Theme for Martínez Could Be From 'Rocky'  —  On its own, the fastball that rammed into Jose Guillen's upper arm in the fifth inning last night was merely an errant pitch, one that got away from Pedro Martínez.  But by that point, Guillen had had enough.

Under The Knife  —  No Intro  —  No time for an intro—there's too much to cover tonight, so on to the injuries:  — The big news of the day was the Eric Gagne announcement, as the Dodger closer heads back to surgery for nerve excision in his pitching elbow.

Humidor griping steams up Rockies  —  With rolled eyes and shaking heads, Rockies pitchers found complaints about the humidor humorless.  —  After two games, the Diamondbacks and Rockies combined for 11 runs and no home runs, prompting grousing from Arizona players, who cited a handful …

Clement out to ground Birds  —  Boston (2-1) at Baltimore (2-1), 7:05 p.m. ET, Friday  —  He enters the season under the radar, the forgotten man in a rotation that includes Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield and David Wells.  —  But that suits Matt Clement just fine.  He just wants to pitch.

Bonds will see pitches till he hits a few out  —  The Padres went after Barry Bonds in the season opener, and Giants manager Felipe Alou expected more of the same last night.  Although Bonds went 11-for-23 in spring training with four home runs, he played less than he usually does …

Comcast Wants to Show Nats  —  Cable Co. Offers Plan To End Its Blackout  —  One day before the House Government Reform Committee holds hearings on why Washington Nationals games are not shown on Comcast, the cable carrier asked Major League Baseball to break its contract with the regional sports network that carries the team's games.

Pitching Around Batters  —  Tom M Tango, along with co-authors Mitchel Lichtman and Andy Dolphin, have written a superb book of in-game strategic analysis called The Book.  Tom has graciously given us permission to publish the following excerpt.  —  In discussing strategies of intentional walks …

Prospectus Notebook  —  Royals, Yankees  —  KANSAS CITY ROYALS  —  Say this for the Royals—they cut right to the chase.  Following their 25th Opening Day loss in their 38-year history, the Royals have already made themselves comfortable in the last-place confines that have been reserved for them all winter.

WFAN scores with 'Sandman'  —  Call it inane.  (True.)  Call it absurd.  (Duh!)  Call it ridiculous.  (We have.)  —  Just make sure you also call it this: brilliant.  —  This week's manufactured bizarro-controversy - soundtrack by Metallica - from the babble factory at WFAN is the handiwork of masters at work.

Cards Notebook: Looper is still waiting  —  The Cardinals won a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night without righthanded set-up man Braden Looper entering a tied eighth inning.  —  And that arrangement may not change for awhile, manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan said Thursday.

Yankees Win as Council Approves Stadium  —  The New York Yankees' effort to build a new stadium cleared its biggest hurdle yesterday with lopsided City Council votes supporting the team's ambitious plan to knock down the Bronx institution known around the world as the House that Ruth Built.