SEATTLE (AP) - The Seattle Mariners have acquired shortstop Jack Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell from the Pittsburgh Pirates for shortstop Ronny Cedeno, Triple-A catcher Jeff Clement and three minor league pitchers.
Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik says he made Wednesday’s trade to get the 31-year-old Wilson.
Cedeno was acquired in the offseason from the Chicago Cubs. He struggled after Seattle gave him its shortstop job by trading Yuniesky Betancourt to Kansas City this month. Cedeno is hitless in his last 26 at-bats.
Pittsburgh also gets minor league right-handed pitchers Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin and Aaron Pribanic.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The purple No. 4 jerseys with “FAVRE” on the back were already in heavy circulation around the Twin Cities and it seemed almost inevitable that Brett Favre would end his second retirement to join the Minnesota Vikings.
Then Favre dropped the news that surprised many - inside the organization and out - when he called Vikings coach Brad Childress on Tuesday to tell him he was staying retired and would not be joining the Vikings for training camp.
“The writing on the wall was, as long as his arm was healthy he was going to play,” Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said. “I thought it was just a contractual deal that was taking so long and I really expected him to be at camp. So I was really surprised.”
Now the Vikings are left to pick up the pieces after their summer-long courtship of the future Hall of Fame quarterback ended with a phone call just two days before players are required to report to training camp in Mankato.
Set to turn 40 in October, Favre told Childress that he didn’t think his body could withstand a 19th season in the NFL. This after he retired for a second time, was granted his release from the New York Jets and had surgery to alleviate a torn biceps in his throwing arm, presumably to get him ready for one last run at a title.

NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Vick was reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday and could play in regular season games as early as October.
Vick can immediately participate in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games - if he can find a team that will sign him. A number of teams have already said they would not.
“Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited,” Goodell said in a letter to Vick. “I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you.”
Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007 after the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback admitted bankrolling the “Bad Newz Kennels” dogfighting operation. Goodell said then that Vick must show remorse and signs that he has changed before he would consider reinstating him.
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement by Week 6 (Oct. 18-19).

Mike BiresTimes Sports Staff

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger vehemently denied any wrongdoing in response toa sexual-assault lawsuit filed against him by a hotel employee from Nevada.

The Steelers star quarterback made the following statement Thursday at team headquarters:

“I did not sexually assault Andrea McNulty. Saturday, was the first that I learned of her accusations. Her false and vicious allegations are an attack on my family and on me. I would never ever force myself on a woman. I’m going to fight to protect my family and my reputation.

“I am not going to discuss my private life or this civil case in the media. I’ll respond to these outrageous allegations in the appropriate forum.

“I have an obligation to our fans, to my teammates, to my coaches and everyone in the organization to remain focused on the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I will do that.

“The allegations against me are reckless and false. As much as I would like to answer everyone’s questions, I’m going to respect the legal process and I am confident that the truth will prevail. Thanks you.”

Roethlisberger did not field any questions.

On Friday, McNulty filed a civil lawsuit against Roethlisberger, claiming hesexually assaulted her in his hotel room while he was playing in a celebrity golf tournament last year in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Read morein Friday’s editions of The Times or on the web at www.timesonline.com.

RENO, Nev. (AP) _ Law enforcement officials in Nevada have no intention of opening a criminal investigation into allegations Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and Ohio native Ben Roethlisberger raped a woman at a Lake Tahoe hotel-casino a year ago, the sheriff’s department said Wednesday.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Teresa Duffy said the accuserwould have to file a criminal complaint to trigger an investigation into the incident the woman says occurred during a celebrity golf tournament last July while she was working as an executive casino host at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.
“The victim is the only one who can do that,” Duffy told The Associated Press. “Unless there was a third party that actually witnessed the incident, which according to the civil case, was not the case here,” she said.
The 31-year-old woman, Andrea McNulty,who was working as a VIP host at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe at the time has filed a lawsuit saying Roethlisberger raped her in a hotel penthouse across the street from the golf course, a claim he vehemently denies.
McNulty, a native of Canada who had worked at Harrah’s since 2003, never went to the authorities with her story, and it’s unclear why she decided to file the lawsuit seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars a full year later.
“Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct,” Roethlisberger lawyer David Cornwell said in a statement. “If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated.”
He did not immediately reply to a phone message and e-mail seeking more comment.

