Notes: Defense leaving its mark  —  With new blueprint in place, Red Sox winning close games  —  BALTIMORE — Run prevention.  It was a buzz phrase around the offices of Yawkey Way all winter, as the front office reconstructed a team that was successful last year, but flawed.

Notes: Lee relaxes deal deadline  —  Young Cedeno opens season on a hot streak  —  CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee softened his call for a Saturday deadline to resolve his possible contract extension, but he did reiterate that he wants the matter resolved soon so he can focus on baseball.

Notes: Barmes finding his stroke  —  Colorado shortstop trying to settle in early in the season  —  SAN DIEGO — Colorado shortstop Clint Barmes did not begin this year with the thunder he took into 2005, but it's not too late to make early-season noise.  —  Last year, Barmes homered off …

Wells gives up seven runs in rehab start  —  PAWTUCKET, R.I. — David Wells was hit hard in a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket, giving up seven runs and six hits in five innings Friday night.  —  "It is what it is, it's a bad night," said Wells, placed on the disabled list last Saturday — retroactive to March 27.

Guillen: Rematch Could Be 'Real Ugly'  —  HOUSTON, April 7 — A day after he was hit by two of Pedro Martinez's pitches — and with suspensions impending for one of his teammates and his manager within the next week or so — Washington Nationals right fielder Jose Guillen vowed that his feud …

Notes: Belliard sits with odd injury  —  Tribe second baseman strains calf walking to the dugout  —  CLEVELAND — It's not often a player gets injured between innings.  —  But that's just what happened to Ronnie Belliard on Friday night.  —  The Indians' second baseman suffered a mild strain …

Mets get Vargas turned around  —  NEW YORK — When starting pitcher Jason Vargas left the Marlins' team hotel Friday for Shea Stadium, he got on a train and went in the wrong direction, ended up in Brooklyn and frantically doubled his way back to Manhattan before catching the right train.

As a 'core guy,' Encarnacion must improve  —  CHICAGO  —  Four games are hardly a fair or indicative trial, but Cardinals right fielder Juan Encarnacion is struggling to get out of the gate in the early days of the season.  —  In Friday's 5-1 loss to the Cubs at a chilled, windswept Wrigley Field …

Estes put on DL with elbow injury  —  Towers: No. 2 starter out four to six weeks  —  Shawn Estes knows the difference between pain and hurt.  —  "Every pitcher experiences pain and discomfort," Estes said.  "I feel discomfort almost every day.  Usually it comes and goes."

Is personal character A's latest way to find value?  —  Seattle — As readers of "Moneyball" know, the A's front office is always trying to find an undervalued commodity and take advantage of it.  First, it was on-base percentage, college pitchers, players who didn't fit prescribed physical modes.

Yanks' Star-Studded Lineup Falling Short on Hits  —  ANAHEIM, Calif., April 7 — The players in the Yankees' starting lineup have made 42 All-Star teams.  This season, they will earn about $110 million.  Together, they have more star power than a planetarium.  —  They will play under the weight of those facts all season.

Angelos turns up Comcast volume … WASHINGTON // Orioles owner Peter Angelos lambasted Comcast Corp. for monopolistic practices and implored the cable giant to televise Washington Nationals games during a congressional hearing yesterday on the standoff that has left 1.3 million D.C.-area households unable to watch their home team.