Portugal Signs Three-Year Deal With the Giants

The San Francisco Giants addressed their most critical need--starting pitching--by signing free agent Mark Portugal to a three-year, $11-million contract Sunday. The Giants get a fourth-year option on Portugal that could make the deal worth $14.85 million.

One of the top free-agent pitchers available this winter, Portugal won his final 12 decisions for the Houston Astros last season, putting together the longest winning streak in the majors. The right-hander was 18-4 with a 2.77 earn-run average.

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Doctors say they won’t know for a year whether former major league umpire Steve Palermo will be able to walk normally and return to baseball.

Palermo was in stable condition and good spirits, two days after a 10-hour operation to remove scar tissue compressing the nerves on the left side of his spinal cord, according to a nursing supervisor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

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A uniform worn by Hall of Famer Ted Williams in 1941 sold for $71,000 at an auction in New York.

Golf

Ian Baker-Finch of Australia birdied the second playoff hole to win the Australian PGA Championship at Sydney. Baker-Finch finished the tournament at nine-under-par 275, tied with countryman Peter Fowler and New Zealander Grant Waite.

Hockey

Representatives of the NHL and its striking on-ice officials met Sunday in Hartford and will confer again by phone today. An NHL spokesman said today’s talks indicated “there would be some reason to think there was some progress made� toward an agreement. The strike is in its eighth day.

Miscellany

Indiana Coach Bob Knight was ejected from an exhibition game against Athletes in Action for repeatedly arguing with officials, claiming they were missing walking calls. The No. 12-ranked Hoosiers won, 104-86. . . . Vonda Ward scored 17 points as top-ranked Tennessee beat Ohio State, 80-45, at Jackson, Tenn., giving Coach Pat Summitt her 500th career victory. . . . Ken Hesse scored the go-ahead goal off a free kick with six minutes remaining as Cal State Fullerton beat San Diego, 3-2, at San Diego in the second round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament. Fullerton (15-6) will play San Francisco in the quarterfinals next weekend.

German sprinter Katrin Krabbe vowed to continue her fight to compete on the track, despite a ruling from the sport’s governing body upholding her two-year doping-related suspension. . . . Two members of a Hong Kong racing team participating in the Macao Grand Prix were shot dead outside a hotel in Macao by a gang, police said.. . . Cuba, the 1992 Olympic women’s volleyball champion, defeated Japan, 15-9, 15-11, 15-8, to win the World Grand Champions Cup at Osaka, Japan. The United States finished fifth. . . . Vlastimil Plavucha scored the first and last goal as Slovakia tied Team USA, 5-5, to win the Telehockey Cup pre-Olympic hockey tournament at Lillehammer, Norway. Team USA finished third.

Shawn Bagley, the younger brother of former NBA player John Bagley, was in serious condition at Bridgeport (Conn.) Hospital after being shot in a dispute near his home, police said. . . . Two Cubans disappeared from their country’s delegation to the Central American and Caribbean Games at Ponce, Puerto Rico, raising to five the number of Cubans seeking political asylum.