Column On Vin Scully's first opening day in retirement, he engaged in ‘that other national pastime, paying bills’  —  Shaking the sleep out of their old ballpark, awakening their urgency to end a title drought, the Dodgers majestically opened the 2017 baseball season Monday afternoon with a perfect two-part greeting.

Mets' Seth Lugo has slight UCL tear in right elbow, sources say  —  Mets righthander Seth Lugo has been diagnosed with a slight tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow with the belief that it could be fallout from pitching in the World Baseball Classic, multiple sources said on Tuesday.

Cabrera, Syndergaard lead Mets past Braves 6-0 in opener … NEW YORK — Noah Syndergaard is off to a blistering start — and that could be a concern for the New York Mets.  —  The hard-throwing ace pitched six sharp innings before leaving with a blister, Asdrubal Cabrera singled home …

Opening Day Part Deux  —  The Tuesday Takeaway  —  Rougned Odor's helmet looks like it has been through some stuff, man.  After just Opening Day, it already looks like an homage to the grimy character of the domes found on Vladimir Guerrero and John Kruk.

David Ross To Throw Out 1st Pitch, Sing Stretch On April 12 On Ring Ceremony Night For The Cubs  —  Beloved former Cubs catcher David Ross will be front and center on the night the team holds its ring ceremony for its 2016 championship.  —  Ross will throw out the ceremonial first pitch …

About All These Velocity Spikes  —  Yesterday, I wrote about Madison Bumgarner looking like he might have been throwing harder than usual on Sunday.  Then Jeff chimed in, noting that most everyone in that game had increased velocity, and so perhaps there was something going on with Arizona's radar calibration.

Braves Jumping Mike Soroka, Kolby Allard To Double-A  —  The Braves are pushing some of their top prospects this year.  —  Atlanta will send lefthanders Max Fried and Kolby Allard and righthander Mike Soroka to Double-A Mississippi, skipping all three over high Class A Florida after they spent last year at low Class A Rome.

Tigers-White Sox postponed; Opening Day slated for 2:10 today  —  Baseball's back!  In this “Talkin' Tigers” podcast, Anthony Fenech and George Sipple preview the 2017 Detroit Tigers, live from Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, where they'll open the season.

Trumbo's 11th-inning homer lifts Orioles over Blue Jays 3-2 … BALTIMORE — Five months later, the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays reprised their winner-take-all postseason showdown.  —  The stakes weren't as high, yet the drama was palpable and the game was eerily similar.

Sources: Romo To Land With CBS; Could Replace Simms As Top Analyst … Tony Romo will be a TV analyst with CBS next season, according to sources.  A deal has yet to be signed, but CBS and Romo have reached a verbal agreement.  The Cowboys QB is expected to replace Phil Simms as the net's top game analyst …

Jake Odorizzi: Rays' best pitcher of 2016 looks to another season of consistency  —  ST. PETERSBURG — A dozen or so reporters and cameramen crowded around Chris Archer's locker Friday, a throng so thick it spilled to the adjoining locker, which belongs to Jake Odorizzi.