Harper excited to begin big league career  —  LOS ANGELES — Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper arrived in Los Angeles around 1:30 a.m. PT on Saturday.  He got about four hours sleep, excited that he was making his Major League debut against the Dodgers.  —  Harper is on Washington's 25-man roster …

Cardinals, Brewers face cloudy futures  —  The Chicago Cubs are coming.  —  Not this season, obviously.  Probably not next season, either.  But by 2014 or '15, the Cubs again should be a force in the National League Central.  —  What will the rest of the division do about it?

Yankees demote struggling Garcia to bullpen  —  NEW YORK — The New York Yankees have decided to put struggling starter Freddy Garcia in the bullpen with rookie David Phelps the favorite to assume the fifth starter role for the moment.  —  With a day off scheduled for May 7 …

Pre-game notes from Chicago  —  CHICAGO — A few pre-game notes for you:  —  • The White Sox scratched Paul Konerko because of a stiff neck.  He's also 1 for 10 against Josh Beckett.  —  • Happy birthday to Kelly Shoppach (32) and pitching coach Bob McClure (60).

Kemp's HR in 10th Spoils Harper's Strong Debut  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp homered leading off the 10th inning, spoiling Bryce Harper's major league debut and lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

Ramirez, Marlins top D-backs to end slide at 6  —  MIAMI—Hanley Ramirez hit a run-scoring single with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Marlins over the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Saturday night, snapping Miami's losing streak at six games.  —  Ramirez's line drive …

With Angel Stadium aging, team could drop the ‘of Anaheim’  —  As the Dodgers' and Angels' owners consider the options for their ballparks, the possibility arises for the Angels to move to downtown L.A. and for the Freeway Series to become the Surface Streets Series.  —  “Hey, I think I can see Angel Stadium from here.”

Ruiz Proves Driving Force in Phillies Win  —  (Reuters) - Carlos Ruiz drove in three runs to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, lifting the NL East champions to within a game of the .500 mark after a stuttering start to the season.

Bedard earns first win, Pirates beat Braves, 4-2  —  ATLANTA—Streaking Alex Presley helped the Pirates finally provide tough-luck starter Erik Bedard some support and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 4-2 on Saturday night.  —  Presley had two hits to extend his career-best hitting streak to 12 games.

Chen and Davis lead Orioles over Athletics 10-1  —  BALTIMORE—Wei-Yin Chen pitched seven strong innings, Chris Davis had four RBIs, Adam Jones and Robert Andino each had three hits and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics 10-1 on Saturday night.

Older ballplayers showing a lot of life this season  —  Paul Konerko stroked his 400th career homer last Wednesday, but he doesn't think he'll make it to 500.  It's not that he feels incapable, he just doesn't know whether his body will hold up that long.  —  Yet Konerko, who is 36, is part of an old man's revival around baseball.