*BASEBALL : Mets ace Johan Santana will be held out of the second World Baseball Classic following off-season knee surgery, leaving Venezuela without one of its biggest stars. The Venezuelan Baseball Federation announced Friday that Santana won’t pitch in next month’s tournament, a move that had been expected. … Brewers third basemen Bill Hall is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks because of a partial tear in his left calf.
*GOLF: Retief Goosen shot a second-round 8-under 64 to get to 12-under and a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, Calif. … The PGA Tour picked up its first title sponsorship renewal of the year Friday when The Travelers agreed to a four-year contract extension that keeps golf in Connecticut through 2014. … Michelle Wie put herself into contention for her first LPGA Tour victory, shooting a 2-under 70 in difficult conditions Friday in the second round of the season-opening SBS Open. Wie is tied with Angela Stanford (71) heading into Saturday’s final round.
*HOCKEY : Forward Sean Avery is expected to play his first game with the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday. The Stars assigned Avery to the American Hockey League team on Tuesday. The team plans to use him when the Rangers’ affiliate hosts Manitoba on Saturday night. … Joe Motzko scored the decisive goal in the shootout in the Wolves’ 3-2 win over Milwaukee.
*NFL : The Giants designated running back Brandon Jacobs as its franchise player on Friday. The move will guarantee Jacobs, who was due to become a free agent Feb. 27, $6.6 million next season. General manager Jerry Reese said the Giants and Jacobs will continue negotiating a long-term deal. … Former union presidents Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong and lawyer DeMaurice Smith are the finalists to succeed the late Gene Upshaw as executive director of the NFL Players Association.
*COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Illinois’ regular-season home finale against Michigan State has been scheduled for Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. It will be broadcast locally on WBBM-Ch. 2.
*CYCLING: Taylor Phinney of the United States and Eleonora van Dijk of the Netherlands won the pursuit races at cycling’s Track World Cup finals on Friday in Copenhagen.
*TENNIS: Top-ranked Serena Williams defeated Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1 to set up a semifinal with Elena Dementieva for the third straight tournament at the Open GDF Suez in Paris on Friday. In the other semifinal, second-seeded Jelena Jankovic will meet two-time champion Amelie Mauresmo. … James Blake beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (9), 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the SAP Open in San Jose, setting up an intriguing meeting with doubles teammate Mardy Fish.
*SKIING: Lindsey Vonn declared herself ready for Saturday’s slalom at the world championships with a special splint on her right thumb. She needed surgery after cutting a tendon on a broken champagne bottle.
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EDITED BY BOB FOLTMAN FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICES
