Baseball

The Boston Red Sox are in need of a spark to ignite their once-powerful offense. They’re hoping Shane Victorino can be the catalyst they need, as the team looks to regain the offensive magic that made them baseball’s best a season ago.

After reaching the World Series last season, the St. Louis Cardinals have decided to extend the contract of general manager John Mozeliak.

According to Major League Baseball on Twitter, the two-year extension means that Mozeliak is now contracted through the 2018 season:

When the San Diego Padres inserted Andrew Cashner into their starting rotation a few weeks into the 2013 season, it may have been his last chance to prove he could be durable enough to remain there.

We're still in the portion of the season when you have to be careful about taking anything at face value—especially with performances that seem out of character.

On that note, here's me telling caution to take a hike so I can say this: You might want to take the Milwaukee Brewers seriously as NL Central contenders.

When CC Sabathia was in his prime, dominance seemed to follow regardless how sharp his stuff was in a particular outing. Upon arriving to the New York Yankees in 2009, the perfect blend of talent and maturity accompanied the big lefty to the Bronx. 

Yes, it's early on in the 2014 regular season. And, yes, there's still lots of baseball to play—a whole summer, in fact.

But in a big market like New York, team officials are always being looked at through a microscope and every step, every movement, is watched with great intensity. It's just the nature of the beast that is the Big Apple.

It was rough for a while there, but it looks like our long Nationals nightmare may finally be over.

Yes, Bryce Harper looks like he's back.

Starting the season off with a 4-8 record is probably not what Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson had in mind.

The team began 1-7, marking it the worst start in franchise history, with one more loss in the first eight games than the club’s inaugural season in 1998. And after finishing the past two seasons with an 81-81 finish, winning one game in eight tries is going to start raising concerns.

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia was 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA in five outings against the Boston Red Sox last season, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Friday, as the two teams face off at Yankee Stadium.

Sports bettors will find that the Yankees are plus-110 home underdogs in the pro baseball odds, with the betting total sitting at 8.5 in the market.

In New York it is never too early to over-analyze a player's performance, especially if the player is a new acquisition from this offseason.

Just under two weeks into the regular season, the New York Yankees have played average baseball and sit with a record of 5-5.

However, they have won five of their last seven games and are currently tied for first in the AL East.