David Wright made a successful Grapefruit League debut, singling in his first at-bat and making a diving play on defense to rob Rafael Furcal of a hit.

Indians pitcher Derek Lowe stopped relying as much on his sinker and the result was arguably his worst showing as a starter in the big leagues. The goal this season is to go back to what has got him this far.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was not amused at all by a recent Boston Globe report that suggested a wedge between he and general manager Ben Cherington over some upcoming roster decisions.

Forgive the Red Sox if they were trying to find a bottle to place Jon Lester's Monday performance in and ship it directly to Detroit for Opening Day on April 5. How good was Lester against the Phillies? He was electric, firing seven innings of shutout baseball in which he allowed two hits and no walks while striking out 10.

The Mets will honor late Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter on Opening Day, with Carter's family participating in a pregame ceremony at Citi Field.

Mark Buehrle had shown the Marlins the pitcher with the reputation for struggling in Spring Training. On Monday, he showed them why he has another reputation: a pitcher who works quickly and efficiently.

Dustin McGowan might be dealing with another injury, but it will be a lot easier to maintain a positive state of mind after it was announced on Monday afternoon that he has signed a two-year extension worth $3 million.

Though the club still has some position battles to sort out before opening the season in Miami nine days from now, the Cardinals' recent decisions have brought some clarity to the club's projected roster.

The Royals still don't know which of their three candidates — Jonathan Broxton, Aaron Crow and Greg Holland — might emerge as the replacement for closer Joakim Soria.

Jesse Crain felt no pain from his slightly strained right oblique and was ready to work in Tuesday's Minor League intrasquad game at Camelback Ranch.

Heading into Monday's game, the Rays had scored 67 runs this spring, which ranked them just ahead of the Marlins, who were last the Major Leagues, with just 55.

With three All-Star appearances and an impressive track record of durability, a case can be made that Angels right-hander Dan Haren is the most underrated starter in the game.

David Wright made his Cactus League debut with a single, and Johan Santana worked through some early wildness to complete five innings with five strikeouts, as the Mets faced the Cardinals on Monday in the Grapefruit League.

Giants pitching prospect Eric Surkamp had a setback to his strong Cactus League campaign Monday and will be shut down for a week with left elbow soreness.

The time will eventually come — May, in fact — when Jonathan Papelbon will have to stare down some of his closest friends and try to make them look foolish in the batter's box. But Monday in Clearwater — the day Papelbon's Phillies entertained the Red Sox — wasn't that day.

Just as the Tigers are hoping to have Miguel Cabrera back in the coming days, they might have a new injury to worry about. Delmon Young left Monday's 3-3 tie with the Marlins after three innings with a sore left knee.