At last, Matsuzaka to make debut  —  Boston (1-1) at Kansas City (1-1), 2:10 p.m. ET  —  For months, Daisuke Matsuzaka has been the No. 1 topic surrounding the Boston Red Sox.  Every aspect of his arsenal has been dissected.  Every bit of his history has been reviewed.

MLB has deal to keep 'Extra Innings' on cable TV  —  NEW YORK — After negotiations that went into extra innings, baseball struck a deal to keep its "Extra Innings" package of out-of-market games on cable television.  —  Under pressure from Sen. John Kerry, baseball and iN Demand reached …

On Field and at the Plate, Beltrán Has a Hot Start  —  It took five and a third innings for the Mets to finally break through against their former closer, Braden Looper.  And as has been the case this whole opening series, Carlos Beltrán was right in the middle of it.

Mets' bullpen appears mightier  —  ST. LOUIS — Letting Chad Bradford go this winter was supposed to be a huge mistake.  Losing Duaner Sanchez until August because of another shoulder setback in spring training figured to be a crippling blow as well.  But the Mets' bullpen seems just fine …

3 games is too early to panic, but not too early for doubts … MINNEAPOLIS // Apparently it's never too early to say it's way too early to panic.  —  That's where the Orioles are right now.  —  Three games into the season and they have to dust off the sacred first-month standard reserved for slow starts.

Starting Pitcher Leverage (Part 2)  —  Hi, and welcome back to The Hardball Times' ongoing series of articles on starting pitcher leveraging throughout baseball history.  In part one of this series I introduced the concept of starting pitcher leverage.  If you remember it, skip the next paragraph, which briefly summarizes it.

Exam finds Carpenter's elbow much-improved  —  Chris Carpenter was cleared to begin preparation for his next scheduled start after a meeting with a team doctor late Wednesday night confirmed the swelling had gone down in his right elbow, the Cardinals ace said.

Fascination With Mantle Now Blends Fiction With Fact  —  Fifty-four years ago, the sports book genre that should be named MickLit was begun with the publication of "The Mickey Mantle Story," an autobiography of the very young Mantle as told to Ben Epstein.  —  More than 20 books about Mantle …

NL Central: Break up the Bucs!  —  I'm not ready to say that the Pittsburgh Pirates will be crowned 2007 NL Central champs six months from now.  Not quite yet, anyway.  I'll say this, though: Nowhere else in baseball is it as wide open as the NL Central, where even the Sanjaya Malakars of the division have a legit shot at first place.

Betancourt signs three-year extension  —  Terms not released, but agreement averts arbitration hassles  —  A day after launching a game-winning home run, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt landed a three-year contract extension Wednesday from the Mariners.  —  Betancourt, beginning his third season …

TBS lands Gwynn, Ripken  —  Soon-to-be Hall of Famers hired as baseball analysts  —  Before Cooperstown honors Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken later this year, the Hall of Fame duo will be suiting up for another team.  —  SI.com has learned that Gwynn and Ripken have agreed to join TBS as analysts …

Braves rally, sink Phils in extras again  —  After McCann's tying blast in ninth, Thorman homers in 11th  —  PHILADELPHIA — Two games into the season, it's already become apparent that the resilient Braves are more than willing to utilize their power to take advantage of what appears to be a very suspect Phillies bullpen.

Position sharing working just fine  —  The Rockies' time-sharing plan is working out just fine so far.  —  At second base, where Jamey Carroll supplanted starter Kaz Matsui in the Rockies' 11-4 win over Arizona on Wednesday, the Rockies have received .461 production.  Carroll went 3-for-4 with a double and scored twice.