Tim Lincecum doesn’t light up radar guns anymore. But he proved Friday night that he still can illuminate scoreboards with zeroes. Lincecum maintained his career-long dominance against the San Diego Padres, limiting them to four singles in seven innings.

Even when the Royals’ bullpen doesn’t have its closer, it remains a deadly weapon. That’s how deep this bullpen is.

If Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons continues robbing Travis d’Arnaud of base hits, the Mets catcher might have a right to file a criminal complaint.

When Ender Inciarte walked to the plate with one out in the 10th inning and saw the Dodgers bring in outfielder Yasiel Puig to form a five-man infield he knew what was going to happen.

With no extra infielders left on the bench, Scooter Gennett was ejected to end the eighth inning of Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Brewers. Manager Ron Roenicke decided to give Carlos Gomez a chance at second.

Phil Gosselin’s two-run single off Rafael Montero with two outs in the eighth inning gave the Braves a lead they preserved to remain perfect with a 5-3 win in Friday night’s home opener against the Mets.

Todd Frazier’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly scored Billy Hamilton and gave the Reds a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

Angels owner Arte Moreno said prior to Friday’s home opener that Josh Hamilton’s contract contains specific language that gives the team recourse in the event of an alcohol- or drug-related relapse. Moreno didn’t go into specifics as to what that recourse would entail, but did hint that the team is pursuing action against its outfielder.

The stakes are nowhere near as high as they were this past October. But in one of the early glamour pitching matchups of the still young 2015 regular season, Padres right-hander James Shields is scheduled face Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner on Saturday evening at Petco Park.

Rangers pitcher Derek Holland will be out at least two months, and possibly more with a subscapularis strain in his left shoulder. Texas is also expecting Ryan Rua to go on the disabled list with a sprained right ankle.

Billy Hamilton isn’t just running fast on the bases, the Reds’ center fielder is running smarter, too. A lot of good things happened in the three-game series sweep over the Pirates to open the season and one of them was certainly Hamilton’s base stealing efforts.

The Tigers came to Progressive Field on Friday and issued a reminder as to which American League Central club continues to hold the keys to the division. Miguel Cabrera collected three hits, Nick Castellanos launched a two-run home run and Detroit spoiled the Indians’ home opener with an 8-4 victory in front of a sold-out crowd.

Justin Verlander took the field at Progressive Field on Friday afternoon with a plan to long-toss in the outfield and maybe try a few leisurely pitches on the mound to see how his triceps felt. He ended up throwing a 30-pitch bullpen session, his first in five days.

The Blue Jays struck early and often, hitting double digits on the scoreboard by the fourth inning as they cruised to a 12-5 rout Friday afternoon, spoiling the Orioles’ home opener at Camden Yards. Mark Buehrle picked up his 200th win, giving up two runs over six innings, while Bud Norris allowed eight runs in three-plus innings for the O’s.

Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run double in the fifth and Justin Morneau’s solo shot in the sixth carried the Rockies to a 5-1 victory over the Cubs in the Coors Field opener Friday afternoon in front of a record crowd of 50,967. The four-game win streak ties 1995 for the best start in the Rockies’ 23-season history.

They could not have taken more distinctly different paths to get here, but here they are. Corey Kluber and David Price. American League Central aces. Cy Young Award winners. Saturday opponents at Progressive Field.

Pedro Martinez said Friday that he thinks Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka may still be feeling the effects of an elbow ailment that interrupted last season. Martinez, calling into a program on MLB Network Radio, said he could tell that Tanaka is pitching in pain.