Sox rally falls short  —  Clement hit hard in first home start of season  —  BOSTON — There's never a good time for a bad start.  But Matt Clement knows his timing Thursday night wasn't the best, especially considering his counterpart's recent success against the Red Sox.

Mets open series with Brewers  —  Milwaukee (6-3) at New York Mets (7-1) 7:10 p.m. ET  —  The Mets venture outside the thus-far friendly confines of the National League East for the first time Friday night, when they face the Brewers in the opener of a three-game series.

Dodgers' Brazoban out for season  —  Reliever to undergo elbow reconstruction surgery  —  LOS ANGELES — Reliever Yhency Brazoban will require Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery and be lost for the season, the Dodgers learned Friday.  —  Brazoban told the club he felt the elbow …

Jones likely to miss Pittsburgh series  —  While outfielder sits, third baseman Ramirez should play  —  CHICAGO — Outfielder Jacque Jones was expected to miss the Chicago Cubs' weekend series in Pittsburgh to give his sore right hamstring time to heal.  —  Jones had to come out of Tuesday's game …

Charting the majors: Yankees talk to Pena  —  Charting the majors  — Yankees talk to Pena: New York has entered into serious discussions with former Tigers first baseman Carlos Pena .  —  The Red Sox, Dodgers and Chiba Lotte Marines also have shown interest in Pena …

Park leads Padres into Atlanta  —  San Diego (3-5) at Atlanta (4-6), 4:35 p.m. PT  —  Padres manager Bruce Bochy keeps telling his players there are some turbulent ups and downs to the typical Major League season.  They've seen a few already.  The Padres certainly didn't expect to lose three home games to the Rockies.

Yankees will be rolling come October … Happens every year.  —  Happened last year.  We bet it happens this year too.  —  There's always some team nobody expected to make the playoffs that rides a shocking start all the way into October.  Last year's mystery guest: your Chicago White Sox, ladies and gentlemen.

Right knee stiffness sidelines Griffey vs. Cards  —  ST. LOUIS — Ken Griffey Jr. missed his second straight start with stiffness in his right knee on Friday night, and the Cincinnati Reds made a move to add outfield depth.  —  The Reds purchased the contract of Quinton McCracken …

Notes: Shelton part of rare trio  —  Hafner, Thome help give AL Central a bundle of power  —  DETROIT — The only times Chris Shelton and Travis Hafner have talked much are the rare times Hafner settled for a single against the Tigers last year.  Now, they're linked for their trips around the bases.

Under The Knife  —  Memes  —  There are two memes working their way around baseball right now that need to be addressed.  First is the preposterous notion that ten days of data tells us we haven't solved the steroid problem with the new testing, or that something like Hawk Harrelson's …

Bidders For Nats May Join Forces  —  With Major League Baseball poised to select a new owner for the Washington Nationals within the next week, the family of local real estate patriarch Theodore "Ted" Lerner yesterday was very close to teaming up with former Atlanta sports executive Stan Kasten …

Brand New Shoes  —  Ladies, here's a sneak view inside the Guy Code — that unwritten set of rules that govern what American Guys do in social situations, covering everything from the type of drinks which are acceptable to order to the selection of urinals in a public restroom.

Same ol' Zambrano  —  WASHINGTON — Yesterday was a standard outing for Victor Zambrano.  Not that great, not terrible.  —  But with the Mets' intimidating lineup, Zambrano may just be good enough this season — if he proves that his shaky five-inning performance in yesterday's 13-4 thrashing …

Casey injured in third, leaves game  —  First baseman catches unintentional elbow in back  —  PITTSBURGH — Pirates first baseman Sean Casey was forced to leave the game in the top of the third inning on Friday after catching an inadvertent elbow in the back from Cubs outfielder John Mabry.

TV station refuses to air game on Good Friday  —  WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A television station declined to broadcast a baseball game because it was being played on Good Friday.  —  WNEP-TV, which traditionally televises the home opener of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons …