MLB National League and American League

American League American LeagueBaltimore: SS Miguel Tejada will be playing today in his 757th consecutive game, the longest ongoing streak of any active player. ... Geronimo Gil is glad to open the season as the backup to starting C Javy Lopez after being sent to the minors just days before the start of the 2004 season. He had been the opening-day starter the year before that. ... OF/DH B.J. Surhoff starts the season as the oldest on the 25-man roster: Born Aug. 4, 1964, he is 51 days older than DH/1B Rafael Palmeiro.Boston: RHP Curt Schilling dominated a minor league spring training game Saturday. Schilling pitched seven innings (including a six-out inning in the seventh to reach his pitch count), striking out eight and allowing just one run on four hits. He will next start a minor league game Thursday before likely rejoining the team April 14. ... RHP Wade Miller pitched three hitless innings against Boston's Class AAA Pawtucket (R.I.) affiliate. Miller walked two and struck out two. His command proved spotty, however, as 18 of his 38 pitches were balls. ... LHP Mark Malaska was designated for assignment in order to free a roster spot for 1B/OF David McCarty.Chicago: C Ben Davis declined his veterans' rights to refuse a minor league assignment during the weekend and will play for Class AAA Charlotte, assuring his $1 million salary. ... Tadahito Iguchi will be the starting second baseman on opening day, but manager Ozzie Guillen said he won't hesitate to pull Iguchi for Willie Harris if the Japanese import struggles or has trouble against certain pitchers.Cleveland: IF Jose Hernandez could be in the starting lineup today, based on his history of hitting left-handed pitchers. The White Sox will start LHP Mark Buehrle. Last year with the Dodgers, Hernandez batted .310 vs. lefties, and 11 of his 13 homers came off left-handers. ... The Indians are opening in Chicago for the first time since 1968. ... Victor Martinez is the first catcher to hit cleanup for the Indians on opening day since John Ellis in 1974.Detroit: RHP Matt Ginter was obtained in a weekend trade with the Mets to fill the 11th and last spot on the pitching staff. Ginter, the No. 1 draft choice of the White Sox in 1999, will pitch long relief. ... Hall of Famer Al Kaline calls this year's edition of the Tigers "the best team we've had in a long, long time. I think this will be a very competitive team. I'm excited." Kansas City: The Royals are 13-23 on opening days. They have won their last two openers, both against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. But they open on the road today at Detroit, and their road record in openers is 4-13. ... RHP Jose Lima will be the fourth different opening-day starter in as many years. The others were RHP Jeff Suppan in 2002, RHP Runelvys Hernandez in 2003 and LHP Brian Anderson in 2004.Los Angeles: RHP Kelvim Escobar (sprained right elbow) was put on the disabled list, and RHP Kevin Gregg was bumped out of the bullpen and into the rotation to take Escobar's No. 5 spot in the rotation. Gregg started two games this spring, posting a 1-0 mark with a 2.00 ERA in a total of six appearances. ... With Escobar on the DL, LHP Jake Woods made his first big-league roster. Woods, along with RHP Chris Bootcheck, was in the running for the last spot in the bullpen but appeared headed for Class AAA when RHP Bret Prinz was acquired.Minnesota: Bob Kurtz, who did play-by-play for the NHL Minnesota Wild, was named the public-address announcer for this season. Bob Casey, the stadium voice for 44 years, died last week. The Twins will name a permanent replacement after the season.New York: GM Brian Cashman said RHP Kevin Brown, out with a back injury, could be ready to join the rotation April 17. Cashman said that Brown will spend the two next weeks trying to loosen his stiff back. "There are no guarantees, but it is our hope that he will be ready (April 17)," Cashman says. ... Public address announcer Bob Sheppard called his 55th opening day. The first hitter he introduced was Boston outfielder Dom DiMaggio. ... Sunday was the 27th time the Yankees opened the season against Boston. It was only the fourth time they opened on a Sunday.Oakland: RHP Rich Harden, who signed a four-year contract Saturday, might need to be skipped from his start Wednesday because of a blister on his finger. If he can't go, RHP Kirk Saarloos will take his place. ... IF Marco Scutaro made the opening-day roster, but it's probably temporary. If Saarloos is added, Scutaro will be sent to Class AAA Sacramento.Seattle: Wilson Valdez, picked up from the Mets on a waiver claim Friday, will be the opening-day shortstop in place of Pokey Reese, who was placed on the disabled list because of a sore shoulder. ... RF Ichiro Suzuki hit in 19 games in succession to start the spring, but he went 0-for-7 in the two games during the weekend in Las Vegas. He finished with 31 hits, four shy of the club's spring record, and a .436 average.Tampa Bay: The Devil Rays are expected to sign C Charles Johnson today and designate OF Michael Restovich for assignment. Johnson was traded last week from Colorado to Boston, and then released.Texas: RHP Carlos Almanzar returned home to the Dominican Republic after his mother died Saturday. Texas placed Almanzar on the bereavement list and called up RHP Nick Regilio from Class AAA. ... Laynce Nix was a surprise cut as spring training ended. Nix, the team's regular center fielder last year, was optioned to the minors after hitting .197 this spring. Gary Matthews Jr. will be the regular center fielder. ... The Rangers added 1B Adrian Gonzalez to the roster. The 22-year-old rookie should get the bulk of the DH at-bats. Toronto: RHP Roy Halladay makes his third consecutive