investigators with the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation division and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration searched Thursday in Champaign, Ill., at the home and laboratory of chemist Patrick Arnold, the newspaper reported, citing sources who wished not to be identified. BALCO founder Victor Conte and vice president James Valente identified Arnold as the source of a once-undetectable steroid called "the clear." Conte, Valente, track coach Remi Korchemny and Greg Anderson _ the longtime friend and personal trainer of Giants slugger Barry Bonds _ pleaded guilty to distributing steroids to elite athletes and will be sentenced next month.

Kenny Rogers, who began battling with management before the season and has had a tumultuous year off the field, doesn't expect to wear a Rangers uniform next season. "I'm pretty certain this is my last start here," Rogers told The Dallas Morning News of his scheduled appearance Thursday, which he lost. "Actually, I'm extremely certain. I think everybody has made their positions known. "In a way, I'm kind of relieved. I know I won't have to bend over backwards to make it happen. I think sometimes in the past, my desire to be here has been the overriding factor for me, and at least I know where I stand." The year began poorly as the club angered Rogers by its offseason handling of his request for a contract extension.

After flirting with one of the worst collapses in baseball history, the White Sox earned the right to douse each other with champagne. Chicago got a clinch, not a collapse. Paul Konerko homered to back Freddy Garcia and the White Sox held off Detroit for a 4-2 victory Thursday for their first AL Central title since 2000. "That team worked so hard all year long, they deserve to do what they're doing now," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said with champagne-slicked hair. "Finally, they can say, 'We did it!' A lot of teams made it tough on us. It wasn't easy."

As the Mike Piazza era likely draws to a close, Mets owner Fred Wilpon views 2005 as a step forward. "I think it's progress. I'm not sure [what] success is unless you are in the playoffs," Wilpon said Thursday following a news conference to launch the SportsNet New York (SNY), the cable network that will broadcast most of his team's games starting next year. In the first season since Omar Minaya took over as general manager and Willie Randolph became manager, Pedro Martinez flourished and Carlos Beltran foundered for much of the year. Piazza, now 37 and nearing the end of a $91 million, seven-year contract, is likely entering his final weekend with the Mets. "Our people are now assessing what they need and when they need it and how they need it," Wilpon said. "I don't know where they're going to come out. The likelihood is that Mike can be served best in the American League. We've heard that. I guess he has to make that decision as well."

Lou Piniella's separation from the Devil Rays could be announced Friday, The St. Petersburg Times reported. Piniella is expected to finish out the season but not return in 2006, the final year of his contract. The manager refused to discuss the move last week, when it was reported that he would be bought out with the option of coaching elsewhere next season.

Roger Clemens plans to pitch Saturday whether the Houston Astros are still trying to clinch the NL wild card or already have their playoff spot secured. The Rocket skipped his last scheduled start because of a sore left hamstring that has bothered him all month. The 43-year-old right-hander, who is 12-8 and leads the major leagues with a 1.89 ERA, wants to pitch again before the playoffs. "I need to be in a game," Clemens said Thursday before the Astros opened their regular season-ending series against the Chicago Cubs. "I've rested too long. The side work that I'm doing is not intense enough. I need to get out in a game and at least get some active innings under my belt before we get underway."

David Wells told the New York Post he'd step off the mound if the Red Sox repeat as World Series champions. "It means I can retire and go home," Wells told the paper. "If we win ... that would be a storybook ending right there. "Give that money they owe me next year, give it to a young guy. There's a couple of guys here pretty deserving. That would be a great finish." Wells said Sunday that he has had three cortisone shots and might need surgery on his right knee during the offseason.

Keeping the Reds from giving up after a horrible start has earned manager Jerry Narron another year in Cincinnati. "The only reason I'm coming back is because the players played well,'' Jerry Narron said. The Reds extended his contract on Thursday through the 2006 season with a mutual option for 2007. Narron began the season as the Reds bench coach and was appointed interim manager when Dave Miley was fired June 21 after the team's 27-43 start. Cincinnati was 46-42 under Narron entering Thursday's game against Milwaukee. "Really, the only reason I'm coming back is because the players played well," Narron said. "With where we were in the standings, what our record was, it would have been very easy to just pretty much give up on the team part of it and just play individually.