Orioles beat up on Yankees, Sabathia in opener 10-5  —  BALTIMORE (AP) — CC Sabathia and the new-look New York Yankees absorbed an old-fashioned beating on opening day.  —  Sabathia allowed six runs and failed to get through the fifth inning in his first start with New York …

Minor League Transactions  —  This time: March 31-April 3 … Arizona Diamondbacks  —  Signed: RHP Bobby Korecky, LHP Travis Blackley  —  Released: RHP Adam Howard, RHP A.J. Shappi, LHP Eddie Romero, C Richard Mercado, C Bill Musselman, 3B Steve Mena, 3B Cesar Nicolas, OF Frank Curreri, OF Jimmy Principe

Pitchers' duel dies in the desert  —  Phoenix - The anticipated pitchers' duel in the desert turned into a slugfest today at Chase Field.  —  Rockies ace Aaron Cook got the hook with just one out in the third inning, after throwing only 55 pitches.  Cook gave up six runs on seven hits, including two homers.

Braves dominate Phillies in season opener  —  Lowe pitched eight scoreless innings; McCann, Francoeur and rookie Schafer homer  —  Philadelphia — Yes, it was only the first game of 162.  But on Sunday night, the Braves provided a few reasons to believe things might be different this season.

Why baseball benched Microsoft Silverlight  —  The thwacking sounds of bats striking balls will once again fill stadiums, as Monday is opening day for Major League Baseball.  This year, Microsoft will watch from the sidelines.  —  MLB.com no longer uses Microsoft's Silverlight to stream games to its 500,000 subscribers.

A-ROD RETURN MAY NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL MAY  —  BALTIMORE — Forget mid-May.  Alex Rodriguez is showing signs he is going to return to the Yankees well before that.  —  Hitting coach Kevin Long, who speaks daily with A-Rod, told The Post that Rodriguez has begun to hit and reported that he “feels 70 percent.”

Predicting the '09 season  —  No one has asked for them, but here are my predictions anyway:  —  NL West  —  1. Dodgers  —  2. Diamondbacks (WC)  —  3. Rockies  —  4. Giants  —  5. Padres  —  I had the Diamondbacks in first place until Manny re-upped with the Dodgers …

Opener postponed until tomorrow  —  Due to a forecast of heavy rain in the Boston area, today's Red Sox-Rays season opener at Fenway Park has been postponed to tomorrow at 4:05 p.m.  —  “All of the festivities surrounding Opening Day will take place tomorrow,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino confirmed …

Joe West replaces John Hirschbeck as umpires' president  —  NEW YORK — Joe West, who worked his first major league game in 1976 and later lost his job in a contract dispute with baseball, has become president of the World Umpires Association.  —  West beat out longtime head John Hirschbeck in the February election.

Rangers beat Cliff Lee, Indians in opener  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers can still hit.  Cliff Lee can attest to that.  —  The AL Cy Young Award winner allowed seven runs and 10 hits in five innings, including Hank Blalock's three-run homer, and the Rangers routed the Cleveland Indians 9-1 Monday in their season opener.

New York Mets auctioning tickets to Citi Field opener vs. San Diego Padres  —  NEW YORK — Take the highest bidder out to the ballgame.  —  The New York Mets are employing a unique method of selling remaining tickets for the first official game at Citi Field — by auction.

Trenton posts “preliminary” roster  —  On their Web site, the Trenton Thunder has posted a preliminary roster that includes 26 players, two more than a Double-A team is allowed to carry in the regular season.  It does not help answer any questions about the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster …

Bonifacio makes history with inside-the-park HR … MIAMI (AP) -Emilio Bonifacio has hit the first opening-day inside-the-park homer in the major leagues in 41 years.  —  The Florida Marlins' new third baseman and leadoff batter hit a drive over the head of center fielder Lastings Milledge …