Guillen’s play earns extension

The Detroit Tigers and shortstop Carlos Guillen agreed Tuesday on a $14 million, three-year contract extension through 2007.

Guillen, 28, gets $4 million next season and $5 million in each of the final two years. He is batting .322 with 47 RBIs in 67 games this season with a career-best seven triples and 10 homers.

Guillen was acquired from Seattle in January for Ramon Santiago and prospect Juan Gonzalez after starting the previous three seasons with the Mariners. Guillen is making $2.5 million this year.

“I’m very happy,” Guillen said. “I feel pretty good. I like the front office. They want to win. That’s the most important thing. The front office made a lot of moves to make this team better. I want to stay here.”“This is peace of mind for him,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. “He’s happy here, and I’m glad we were able to make him comfortable. I think we’re on the right track. We all know we still have work to do, but to have him on board is going to make that process a little easier.”

Guillen began his career in the Houston Astros’ farm system, then was acquired by the Mariners with Freddy Garcia and John Halama in 1998 for Randy Johnson. Guillen hit .264 with 29 homers and 211 RBIs in 488 games with the Mariners.

The Tigers also purchased the contract of outfielder Marcus Thames from Class AAA Toledo, and he was in the starting lineup against Kansas City as the designated hitter .

Thames hit .329 and was leading the International League with 24 home runs, 46 extra-base hits, 59 RBIs and a .735 slugging percentage at Toledo. He was second in the league with a .410 on-base percentage.

Balloon payment

Ken Griffey Jr. walked into the visitors’ clubhouse at Shea Stadium and was greeted by 500 big, red balloons – one for every home run the Cincinnati Reds star has hit.

“I know I’m going to get fined for it in our little court, but I appreciate it,” Griffey said before the Reds played the New York Mets – his first game since hitting his 500th homer two days earlier in St. Louis.

The balloons, which read “Congrats On Your 500th HR,” were a gift from Nike.

Beckett’s start pushed back

Florida ace Josh Beckett was bumped in the rotation to Saturday, giving him three extra days of rest to recover from a strained back muscle.

Beckett threw about 5 minutes Tuesday before feeling some pain and stopping.

Nonetheless, he plans to throw long-toss today and a bullpen session Thursday. If both go well, the World Series MVP expects to start Saturday at Tampa Bay.

“It’s nothing we want to stress and go backward,” he said. “We’ve got time.”

Clearing the bases

Larry Walker doubled in his season debut for the Rockies after missing the team’s first 68 games with a strained left groin. Walker got a hit on the first pitch to him from Milwaukee’s Doug Davis, driving the ball off fence in left-center field. Colorado optioned utilityman Kit Pellow to Triple-A Colorado Springs to clear a roster spot. … Phillies right-hander Vicente Padilla will be out at least two more weeks because of an elbow injury. An MRI exam on Tuesday revealed Padilla has a bone bruise on the elbow of his pitching arm where the triceps attaches to the bone. … Rangers right-hander Chan Ho Park began a rehabilitation assignment by pitching three innings in a rookie league game. The Rangers don’t expect Park to rejoin the team before at least late July.

The Red Sox signed right-handed reliever Curtis Leskanic and sent left-hander Mark Malaska to Triple-A Pawtucket. … The Royals placed catcher Kelly Stinnett, their second catcher to go on the DL in four days. They called up catcher Alberto Castillo from Triple-A Omaha. … The Reds activated infielder Juan Castro from the disabled list and optioned left-hander Jung Keun Bong to Triple-A Louisville. … Angels pitcher John Lackey dropped his appeal of a five-game suspension he received from the commissioner’s office and began serving the penalty Tuesday night.