On paper, Friday’s game is a clash of two young pitching stars — Matt Harvey and Stephen Strasburg — capable of dominating the division for years to come. In Harvey’s mind, it is a chance to plant his flag.

The raw emotion that will be at Fenway Park on Friday night when the Red Sox come home will likely be different than any other occasion in the history of the 101-year-old venue. Friday marks the club’s first home game since Monday’s Boston Marathon tragedy that claimed three lives and injured 176 others.

You don’t beat Justin Verlander very often, no matter who you are, but the Mariners, sapped from a marathon game the night before, still toughed out a taut 2-0 decision before 15,742 in Safeco Field.

The cold didn’t bother Jon Garland, who became the first Rockies starter to pitch seven innings this season as Colorado beat the Mets, 11-3, for its sixth straight victory.

The Red Sox will have two pitchers in action on Monday at Double-A Portland. That is where right-hander John Lackey will start his Minor League rehab and where lefty Franklin Morales will continue his.

David Ortiz belted a home run to right field in the sixth inning on Thursday at Pawtucket, R.I., and that was likely the last order of business in his Triple-A rehab assignment. All systems are go for the big slugger to return to the Red Sox for Friday night’s game against the Royals.

Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano became the first Cubs to hit back-to-back home runs this season and Carlos Villanueva turned in another fine outing for Chicago’s rotation in a 6-2 win against the Rangers at soggy Wrigley Field on Thursday afternoon.

The Breaking Barriers program, initiated in 1997, has sought to educate people while keeping the memory of Jackie Robinson alive. The 2013 Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life essay contest drew a record 18,700 submissions, and Major League Baseball announced the winners Thursday.

Amid a dreadful week, Yovani Gallardo returned to the calm of the mound and, as it turned out, the comfort of the batter’s box, tossing six strong frames and hitting a homer in the Brewers’ 7-2, series-sweeping win over the Giants on Thursday.

Nobody apparently told Miguel Cabrera about the stresses of the big three-oh. It came up Tuesday night after a seemingly effortless swing at an Aaron Harang fastball well off the plate sent a home run over the center-field fence. He officially reached 30 on Thursday.

Padres president and CEO Tom Garfinkel apologized on Thursday for comments that he made recently about Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke’s intention to hit Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin with a pitch that precipitated a benches-clearing incident and for drawing a comparison between Greinke’s social anxiety disorder and autism.

The Rangers have set up several relief efforts to aid the victims of the devastating explosion and fires that took place in West, Texas, on Wednesday.

Phillies left-hander John Lannan was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a strained quadriceps tendon in his left knee.

Potentially weeks away from his Major League debut, Mets top prospect Travis d’Arnaud fractured a bone in his left foot Wednesday while playing for Triple-A Las Vegas.

Thoughts of Tim Hudson becoming a big leaguer seemed farfetched when his only opportunity to play collegiately was with his hometown community college. But 20 years later, he finds himself on the verge of becoming the 110th pitcher in Major League history to record 200 wins.

With his eighth-inning home run in Tuesday night’s win over the Royals, Justin Upton became the first player in Braves history to hit eight home runs through the team’s first 13 games of a season.

It’s not how much money a baseball team spends. It’s how the money is spent. The Dodgers have been on a spending spree that has them challenging the Yankees for the highest payroll in the game. Now, however, comes the hard part — trying to translate the payroll into wins.