BASEBALL

Martinez will wear Sox cap on Cooperstown plaque

Pedro Martinez’s Hall of Fame plaque will bear a Boston Red Sox cap, the Hall announced Thursday.

Martinez won two of his three Cy Young Awards with the Red Sox and pitched seven scoreless innings to win the third game of their 2004 World Series sweep of St. Louis – Boston’s first title since 1918.

“I cannot be any prouder to take Red Sox Nation to the Hall of Fame with the logo on my plaque,” Martinez said in a statement released by the Hall. “I am extremely proud to represent Boston and all of New England with my Hall of Fame career.”

The Hall also announced that John Smoltz’s plaque would have a Braves cap. Smoltz was the only player on all of Atlanta’s record 14 consecutive playoff teams from 1991-04.

• The Braves and outfielder Jonny Gomes agreed to a one-year contract with a vesting option. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the deal is worth $4 million. Atlanta also signed Kelly Johnson to a minor league deal.

• Former NL Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto and two-time All-Star pitcher Brad Penny agreed to minor league contracts with the White Sox.

FIGURE SKATING

U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim lead the pairs competition after the short program at Greensboro, North Carolina.

They scored 74.01 points, a record for the event, to lead Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier by 5.63.

GOLF

PGA: Michael Putnam made nine birdies in an 11-hole stretch, and finished with a 9-under 63 and a one-stroke lead in the Humana Challenge at La Quinta, California.

Phil Mickelson shot 71 in his first event since the Ryder Cup.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Bernd Wiesberger birdied his last hole to join South Africans Branden Grace and George Coetzee on top of the Qatar Masters leaderboard after the second round at Doha.

Wiesberger totaled 9-under 135 to share a one-shot lead.

SNOWBOARDING

X GAMES: Shaun White skittered to a fourth-place finish, opening the door for Danny Davis to win his second straight title on the halfpipe in Aspen, Colorado.

White was competing for the first time since his disappointing fourth-place showing at the Olympics last year.

HOCKEY

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will miss this weekend’s All-Star game – on home ice – because of a lower-body injury sustained Wednesday night in Winnipeg.

The team did not reveal a timetable for his return.

– From news service reports