BASKETBALL
Red Claws’ rally falls short in loss to Charge at Canton
The Maine Red Claws could not come back from a 19-point deficit and lost 106-98 to the Canton Charge in an NBA D-League game at Canton, Ohio on Wednesday, ending Maine’s three-game winning streak.
Abdel Nader led the Red Claws (18-10) with 31 points while Jalen Jones added 21 points and 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season. Coron Williams had 14 points, while Marcus Georges-Hunt, Dallas Lauderdale and Asauhn Dixon-Tatum scored 10 points each.
The Charge (15-11) pushed their lead to 73-54 in the third quarter before the Red Claws used runs of 5-0 and 7-0 to cut the deficit to 77-68. Maine trailed 84-72 after three quarters.
Canton (15-11) was led by Chris Evans with 27 points.
BASEBALL
MAJOR LEAGUES: All-Star left-hander Drew Pomeranz and the Boston Red Sox agreed to a $4.45 million, one-year contract, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing next month.
Pomeranz asked for $5.7 million and was offered $3.6 million when the sides swapped proposed salaries on Jan. 15, the largest gap among the players who exchanged. His deal was announced Wednesday.
The 28-year-old was 11-12 with a 3.32 ERA in a career-high 30 starts and one relief appearance last year, when he made $1.35 million. He was acquired by Boston from San Diego on July 14.
• The Phillies agreed to a minor league contract with Ryan Hanigan that would pay the catcher $1.25 million if he is added to the 40-man roster. Hanigan played the past two seasons with Boston.
• Reliever Greg Holland has agreed to a $7 million, one-year contract with Colorado, according to a person familiar with the deal.
Holland was the Royals closer through most of 2014 and 2015, when they made back-to-back trips to the World Series. He injured his elbow in late 2015 and missed all of last season while recuperating from Tommy John surgery.
• Free-agent outfielder Austin Jackson agreed to a minor league contract with the Indians. The career .272 hitter played in 54 games for the White Sox last season. He underwent surgery on his left knee in June.
OLYMPICS
RUNNING: Usain Bolt has been stripped of one of his nine Olympic gold medals in a doping case involving teammate Nesta Carter.
The IOC said Wednesday that Carter tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant, in re-analysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Carter and Bolt were teammates on the winning 400-meter relay team, which set a world record of 37.10 seconds. Carter ran the opening leg, and Bolt took the baton third on a team that also included Michael Frater and Asafa Powell.
2024 GAMES: The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday gave final approval to a proposal that could bring the 2024 Olympic Games to Southern California.
The privately run bid is competing against Paris and Budapest, Hungary.
GOLF
INJURY: Rory McIlroy is targeting the Mexico Championship in March as his return to tournament action.
McIlroy aggravated a rib stress fracture while finishing runner-up at the SA Open in Gauteng two weekends ago. Those injuries typically take about six weeks to heal, and he believes he’ll be ready to play again in the first World Golf Championship of the year, from March 2-5.
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