Associated Press
ATLANTA ó Shortstop Rafael Furcal is close to accepting a $30 million, three-year offer to return to the Braves.
The 31-year-old began his major league career with Atlanta, playing for the Braves from 2000-05. He spent the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“He liked the idea of coming back to Atlanta, but there hasn’t been any formal agreement,” Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer, said Tuesday. “Everything is preliminary. The whole thing with coming back home intrigued him. He still has a house here in Atlanta.”
Furcal hit .357 last season with five homers and 16 RBIs but had back surgery July 3 and was limited to 36 games and 143 at-bats.
– BALTIMORE ó The Orioles filled their hole at shortstop, agreeing to a $5 million, two-year contract with free agent Cesar Izturis.
– DETROIT ó Retired Tigers pitcher Todd Jones had shoulder surgery last week. Dr. James Andrews repaired the rotator cuff and labrum of Jones’ pitching shoulder.
– CHICAGO ó Joey Gathright and the Cubs agreed to an $800,000, one-year contract three days after the outfielder became a free agent when Kansas City failed to offer a deal for 2009.
– MILWAUKEE ó Pitcher Chris Capuano stayed with the Brewers, agreeing to a minor league contract after the team let him go last week.
NBA
CHARLOTTE ó D.J. Augustin scored a career-high 29 points while outplaying fellow rookie point guard Derrick Rose, and the undermanned Charlotte Bobcats snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 110-101 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Emeka Okafor added 20 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, and Raymond Felton scored 21 points.
* CHARLOTTE ó Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace has left the team to attend funeral services for his father. Wallace is expected to return for Friday’s game at Memphis.
Wallace missed three games last week after his grandmother died. Just before returning to the team, he found out his father had passed away.
* LOS ANGELES ó Kobe Bryant scored nine of his 28 points in the last 7 1/2 minutes, and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to beat the New York Knicks 116-114.
* PORTLAND, Ore. ó Brandon Roy scored 29 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 109-77 victory over Sacramento. Bobby Jackson was ejected in the second quarter after picking up two technicals for arguing with official Sean Wright.
* OKLAHOMA CITY ó Zach Randolph had 22 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double as the Los Angeles Clippers put away the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-88.
* MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Chris Paul had 18 points, nine assists and five steals as the New Orleans Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 91-84.
Paul also tied Alvin Robertson’s NBA record by recording a steal in his 105th consecutive game.
* HOUSTON ó Tracy McGrady notched his fourth career triple-double as Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 108-96.
NHL
RALEIGH ó Eric Staal scored two power-play goals and the Carolina Hurricanes took advantage of penalty-prone Montreal for a 3-2 victory. Joe Corvo added another power-play goal and Sergei Samsonov had two assists.
* UNIONDALE, N.Y. ó Alex Ovechkin scored his second goal of the game with 10.7 seconds left in overtime and the surging Washington Capitals beat New York 5-4.
* TORONTO ó Vesa Toskala stopped Travis Zajac on a breakaway in the final seconds of overtime and Jason Blake had the winning goal in the shootout to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
* OTTAWA ó Colby Armstrong scored a pair of goals 31 seconds apart in the third period and the Atlanta Thrashers ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
* PHILADELPHIA ó Mike Richards and Simon Gagne each had a goal and two assists, and Philadelphia won its fifth straight game by beating Colorado 5-2.
* ST. LOUIS ó Jarome Iginla had two goals and two assists to match his career best for points and goalie Miikka Kiprusoff beat the St. Louis Blues for the 11th straight time as the Calgary Flames ended a three-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory.
* DALLAS ó Loui Eriksson scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1:21 left in OT, to help the Dallas Stars beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1.
* TORONTO ó Vesa Toskala stopped Travis Zajac on a breakaway in the final seconds of overtime and Jason Blake had the winning goal in a shootout to lead Toronto over New Jersey 3-2.
RACING
CHARLOTTE ó Robby Gordon will switch to Toyota in 2009, his fourth manufacturer change in four years.
Gordon was with General Motors in 2006, switched to Ford the next year to receive greater support, then abruptly moved to Dodge at the start of this season in a technical alliance with Gillett Evernham Motorsports.
That partnership was dissolved late this season, freeing Gordon to align with Toyota.
“After watching their progress last season, we decided that a switch to Toyota was the right package for our team,” Gordon said in a statement Tuesday.
He won a Grand National Sport Truck championship in 1989 for the manufacturer.
* ARCHDALE ó Bobby Labonte said he’s disappointed equity firm Boston Ventures couldn’t do more for Petty Enterprises.
Labonte, who voided his four-year contract extension last week, will explore the free-agent market instead of waiting to see if Petty can complete a merger with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. It wasn’t the outcome he anticipated when Boston Ventures purchased controlling interest in the team in June.
“It sounded great, and I signed a contract for a lengthy period of time, and it was going forward from there,” Labonte said in a conference call. “Unfortunately, (Boston Ventures’) crystal ball got kind of cloudy, too.”
Labonte said he’s had some discussions about the No. 41 at newly formed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing ó the only available seat with full sponsorship.
GOLF
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. ó Padraig Harrington was voted PGA Tour player of the year by his peers, becoming the first European player to win the award since it began in 1990.
Harrington only won twice this year, but they were majors ó the British Open and the PGA Championship. Tiger Woods was among the candidates, along with Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry and Camilo Villegas.