Top News:
Juliet Macur / New York Times:
Former Mets Bat Boy Says He Gave Players Steroids — A former New York Mets bat boy pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to distributing performance-enhancing drugs to dozens of former and current Major League Baseball players and their affiliates for a decade.
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Associated Press:
Radomski admits to selling steroids — Ex-Mets employee pleads guilty; names may follow — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former New York Mets clubhouse employee pleaded guilty Friday to distributing steroids to major league players for a decade and has agreed to help baseball's steroids investigators.
Discussion:
Can't Stop The Bleeding
Sports Illustrated:
Former Mets employee busted in raid — Pleads guilty to distributing steroids to MLBers — Since last summer, Sports Illustrated reporters Luis Fernando Llosa and L. Jon Wertheim have been investigating an alleged illegal steroid distribution network that has implicated pro athletes.
Jeff Seidel / MLB.com:
Notes: Pelfrey remains in rotation — Young right-hander has struggled to be consistent early on — WASHINGTON — General manager Omar Minaya and manager Willie Randolph both said Friday that Mike Pelfrey will remain the team's fifth starter for now. — Pelfrey has struggled in his first three starts, going 0-2 with a 7.90 ERA.
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Yahoo! Sports:
Nats finally score in first, beat Mets (AP) — WASHINGTON (AP) — First things first: The Washington Nationals actually scored in the first inning, the only time they've managed to do that all season. — Austin Kearns hit a three-run homer to stake Washington to an early lead …
Discussion:
The Griddle
George King / New York Post:
JOE IN JEOPARDY AS YANKS BOMB — BOSOX HAND TORRE'S TEAM 7TH STRAIGHT LOSS — A seven-game losing streak has George Steinbrenner so concerned he is wondering if replacing Joe Torre is the answer. — Last October, The Boss came very close to boxing Torre after the second straight first-round elimination in the postseason.
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Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cubs: No Tinker. No Evers. No chance. — We put a new twist on an old poem* to capture in verse why the Cubs will never break the curse ... and list the reasons they are destined to not win a World Series. — These are the cruelest of echoing words: — No Tinker. No Evers. No chance.
Steve Henson / Los Angeles Times:
The Jason Schmidt question — How he injured his shoulder and lost his velocity remains a mystery. — SAN DIEGO — Which came first, the shoulder inflammation or the decreased velocity? — When it comes to pitcher Jason Schmidt, the Dodgers don't know the answer.
Pat Borzi / New York Times:
An Ugly Month Gets Even Uglier for Rivera — Even on his worst days, Mariano Rivera rarely suffered the indignity of handing the baseball to Manager Joe Torre in the middle of an inning. But this has been an April of indignities for the Yankees' closer, and Rivera had another such moment Friday night.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Associated Press:
Cleveland 5, Baltimore 4 — CLEVELAND (AP) — Perhaps the only player in the ballpark that could have caught Grady Sizemore's home-run ball was the guy who hit it. — Sizemore sped around the bases with an inside-the-park home run, Jake Westbrook got his first win in five starts …
Discussion:
Let's Go Tribe
Yahoo! Sports:
Hoffman honored, then blows save in loss (AP) — SAN DIEGO (AP) — It was Trevor Hoffman Night — and wouldn't you know it, he blew the save. — Hoffman, baseball's career saves leader, disappointed a sellout crowd at Petco Park by giving up four runs in the ninth inning …
ESPN:
Lester solid in rehab start, may join BoSox soon — PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Red Sox left-hander and cancer survivor Jon Lester pitched five shutout innings for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday night in what is expected to be his second-to-last rehab outing before he returns to the Boston rotation.
Discussion:
Over the Monster
Brian McTaggart / Houston Chronicle:
Randolph replaces White — The Astros purchased the contract of lefthander Stephen Randolph from Class AAA Round Rock prior to Thursday's game to replace righthander Rick White, who was put on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained oblique. — Randolph was called upon to escape …
Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:
St. Louis article riles up Cubs — ST. LOUIS — The Cubs awoke Friday to a two-word headline at the top of the front page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports section: — "NO CHANCE" — The article was a lighthearted look at the Cubs' history of futility, and included a list …