MLB Starts Season With Rising Sun

Rays at the head of the class—Rockies, Marlins at the back

(NEWSER) - Report card time! Here’s how the rambunctious kids of MLB are doing so far, in Yahoo Sports’ Steven Henson’s estimation. A students—Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, White Sox Particular kudos go to the Rays, the poor kid who went to the head of the class. B students—Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, Yankees, Athletics, Marlins, Orioles The Cardinals have a slight edge in the wildcard race. The Yankees, meanwhile, barely scrape together a B. More»

Bottom of lineup is major source of power against the Twins

(NEWSER) - The Boston Red Sox got an unexpected power surge from the bottom of their lineup to help Daisuke Matsuzaka remain undefeated with a 5-2 victory over Minnesota on Saturday. Coco Crisp and Jed Lowrie hit back-to-back homers to lead off the seventh inning and Matsuzaka (6-0) gave up two runs and six hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings for the Sox. More»

(NEWSER) - Mike Lowell hit one of Boston's three homers for his first RBIs this season, and the Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 Monday behind a wild Daisuke Matsuzaka. Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz also connected for Boston, which won its fourth straight game and sent the Tigers to their fourth consecutive defeat. More»

Matthews homers twice; Kotchman adds another

(NEWSER) - Casey Kotchman's solo home run put Los Angeles ahead in the sixth inning, Gary Matthews Jr. hit two solo homers of his own and the Angels snapped the Boston Red Sox's six-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory Wednesday night. Kotchman hit his sixth of the season off Craig Hansen, who was recalled before the game. More»

Matsuzaka walks 6 in five innings, but bullpen does job late

(NEWSER) - A wild Daisuke Matsuzaka labored through five innings before the Boston Red Sox's overworked bullpen bailed him out for a sloppy 8-5 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday night. Matsuzaka improved to 3-0 after lasting just long enough to get the win as he issued six walks—at least one in each inning. But Yankees starter Phil Hughes (0-2) was even worse, lasting a career-low two innings and allowing a career-high seven runs. More»