Finale in Toronto  —  TORONTO - Good morning from Toronto.  —  Terry Francona has confirmed that Kyle Snyder was designated for assignment and now goes through the waiver process over the next 72 hours.  It appears Snyder could get claimed off waivers.  Don't be surprised if Snyder received interest from a few teams.

Yanks expecting bats to come alive  —  New York (2-3) vs. Tampa Bay (3-1), Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET  —  The Yankees won a game last week playing National League-style small ball, bunting a runner to third base and setting the table for a bloop hit that pushed the go-ahead run across.

Cape Cod teammates Zito, Sheets set to duel  —  (04-06) 04:00 PDT Milwaukee — Barry Zito and Ben Sheets, the Giants' and Brewers' Opening Day starters, will meet on the mound for the first time today, which is not to say they have not met.  Ten years ago, they were teammates for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod summer league.

Yankees' Duncan not too thrilled with himself  —  Acting manager Rob Thomson liked how the young first baseman “battled,” but Shelley Duncan boiled down his first start of the season to another word.  —  “Poop,” Duncan said as he fiddled with the tab of a soda can in front of his clubhouse stall after yesterday's 6-3 loss to the Rays.

Sternberg: Payroll Will Remain Flexible  —  NEW YORK - The Rays' bank vault swung open again last week when the team locked up reliever Dan Wheeler through at least 2010 for a guaranteed $10.5 million.  —  Coming on the heels of an offseason that saw Carlos Pena and James Shields rewarded …

Baseball beat: Yankees' Hughes feels Pedro's pain  —  in focus, by peter abraham  —  When Pedro Martinez tore his left hamstring on Tuesday, the news spread quickly through the Yankees' clubhouse.  Phil Hughes winced and unconsciously rubbed the back of his own leg when he was told what transpired in Florida.

Pirates place Wilson on disabled list, promote Bixler  —  MIAMI — The Pirates this morning placed shortstop Jack Wilson on the 15-day disabled list, a first in his career, and promoted shortstop Brian Bixler from Class AAA Indianapolis.  —  Wilson's left calf was strained after a hard slide …

The Silly Season  —  Prognostication Perils  —  Opening week is a great time to watch baseball, but also one to read inane baseball predictions.  I'm as much of a sucker for idle stat-based pre-season speculations as the next guy, but there are limits.  Really, there are.

Is Jake Peavy a cheater?  —  An eagle-eyed viewer of the Dodgers/Padres game noticed something strange on Jake Peavy's fingers after he tossed a complete game, 2-hit shutout yesterday:  —  Is he cheating?  Is it just a coincidence that the 3 fingers that grip the ball have a mysterious substance on them?

It's a precarious position  —  Coddling hasn't kept pitchers off the DL  —  It's hard to set aside the eight-year, $121 million contract he signed with the Colorado Rockies and feel sorry for Mike Hampton, but his injury ordeal is one of the saddest stories in baseball in recent years.

Bullpen loses Vizcaino to DL  —  The Rockies' bad start got even worse Saturday night with news that setup man Luis Vizcaino is headed to the 15-day disabled list because of a shoulder injury.  —  The right-hander started throwing in the bullpen in the seventh inning but felt discomfort …

M's lose again; Bedard out Sunday  —  BALTIMORE — The idea to begin the season was for Seattle to get off to a good start against a relatively weak American League schedule.  —  Five games into the season, that's not happening.  —  And now Erik Bedard is injured.