Yankees-Astros: The live blog  —  Good afternoon and welcome to Legends Field.  It's a balmy 79 degrees and mostly sunny here in Tampa as the Yankees prepare to play the Houston Astros.  —  The Yankees beat the Astros 7-6 on Monday and you can bet Houston will be itching for revenge.  Or maybe not.

A-Rod limited to DH duties due to sore shoulder  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has a sore right shoulder and is expected to be limited to designated hitter until early next week.  —  Rodriguez said he felt discomfort Thursday and the shoulder bothers him when he throws.

Martínez's Changeup: Less Talk, More Action  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Shortly after 10 a.m. Friday, Pedro Martínez prepared to throw his first pitch of the day.  He looked in to see Damion Easley, his teammate, wearing a windbreaker and limbering up in a batting cage.

Notes: Nationals shut down ailing Hill  —  Forearm pain forces veteran right-hander to stop throwing  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Nationals right-hander Shawn Hill played catch on Friday, but he had to stop after a few minutes because his right forearm was in serious pain.

LaRoche to miss eight to 10 weeks  —  He has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and will need surgery, which Ned said will take place in the next couple of days, probably in Los Angeles.  No word yet on how this will affect the roster makeup, other than it pretty …

Orioles' Patton headed for surgery; out until '09  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Troy Patton will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, delaying the left-hander's debut with the Baltimore Orioles until at least 2009.  —  Obtained in the December trade that sent Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros …

Twins' Liriano looks good in first outing in 18 months  —  FORT MYERS, Fla.—Francisco Liriano faced a major league team for the first time in 18 months, gave up no runs and felt no pain.  —  He even made Manny Ramirez look silly on a changeup that the Red Sox slugger flailed at for a third strike.

Cubs cut nine, trim roster to 50  —  MESA, Ariz. — The Cubs trimmed their Spring Training roster by nine on Friday, sending Billy Petrick and Tyler Colvin, among others, to the Minor League camp.  —  Petrick was optioned to Triple-A Iowa.  The others were non-roster invitees, and they were assigned to the Minor League camp.

Baseball Hall of Fame Considering “Steroid Exhibit”  —  It's been called the “Steroid Era” in baseball, and now, the Baseball Hall of Fame may be creating a “Steroid Exhibit”.  Today, Jeff Idelson, the vice-president of communications and education for the Hall of Fame was on the Dan Patrick Show, where Patrick brought up the topic.

Braves' Hampton leaves with groin injury  —  KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP)—Oft-injured pitcher Mike Hampton of the Atlanta Braves left his spring training start Friday because of a strained right groin.  —  Hampton, who hasn't pitched in a major league game since August 2005, made it to the second inning …

Thumb injury sidelines Dodgers' LaRoche  —  Third baseman, who was competing with Garciaparra for the starting job, will have surgery and miss at least eight weeks.  —  VERO BEACH, Fla. — Andy LaRoche has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and will return to Los Angeles …

Lee says Hunter told him Cubs never called  —  MESA, Ariz. — Forget what White Sox general manager Ken Williams says.  Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee says it's the Cubs who really lost out on center fielder Torii Hunter over the winter.  —  Lee said he was “shocked” when his longtime friend Hunter told …

Dice-K likely to go to Japan after team  —  FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP)—Daisuke Matsuzaka probably won't fly to Tokyo with his teammates because his wife's due date is March 19, the date of the flight, but the Red Sox hope he can join them in his native country.  —  Boston will play exhibition …