Open for business  —  Behind Beckett, workmanlike Sox get the job done  —  Nothing makes the chilly temperature rise like an Opening Day win, and with it a pristine record that evokes idyllic hopes of 162-0.  It came yesterday, a near-perfect performance in the Red Sox' second stab at game No. 1 …

Friendly Rivalry for Matsui  —  BALTIMORE - In their final year as teammates, in 2002, Hideki Matsui and Koji Uehara reached the pinnacle of individual and team success for the Yomiuri Giants.  Matsui was the most valuable player of the Central League, Uehara won the Sawamura Award as the top pitcher …

Joba Goes Nine (Steps)!  —  Yankee pitcher completes field sobriety test in video from DUI arrest  —  While devoid of Plaxicoesque bombast and vulgarity, the police video of Joba Chamberlain's DUI arrest is not without its amusing moments.  After a Nebraska State Patrol officer pulled …

Triple-A notes: Tomko as closer, Jackson hitting sixth  —  Just to triple check, I sent Dan Giese another text message this afternoon.  —  “Heard anything yet on waivers?”  —  “Not yet”  —  Some other notes from today's Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees media day...  Brett Tomko will be the Triple-A closer

It won't be around much longer  —  They're started dismantling the old Yankee Stadium, stripping out the grass and now they're taking down the outfield walls.  This part of the wall had very little wear and tear as Bobby Abreu rarely touched it.  —  They also knocked part of a wall on 161st St …

For Mets' offense, win is only cold comfort  —  CINCINNATI - With temperatures in the high 30s, and a steady rain falling at Great American Ball Park, the Mets were forced to take batting practice indoors before Monday's season opener against the Reds.  After seven weeks in the balmy climate …

Jim Thome's 8th-inning HR lifts White Sox over KC 4-2  —  CHICAGO — Jim Thome got to totally enjoy this opening-day home run.  —  Thome hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, rallying the Chicago White Sox past the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Tuesday in a season opener delayed a day because of bad weather.

Hamels, Lincecum headline young pitchers at risk of Year After Effect … Mike Pelfrey was ready for me in the Mets spring training clubhouse, as if he knew I was coming.  —  “Look at me,” the Mets right-hander said one day last month.  “I'm a pretty big guy.”  Yes, sir.  Pelfrey is 6-foot-7.

Stan Kasten Sings a Hymn to Philly Fans  —  I'll probably always be something of an outsider in D.C., because I'm not from here.  I didn't live through Gibbs I or the Bandwagon, the Penguins in the '90s or Wes Unseld-as-GM.  Still, I think I'm getting to understand the mindset of that rarest of creatures: the all-D.C.-sports die-hard.

Gary Matthews Jr. still isn't talking  —  The Angels outfielder was linked to HGH shipments in the Mitchell Report, but he won't comment on the allegations these days.  —  T.J. Simers  —  I worry about kids and dogs, some kid maybe mistaking it for an energy drink, or some dog lapping …

Angels don't use strengths to their advantage in 6-4 loss to Oakland  —  They get a quality start from fill-in pitcher Dustin Moseley but leave too many runners stranded in the early going.  —  Dustin Moseley gave the Angels everything they could want from their rotation fill-ins …

Chacin signs with Phillies  —  Gustavo Chacin, the former 13-game winner the Washington Nationals signed to a minor league deal this spring, has been released by the team, acting general manager Mike Rizzo said Tuesday.  —  The left-hander signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.

Is Angelos playing too small a role?  —  Most Orioles had never met owner before this week  —  Popular sentiment suggests Nick Markakis and Peter Angelos are more than casual Facebook friends.  After all, they're both of Greek heritage.  They probably attend the same church, visit the same butcher, brunch together on Sundays, right?

Toronto Blue Jays' beer and alcohol ban targets unruly fans  —  TORONTO — It was just a coincidence that beer and alcohol sales were banned for Tuesday night's Blue Jays game one night after unruly fans littered the field with baseballs and debris.  But some players appreciated the timing.