opening-day start for the Blue Jays this afternoon against Tampa Bay, equaling Jimmy Key's run from 1987-89. Dave Stieb started the most openers in club history, four (1983, 1985, 1986 and 1991).National LeagueArizona: Manager Bob Melvin designated RHP Brandon Lyon the closer to start the season. RHP Greg Aquino, who missed two weeks of spring training because of elbow tightness, didn't have enough time to regain the form he had last season, when he led all National League rookies with 16 saves. ... LHP Brad Halsey won a spring-long battle with LHP Michael Gosling for the club's No. 5 starting job. Both will begin the season in the bullpen. Halsey's first start won't be until April 11 - after he serves a two-game suspension this week for a brushback pitch last year.Atlanta: Manager Bobby Cox altered his starting rotation after RHP Tim Hudson threw 85 pitches Saturday. The new order: RHP John Smoltz, LHP Mike Hampton, Hudson, RHP John Thomson and LHP Horacio Ramirez. The Indians beat up Hudson for seven earned runs on eight hits in four innings Saturday. ... The cancellation of Friday's exhibition game because of wet grounds at Turner Field necessitated the use of three starting pitchers Saturday to keep the rotation on schedule. Hudson, Hampton and Thomson all worked. Chicago: RHP Mark Prior will start on the disabled list for a second consecutive season because of a sore elbow that has bothered him since early March. Prior pitched in a minor league game Friday, giving up seven hits, including a pair of homers, over four innings. Prior could come off the DL in time to pitch April 12 against San Diego if his elbow is OK. Last season he missed the first two months with Achilles' tendon and elbow problems.Cincinnati: CF Ken Griffey Jr. will bat second in the opening-day lineup, for the first time as a member of the Reds and only the 39th time in his career. ... OF/1B Jacob Cruz won the 25th spot on the roster when the club optioned IF Luis Lopez to Class AAA Louisville.Colorado: The Rockies will open the season with a bullpen by committee. LHP Brian Fuentes and RHPs Scott Dohmann and Ryan Speier will get the ninth-inning work. RHP Chin-hui Tsao, the appointed closer, is on the disabled list with right shoulder stiffness. RHP Byung-Hyun Kim, acquired last week from Boston, is going to work early innings to try to regain his slider and velocity. ... RHP Marcos Carvajal, a 20-year-old Rule 5 draftee, made the opening-day roster.Florida: CF Juan Pierre plans to start Tuesday's opener despite a sore calf that had him out most of the spring.Houston: RHP Ezequiel Astacio is still in the running for the fifth spot in the rotation, even though he was optioned Saturday to Class AAA Round Rock (Texas). He was 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA this spring. RHP Brandon Duckworth, another fifth-starter candidate, made the 25-man roster.Los Angeles: With RHP Eric Gagne opening the season on the disabled list, the most experienced closer on the active roster is RHP Derek Lowe, who had 81 saves in three seasons as the Boston closer. He is the opening-day starter. RHP Yhency Brazoban will step into the closer's role.Milwaukee: 3B Russell Branyan has recovered from a case of strep throat, but he is unlikely to start today. Jeff Cirillo or Wes Helms will replace him. ... RHP Ben Sheets will become the first pitcher in franchise history to make four consecutive opening-day starts.New York: The Saturday MRI exam on OF Mike Cameron's left wrist revealed tendonitis unrelated to December surgery. "It's really good news," assistant GM John Ricco said. Cameron is not expected to be placed on the DL, and he will be in Cincinnati today for opening day. He is taking anti-inflammatory medication.Philadelphia: Chase Utley was displeased to find out that Placido Polanco will be starting at second base in the opener today against Washington. The Phillies told Utley at the end of last season he would be the everyday second baseman and were letting Polanco leave as a free agent. Polanco accepted the Phillies' arbitration offer and returned.Pittsburgh: C David Ross will begin as the backup to Benito Santiago because Humberto Cota will begin on the 15-day disabled list with a strained muscle in his left side. The Pirates purchased Ross from the Dodgers for $75,000 last week.St. Louis: 1B Albert Pujols finished spring training hitting .459. He didn't strike out once in 68 at-bats. ... RHP Matt Morris, who had offseason shoulder surgery, will make two rehab starts for Class A Palm Beach (Fla.). The Cardinals are hopeful Morris can make an April 19 start in Pittsburgh, but he has been rocky in his last two spring appearances and has had some soreness.San Diego: CF Dave Roberts expects to miss only nine games while on the disabled list with a groin strain that has hobbled him since March 12. He is eligible to return April 15.San Francisco: The Giants held 2B Ray Durham out of the lineup for the second consecutive game as he recovers from a slight groin strain. "Ray continues to show progress," head trainer Stan Conte said. "We just decided that the weather was too cold for him to play." At game time, the temperature was 56. "He'll be in the opening-day lineup on Tuesday," Conte added. ... LF Barry Bonds will start a season on the disabled list for the first time in his career, which began in 1986. It's his first DL stint since 1999 and the third of his career. He had right knee surgery March 17. OF/IF Pedro Feliz is expected to be the left fielder when the Giants open Tuesday vs. the Dodgers.Washington: RHP Chad Cordero was named the closer. Manager Frank Robinson had been saying all spring he planned to use a bullpen-by-committee to keep pressure off Cordero, but the 23-year-old proved he was ready to handle the job.