Top News:
Tracy Connor / NY Daily News:
A-Rod on 'roids for years, new book claims … Alex Rodriguez may have bulked up with steroids as early as high school - and was suspected of juicing while playing for the Yankees, a bombshell new book reports. — Although the slugger insists he dabbled in steroids only while with the Texas Rangers …
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Michael Silverman / Boston Herald:
Red Sox bullpen tiptoes tightrope — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email — CLEVELAND - Last night, a quartet of Red Sox [team stats] relievers kept the Red Sox alive with four innings of scoreless work in a 6-5 10-inning win. — None of them was perfect, but each of them did what was necessary.
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Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
Tim Lincecum shuts down Dodgers — Juan Pierre can't catch a two-run triple hit by Bengie Molina to give San Francisco a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Giants never trailed in the 9-4 victory over the Dodgers. — Giants' Cy Young winner holds L.A. scoreless until the eighth inning
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Adam Rubin / Surfing the Mets:
Marlins 4, Mets 3: Manuel ruffling feathers, but why? — Jerry Manuel's affable personality gives him a lot of admirers, but Wednesday's late-game managing really dumbfounded me. — Manuel had an explanation for why he dispatched Omir Santos to pinch-hit for Ramon Castro with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth.
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David Lennon / Newsday:
Putz blows lead, Mets fall to Marlins, 4-3 — Mets pitcher Johan Santana backs up Fernando Tatis as he tumbles while catching a pop fly. (Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara / April 29, 2009) — Omir Santos' first reaction was that it was a strange time for the bullpen phone to ring.
Ian O'Connor / NorthJersey.com:
Mets' star needs to get Wright — NEW YORK — A long day at the office left his eye-black in thick, unruly smudges, giving David Wright the look of a beleaguered quarterback, a guy who had endured far too many blitzes from the blind side. — He was standing by his Citi Field locker …
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Tom Gage / Detroit News:
Joel Zumaya: 'I can't stand the Yankees' — Detroit — With two scoreless innings of relief in the Tigers' 8-6 loss Wednesday night, Joel Zumaya was back at his best against the team he likes the least. — The Yankees. — When it comes to his opinion of them, there's just no holding back.
Phil Rogers / Chicago Tribune:
So far, Jim Hendry's off-season moves look bad — Chicago Cubs miss Mark DeRosa — Mike Norton, a Tribune subscriber living in California, makes good points. He also has a nice sense of history. — Our kind of guy. — “Having followed the Cubs pretty closely since 1954 …
Discussion:
GoatRiders of the Apocalypse
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
A-Rod: 1 for 6 with a homer — This just in from Tampa: — Alex Rodriguez was 1 for 6 with a homer and two walks in the extended spring intrasquad game in Tampa. He faced right-handers Matt Richardson and Jose Ramirez in the intrasquad, extended Spring Training game held at the Yankees' Minor League complex.
Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
Sore shoulder sends Pronk to DL — Tribe DH to visit doctor for offseason surgery follow-up — CLEVELAND — The troublesome right shoulder that cost Travis Hafner half of the 2008 season is not entirely a thing of the past. — Just 3 1/2 weeks into his regular-season return …
Discussion:
Bottom9 Baseball
Anthony Andro / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Josh Hamilton hopes to avoid DL as sore rib cage heals — ARLINGTON — Josh Hamilton said the medicine for his ailing left rib cage has made him feel better and he hopes to avoid a trip to the disabled list. — “I'm hoping so,” said Hamilton, who benefited from a free day off Wednesday because of the rainout.
Mychael Urban / MLB.com:
Ellis, Garciaparra placed on DL — Infielders among four A's injured in Tuesday's game — ARLINGTON — Having tied the club record by using the disabled list 22 times in 2007, the A's eclipsed that dubious mark by three a year ago. — Now they're on a pace that could set the record again.
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Jon Sladek / cleveland.com:
Does Grady benefit from “The Bernie Factor?” — I make no attempt to hide my hatred of the Boston Red Sox. I probably despise them more than any other sports franchise. — For this reason, it brings me great joy when the Tribe beats that miserable, high-priced team and disappoints their obnoxious …
Discussion:
Newsvine
Mark Bowman / MLB.com:
Vazquez victimized by big inning in loss — Braves starter roughed up in fifth as series slips away — ATLANTA — While Javier Vazquez couldn't explain how he garnered such results with a rather impressive performance, the Braves were left to wonder how they managed to lose a series during …
Discussion:
Talking Chop
Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Yankees' Patrons in Not-So-Cheap Seats Also Deserve a Break — Why not cut more ticket prices at Yankee Stadium, not just the really expensive ones? — The Yankees' move on Tuesday to slash the price of slower-selling premium seats, including the $2,500 perches, and give away others affects a few hundred seats.
Ben Goessling / Washington Times:
Nationals finally get some relief — The amount of tinkering the Washington Nationals have had to do to get to this point - to earn a road victory that required nothing more than a simple, clean effort - is almost unfathomable. — Their go-ahead RBI came from an outfielder who played himself …
Discussion:
Blogging Baseball
Andy Martino / Philly.com:
Hope for Lidge, Hamels — The Phillies have endured injuries to both their ace and their closer this week, but they remain hopeful that both issues will be resolved by the weekend. — Cole Hamels, who suffered a mild sprain of his left ankle Tuesday, is set to throw a bullpen session tomorrow …
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Philliesflow.com