Sports briefs

Orioles, Markakis agree to six-year, $66m contract Right fielder Nick Markakis and the Baltimore Orioles reached a preliminary agreement Monday on a $66 million, six-year contract, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The contract, the second-richest in team history, covers three years Markakis would have been eligible for arbitration and the first three after he would have been eligible for free agency. The agreement was first reported by the Baltimore Sun.

Markakis hit .306 with 20 homers and 87 RBI last season. He led all AL outfielders with 17 assists.

Today is the day players and owners are set to exchange proposed figures in arbitration. Of the 111 players who filed for arbitration Thursday, 24 had agreed to contracts by Monday evening.

• Ryan Madson and Philadelphia reached preliminary agreement on a $12 million, three-year contract. Madson played a key role in the world champions' bullpen.

• White Sox closer Bobby Jenks agreed to a $5.6 million, one-year contract, more than 10 times his $550,000 salary last season.

• Atlanta closer Mike Gonzalez agreed to a $3.45 million, one-year contract.

• Righthander Felix Hernandez agreed to a $3.8 million, one-year deal with Seattle.

Petty's name stays on unified team Amid all the economic turmoil in NASCAR, fans can take some comfort knowing Richard Petty is still around.

Stock car's king, 71, will have a presence under a rebranding of the new team created by the merger of his organization with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

The new team will be called Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM), capitalizing on the seven-time champion's marketability.

Petty and GEM principal owner George Gillett agreed to merge their teams this month in a partnership that keeps the sponsor-strapped Pettys in racing. Reed Sorenson will drive Petty's famed No. 43 Dodge for RPM this season. A.J. Allmendinger will drive in the No. 44 for at least the first five races. Those two join GEM holdovers Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler.

Cycling: Lance Armstrong contended with fierce heat in his first road race in three years, finishing in the back of the pack in the first stage of the six-stage Tour Down Under. Temperatures soared to 102 degrees in rural South Australia. "That was tough, and this is the day they said is going to be the easy day," said Armstrong, 37.

Boxing: Former light heavyweight champion Jose Torres has died in his native Puerto Rico at age 72. Torres won the world light heavyweight title in 1965 by beating Willie Pastrano in New York.

College football: Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant has undergone successful knee surgery. The All-America injured the knee in the Holiday Bowl.