Baseball

The New York Post decorated its cover with a photo of Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez and an unidentified blonde woman they allege he took out for dinner at a steakhouse; the two then proceeded to a strip club. Rodriguez is married with a child, and his wife appeared with him in the 2004 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. More »

The AL-leading Red Sox stuck it to the Indians, 4-2, as Josh Beckett continues the best season-opening run by a Boston pitcher since Roger Clemens started 14-0 in 1986. Beckett had spent 15 days on the disabled list with an irritated middle finger, but mystified Cleveland to the tune of three hits and two runs in seven innings. More »

With 746 home runs, Giants masher and suspected steroid user Barry Bonds is just 10 away from breaking the record. The souvenirs from his run at history, however, may be staying in the family, the crotchety superstar has announced. Curators at the Hall of Fame are concerned that they will have difficulty creating relevant exhibits without the items. More »

Seven-time Cy Young laureate Roger Clemens dominated a scoreless outing for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, as New York management prepares to announce whether the he'll make his next scheduled start in pinstripes. If he does, it'll be in Boston, against both the Yankees' arch-rival and Clemens' former squad. More »

Facing off against former teammate Tom Glavine, do-it-all Braves righty John Smoltz prevailed again for his 200th win—the most for any player with 150 saves or more. Smoltz was converted to a closer in 2001 and back to a starter in 2005, and his 154 saves are an Atlanta team record. More »

After soliciting four doctors' opinions, Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano will likely undergo surgery to repair ligaments in his pitching elbow, putting him out of commission through the end of the 2008 season and his four-year contract with New York.  Pavano had already missed a year and a half due to injuries to the shoulder, back, ribs, elbow, and buttocks. More »

Phillies lefty Cole Hamels pitched a perfect six innings en route to a 6-2 victory over the NL Central-leading Brewers, giving up only a walk, a double, and J.J. Hardy's thirteenth home run. Ace-turned-closer Brett Myers closed out the ninth to bring the Phillies back to .500 after a disappointing start to 2007. More »

The Milwaukee Brewers will not be enacting a clubhouse ban on alcohol, bucking a trend started by the A's and Yankees after St. Louis reliever Josh Hancock died in a drunk driving accident. Ten other clubs already have such a ban; the Brewers, who play in Miller Park, announced yesterday they wouldn't be among them. More »

Six shutout innings by D-Backs ace Randy Johnson went for naught after he loaded the bases in the seventh; struggling slugger Ryan Howard, last year's NL MVP, golfed the first pitch he saw from reliever Brandon Medders and put Philadelphia up for good. The Phillies won, 9-3. More »

Ace and blogger Curt Schilling let fly at Barry Bonds on Boston sports radio, asserting that the slugger's pursuit of the home-run record is irrevocably marred. Schilling contended that Bond admitted to using steroids and cheating on both his taxes and his wife, and this makes him "the biggest ass—who ever lived." More »

An ABC-ESPN poll found that just 37% of baseball fans want embattled Giants slugger Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron's career home runs record of 755.  After 10 quick homers to start the season, Bonds just needs 11 more to tie. Fifty-two percent of fans said they would prefer not to see that happen. More »

Roger Clemens announced on Sunday to an ecstatic crowd at Yankee Stadium that he'd be joining New York this year. The news is well-timed for the best-paid team in baseball, which has suffered a catastrophic string of pitching injuries. Two of his other previous teams, Boston and Houston, had also been bidding to sign him. More »

Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was drunk, speeding, talking on the phone and not wearing a seatbelt when he died in a traffic accident, officials announced today. The St. Louis medical examiner said the 29-year-old right-hander's blood-alcohol level was 0.157, nearly twice the legal limit, when he crashed his SUV early Sunday morning. More »

Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Red Sox's $103.1 million hurler, gave up seven runs in five frames in another poor outing that only incidentally ended up in a Boston win. Matsuzaka walked Seattle's first three batters in a five-run first inning, but Manny Ramirez's second homer put Boston ahead for good in the eighth, 8-7.  More »

The Brewers have the best record in baseball after a sweep of the 2006 world champs, the Cardinals, who are still stunned by the death of reliever Josh Hancock in a car crash last weekend. At 18-9, Milwaukee is nine games over .500 for the first time since 1998, and won despite losing starter Chris Capuano to injury. More »

Jonathan Papelbon, Boston's marquee closer, blew his first save of the season against the Athletics, and saw his hitherto sparkling ERA swell. Rookie outfielder Travis Buck hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, and Dan Johnson hit the go-ahead RBI double in the tenth off reliever Brendan Donnelly to halt the rolling Sox 5-4. More »

George Steinbrenner is mellowing with age.  After a miserable April in which baseball's best-paid team went 9-14 and suffered an ungodly number of pitching injuries, the formerly trigger-happy Yankees owner gave a 127-word statement both supporting his manager, Joe Torre, and making it clear that the status quo was nonetheless unacceptable. More »

Josh Hancock, a Cardinals middle reliever who helped the team attain a championship last season, was killed after driving into a tow truck late at night. The death comes five years after St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile died in his hotel room of coronary artery blockage.  It is not thought that alcohol was involved. More »

Many past and current Red Sox rushed to the defense of Curt Schilling yesterday after Baltimore announcer Gary Thorne claimed the blood that famously turned the injured pitching ace's sock red in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees was a hoax. Thorne said backup catcher Doug Mirabelli had told him it was a PR stunt. More »

Stephen Drew stole the spotlight from Jake Peavy, connecting on a two-run walk-off homer off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning as the Diamondbacks upended the Padres 3-2. The rookie’s blast off of the future Hall of Famer overshadowed a historic effort from Peavy, who tied a career high in fanning 16 D-Backs. More »