CLEVELAND (AP) ― The Cleveland Indians’ first win of the season wasn’t exactly a piece of cake. Still, it was worth celebrating.Carlos Santana hit two home runs on his 26th birthday, Derek Lowe pitched seven strong innings and Cleveland’s bullpen finally held a lead ― barely ― and beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Sunday.“Let’s tell him it’s his birthday every day,” said Cleveland closer Chris Perez, who retired Toronto slugger Jose Bautista on an infield popup with the bases loaded to earn the sav

DETROIT (AP) ― Prince Fielder stood in front of his locker discussing his first two home runs as a Detroit Tiger.Then Miguel Cabrera ― who had just finished reviewing his own two-homer game ― walked past.“Pow!” Cabrera said playfully. “One, two, three, pow!”Detroit’s potent slugging tandem is already finding its groove.Fielder and Cabrera hit two homers apiece and Alex Avila added another off Josh Beckett in the Tigers’ 10-0 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.Detroit entered the season as a

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Joey Votto got a big payday by staying in a small market, agreeing to a $251.5 million, 12-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday that is the longest guaranteed contract in major league history.The agreement adds $225 million over 10 years to his previous contract. The deal includes a club option for 2024, when the 2010 National League MVP turns 41.After watching NL Central rivals St. Louis and Milwaukee lose their first basemen to bigger markets, the Reds secured Vott

MIAMI (AP) ― Perched atop the Miami Marlins’ multicolored, provocative home-run sculpture is a blue marlin, poised for splashdown whenever the home team hits one out.Call the artwork what you will ― gaudy, goofy, grotesque, great ― but there’s no denying it’s new. For the Marlins, that’s what this season is all about.Long overlooked and underfunded, they’ve become a big-spending, attention-grabbing team as they open the season at home Wednesday night against the World Series champion St. Louis C

Baseball season kicks off this weekendAfter a busy off-season that saw a match-fixing investigation, departure of longtime franchise stars and arrival of new players, Korean fans are finally ready for the beginning of a new baseball season. The regular season commences this weekend when the defending champion Samsung Lions play a pair of games against the LG Twins in Daegu, while the Doosan Bears face the Nexen Heroes at the Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.Eight teams in the country’s top league will pl

South Korea’s top professional baseball league expects to attract a record 7.1 million fans this season, up 4 percent from last year, the Korea Baseball Organization said Sunday.Buoyed by an unprecedented wave of popularity, professional baseball games drew some 6.8 million fans to ballparks last year, marking an all-time single season record. The 2012 season is set to kick off on Saturday.The average attendance per game is also expected to rise to 13,346 fans this year from an average of 12,081

ATLANTA (AP) ― Flanked by his family, his former manager and a group of teammates he hates to leave behind, Chipper Jones choked up a bit and delivered the news that’s been looming for years:It’s time to call it a career.This time, he means it.With his 40th birthday approaching and a long string of injuries slowing him down, Jones announced Thursday he will retire after one more season as the Atlanta Braves’ third baseman.“I have fulfilled everything,” Jones said during a news conference at the

The South Korean governing body of amateur baseball said it has taken steps to ban scouts from the Baltimore Orioles in Major League Baseball from attending local games.The Korea Baseball Association said it posted a notice in a stadium in Seoul that reads, “This stadium is off-limits to scouts from Baltimore Orioles.”The notice will be posted in about 20 other stadiums across South Korea, an official of the association said. He asked not to be identified, citing policy.The move came two months

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (AP) ― Jack Hannahan hit a grand slam Wednesday and Jason Kipnis and Choo Shin-soo also connected for home runs as the Cleveland Indians beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-2.Hannahan’s fourth-inning shot came off Diamondbacks prospect Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs gave up the four runs on one hit and four walks in 2/3 inning.Arizona’s Trevor Cahill also struggled in his Diamondbacks debut, giving up a two-run homer to Kipnis and allowing Choo’s solo shot in two innings of work.