5 astonishing facts from the Red Sox' historic 16-2 start  —  The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who own a MLB-best 16-2 record, are off to a historic start.  —  Their record after 18 games is the best in franchise history and they are the first team to win 16 of its first 18 games since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers started 17-1.

Giants ace Madison Bumgarner has pins removed from broken finger  —  Madison Bumgarner had pins removed from the broken pinkie on his pitching hand Thursday, and the San Francisco Giants are hopeful that their ace can start playing catch in the next two weeks.

Mets' Matt Harvey bristles over job security question: 'I'm a starting pitcher'  —  ATLANTA — Five years ago Thursday, Matt Harvey had the Citi Field faithful chanting “Harvey's better” as the young right-hander outdueled Washington's Stephen Strasburg.  —  Harvey is no longer that caliber of pitcher …

White Sox are 1st MLB team to ditch single-use plastic straws  —  Photos from a tour of the White Sox's Guaranteed Rate Field before the 2018 home opener.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The White Sox are ditching straws this season as part of the Shedd Aquarium's “Shedd the Straw” initiative.

Pitcher goes from working at Miller Brewery to facing the Brewers  —  When the Florida Marlins take the field Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers, the man who will take the mound is the same guy who, 15 months ago, was selling trinkets in the MillerCoors gift shop two miles away.

Jake Arrieta strikes out 10, allows 1 hit in 7 innings to move to 2-0  —  Jake Arrieta flashed the All-Star form that made Philadelphia covet the free-agent ace, striking out 10 and tossing one-hit ball over seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Reds officials disliked Barry Larkin's ‘public campaigning’ to be manager, Rosenthal says  —  It was something Cincinnati Reds fans loved to hear, but did everyone in the team's front office appreciate Hall of Famer Barry Larkin - who grew up in Cincinnati, graduated from Moeller High School …

Forget the cold, Yankees have bigger concerns to worry about with Giancarlo Stanton, poor starting pitching  —  We are closing in on the last week of April and the Yankees have yet to play an outdoor baseball game in pleasant weather conditions, minus the ski masks.

Another walk-off!  Tigers' JaCoby Jones homers in 10th  —  Detroit - The Tigers are starting to get the hang of this walk-off thing.  —  After Dixon Machado's walk-off homer on Wednesday, JaCoby Jones lined a home run into the bullpen in left field to give the Tigers a 3-2 …

Link between Alex Rodriguez, kidnapping victim questioned  —  Norberto Susini has told people that he was Alex Rodriguez's nephew for years - a familial link that was called into question after Susini was abducted Wednesday.  —  Susini allegedly was held hostage by two men after a deal to sell a Lamborghini went bad.

The case for 154 games, Fenway's quest and MLB's next big thing  —  Baseball needs to shorten the regular-season schedule.  —  Pausing.  —  Pausing.  —  OK, I guess I can't just leave it at that because that declarative statement is far from self-evident.  Allow me to explain.

Wall Street Journal: Baseball in Florida ‘has been a disaster’  —  The Rays and Miami Marlins “are at a moment of reckoning” after histories of low attendance and an offseason in which they sold off many of their top players and were singled out by the MLB Players Association for failing …

Boston whips out the broom against Angels  —  ANAHEIM, Calif.-Here it is Friday, and the Angels' best day at the ballpark so far this week came when it was so cold that the infield frosted over and the game wasn't even played.  —  That was Sunday, back in 18-degree-wind-chilled Kansas City …

Albert Almora Jr., Javier Baez remain 1-2 in Cubs' lineup for series opener against Rockies  —  Joe Maddon on Cubs' hitters Thursday: ‘I loved our approach today.’ (Mark Gonzales/Chicago Tribune)  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Cubs manager Joe Maddon is hoping Albert Almora Jr. and Javier Baez continue …