RODRIGUEZ IS THE YANKS' BIG PAPI  —  ALEX Rodriguez heads to Fenway Park as, of all things, David Ortiz.  —  Rodriguez now is not just the most talented player, but also the timeliest.  Talent and Timely, that is TNT, which is fitting for how explosive Rodriguez has been this April.

Duel turns wacky in wild loss to Cards  —  Lilly cruises until seventh, which kicks off Cubs' tough breaks  —  CHICAGO — The umpires made the right calls Friday.  You just won't see Lou Piniella picking up home-plate umpire Larry Young's tab at the same downtown Chicago restaurant this weekend.

Atlanta 7, NY Mets 3  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Braves manager Bobby Cox is happy with what he's seen from Tim Hudson so far this year — a lot of the same stuff, over and over again.  —  Hudson was downright stingy over eight shutout innings and Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer to help Atlanta beat the New York Mets 7-3 Friday night.

San Francisco 4, Arizona 2  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Russ Ortiz couldn't have scripted the story line much better.  —  His old team made enough mistakes in the first inning to give him a quick lead — and he kept it.  The only blip on this night was that the pitcher felt a knot in his lower …

Mets enjoy another rout of Marlins  —  El Duque fans 10, Wright extends streak in 16-hit barrage  —  MIAMI — The Mets thought they had assembled an offensive juggernaut when the season began.  Over the last two days, they proceeded to show the Marlins the sharp end of that buzzsaw.

Anatomy of a trade  —  An inside look at deal that sent Big Unit back to Arizona … PHOENIX — It started with a simple phone call, moved to a possible three-team deal, and wound up with Randy Johnson back in Arizona.  —  Diamondbacks general manager Josh Byrnes saw the Yankees had signed left-handers Andy Pettitte and Kei Igawa.

Rangers' bad start gets worse, 16-4  —  rdurrett@dallasnews.com  —  ARLINGTON - Several of Ron Washington's former players gave him a hearty greeting hours before Friday's game.  Then they showed no mercy to their ex-coach.  —  Oakland blistered the Rangers, 16-4, in a game that started badly for Texas and never got better.

Biggio's slam lifts Astros to fifth straight  —  Veteran collects third career grand slam  —  MILWAUKEE — A major contribution from the longest-tenured Astro proved to be just enough to avoid spoiling a big night from the shortest-tenured one.  —  Though Houston had to survive tense moments …

It's Still Slow Going For Nats' Patterson  —  Velocity Is Lacking in Loss to Phillies: Phillies 4, Nationals 2  —  John Patterson's stride was slow, his gaze toward the ground.  The Washington Nationals gathered, under cover from a cool drizzle, to welcome Patterson back to the dugout.

The Felix Affair  —  Boy, you take one day off to celebrate around here and the whole world seems to end.  Instead of lounging at the beach, I fielded call after call on Felix Hernandez Thursday, channeling handled the process well, making sure that Hernandez was seen in a timely manner in a way that could not be leaked.

Yankees farmhand arrested in Tampa  —  TAMPA - A minor league pitcher with the New York Yankees was arrested early Thursday morning on trespassing and obstruction charges after he refused to leave a Tampa restaurant.  —  Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies were dispatched …

Handwriting expert profiles D-Backs  —  Professional analysis of handwriting describes D-Backs 'right on the head'  —  Mark Hopper has been to three baseball games in his life, and he still has the ticket stub from the last one, an Aug. 25, 2001, game between the Diamondbacks and the New York Mets …

Cleveland 4, Tampa Bay 3  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Travis Hafner and the Cleveland Indians didn't let a nightmare loss linger.  —  Hafner hit a two-run homer and drove in the go-ahead run on a ninth-inning single and the Indians beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-3 on Friday night.

PECOTA Takes On Right-handed Pitching Prospects  —  PECOTA versus Baseball America on pitching prospects was where we left off.  Today righthanders get all the attention.  —  Excellent Prospects  —  Player (Age) Upside  —  xx. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Red Sox (26) 216.7