PITTSBURGH– Multiple sources are reporting that the Pittsburgh Pirates have traded first baseman Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox for a pair of minor leaguers.

As of 2 p.m., the team had not made an official announcement, but LaRoche was out of the Pirates’ lineup Wednesday afternoon against Milwaukee and Garrett Jones was in at first base.

The Pirates reportedly will receive minor league shortstop Argenis Diaz andpitcher Hunter Strickland.

LaRoche is hitting .247 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs.

Diaz is batting .253 for the Red Sox’s Double-A affiliate in Portland, Maine.

More details in Thursday’s Times.

By Scott Sonner, Associated Press Writer
RENO, Nev. (AP) - A woman has filed a lawsuit accusing Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of raping her last summer in his penthouse room at a casino in Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament.
Roethlisberger’s lawyer adamantly denied the allegations Tuesday.
“Ben has never sexually assaulted anyone. The timing of the lawsuit and the absence of a criminal complaint and a criminal investigation are the most compelling evidence of the absence of any criminal conduct. If an investigation is commenced, Ben will cooperate fully and Ben will be fully exonerated,” David Cornwell said in a statement.
The claim seeks at least $390,000 in damages from the quarterback, who has won two Super Bowls and is one of the biggest names in sports. The lawsuit also alleges hotel officials for Harrah’s Lake Tahoe went to great lengths to cover up the incident.
Teresa Duffy, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office in Douglas County, which includes part of Lake Tahoe, said no complaints were filed about such an incident either with sheriff’s deputies or the district attorney’s office.
The woman’s lawsuit says she didn’t file a criminal complaint because she feared she would be fired and expected Harrah’s would side with Roethlisberger.
The woman said she had been promoted from VIP shift manager and was working as an executive casino host when Roethlisberger struck up a friendly conversation at her desk during the golf tournament.
The next day, July 11, 2008, she said he telephoned her to tell her his television sound system wasn’t working and asked her to look at it.
She said she was unable to find a technician so she decided to handle it herself because she had been told how important it was to please celebrities.
In Roethlisberger’s room she said she determined the TV was functioning properly but as she turned to leave but the 6-foot-5, 240-pound quarterback stood in front of the door and blocked her, the suit claims.
The lawsuit said he then grabbed her and started to kiss her. It said she was “shocked and stunned that this previously friendly man, that appeared to be a gentleman in her previous contacts with him was suddenly preventing her from leaving, was assaulting her and battering her.”
She said she feared that because he was a football player he could or would physically harm her if she tried to fight him off but that she objected and protested several times.
“But instead of stopping, Roethlisberger began fondling plaintiff through her dress and between her legs,” the suit said. He then “held her against her will and physically moved plaintiff and pushed her onto his bed” where he raped her, the suit says.
She told him “You don’t want to do this,” and begged him “I am not on any type of birth control.”
Afterward, he asked if there was a security camera in the hallway. She said he then instructed her to claim she had repaired his television if anyone asked why she was in his room.
The lawsuit says the woman required hospitalization for treatment for depression after the alleged attack.
The woman’s lawyer, Calvin R. Dunlap, of Reno, declined to answer questions about the lack of a criminal complaint and why the civil action was brought a year after the incident allegedly took place.
“Neither I nor our client will be making any comment,” Dunlap said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “We believe the matter should be resolved in court rather than in the media.”
The lawsuit also names eight Harrah’s employees as defendants and alleges the cover-up involved the chief of security at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and was carried out with the knowledge of John Koster, president of Harrah’s northern Nevada operations.
John Packer, spokesman for the hotel-casino, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The suit says Harrah’s security chief Guy Hyder gained the trust of her parents while she was hospitalized for depression and persuaded them to give him a key to her home. She said Hyder and others then entered her home and allegedly erased information from her computer and confiscated it.
The lawsuit claims that when the woman first reported the attack to Hyder he dismissed her distress and crying and said she was “overreacting.”
The woman said Hyder told her that “most girls would feel lucky to get to have sex with someone like Ben Roethlisberger” and that “Koster would love you even more if he knew about this” because Koster was good friends with Roethlisberger and admired him greatly.
Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said Tuesday the team is aware of the lawsuit, and “we are gathering information.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Fans of ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair planned to focus on his incredible career and life with a memorial service on Thursday, not his sudden and tragic death.
McNair, 36, was a married man shot four times in his sleep on the Fourth of July by a girlfriend 16 years his junior, who then killed herself. The 20-year-old woman was distraught about mounting financial problems and her belief that he was seeing someone else, police said Wednesday.
Sahel Kazemi “was spinning out of control” when she shot McNair as he dozed on a sofa early Saturday, Chief Ronal Serpas said. Police found she was paying for two cars, her rent was doubling and she suspected McNair was having a second affair with another woman.
That’s not how McNair will be remembered Thursday during viewings at a funeral home and the stadium where he once played. His friends, ex-teammates, former coaches and wife will celebrate him at a memorial service with his close friend and pastor, Bishop Joseph W. Walker III, delivering the eulogy.

CHECK ON MAXIE
Condition updates on Max Williams are available at www.caringbridge.org. Williams’ page on the site can be accessed by typing “Maxie” into the name space.
Visitors to the site also can leave get-well wishes online.
Eric Poole, Calkins Media
PITTSBURGH - Former Miami Dolphins offensive and defensive lineman Max Williams remains in critical condition after collapsing Wednesday in an apparent cardiac arrest.
Williams, of Ellwood City, is in Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he is undergoing treatment. Bonnie Goatley, a close friend of Williams and his wife, Karen, said he is “holding his own.”
On Friday, Williams, who turned 69 Sunday, was reportedly breathing 90 percent on his own, and doctors were preparing to perform tests to determine the nature of the cardiac arrest that felled him Wednesday morning.
Friends and family can obtain online updates on Williams’ condition and send get-well messages by going to the Caring Bridge Web site.

According to an update late Friday morning on Caring Bridge, Williams had opened his eyes and was acknowledging visitors.
Williams was leaving Apple Rehabilitation Center in Ellport Wednesday after a workout session when he suddenly collapsed. Staff at Apple immediately began caring for the ex-pro football player and initiated CPR, moves that Goatley said saved his life.
“Thank God they had people there and they started doing CPR,” she said. “If they didn’t, he would not be here.”
He was transported by ambulance to Ellwood City Hospital, where emergency room staff stabilized his condition, and taken by helicopter to Mercy Hospital.
Williams, a North Carolina native, attended Southeastern Louisiana University and played in the American Football League and NFL for the Houston Oilers and Miami Dolphins from 1965 to 1970.
Many of his Dolphins teammates were members of the squad that made NFL history in 1972 by becoming the only team to go unbeaten throughout an entire season and win the Super Bowl.
Williams moved to the Ellwood City area after marrying Karen, and was a head football coach at New Brighton High School and an assistant coach at Lincoln High School, as recently as two years ago.
He also was the owner of Maxie-Mum fitness center, now Air Fitness, on Lawrence Avenue.
Goatley said the family is grateful for the outpouring of well-wishes and support for Williams since he was hospitalized.
“We want to thank everybody for their continuous support and prayers,” she said.
Eric Poole can be reached online at epoole@ellwoodcityledger.com.

PITTSBURGH – WPXI (Channel 11) is reporting on its Web site that a pot possession charge against Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes has been dropped.

Holmeswas arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana charge stemming from a traffic stop in October.

Pittsburgh police said they found three marijuana-filled cigars in Holmes’ car when he was pulled over Oct. 23 near Mellon Arena. Holmes was stopped because his vehicle was similar to one police were looking for in a drug sting, reported WPXI.

Holmes was facing 30 days probation and a $500 fine if convicted, said WPXI.