Truth & Rumors > MLB

09:22 AM ET 05.04 | The evening might be best remembered for another devastating injury. The Dodgers braced for the extended loss of Hanley Ramirez - four games into his injury-delayed season - because of a hamstring injury that made a 2-1 walk-off loss to the San Francisco Giants that much more depressing. The Dodgers did not immediately put Ramirez on the disabled list, but Don Mattingly compared the hamstring injury to the one that caused Matt Kemp to miss 51 games last season. Mattingly said the Dodgers had not decided whether to put Justin Sellers back at shortstop or call up Dee Gordon from triple-A Albuquerque.

Los Angeles Times

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09:17 AM ET 05.04 | Terry Collins isn't going anywhere yet. Despite the Mets' recent lackluster play, and the manager's lame-duck status, general manager Sandy Alderson told The Post he hasn't considered firing Collins. "That's not something that has entered my mind or any mind within the organization," Alderson said before the Mets rallied with a David Wright home run in the ninth and two runs in the 10th to beat the Braves 7-5 last night in the opener of a three-game series. "Has it entered the minds of others in the media or what have you? Yes." Asked if he intends to keep Collins as manager for the entire season, Alderson responded: "Absolutely." The Mets are 12-15 and in fourth place in the NL East. They snapped a six-game losing streak with a 7-6 victory over the Marlins on Wednesday and have won two straight.

New York Post

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09:26 AM ET 05.04 | In normal circumstances, it's the bullpen that comes to the aid of a starting pitcher. But there's nothing normal about the circumstances surrounding the Angels' pitching staff these days. So Manager Mike Scioscia said Friday he'll try to right the staff with the second-highest earned-run average in baseball by using one of his starters to bail out his ailing relief corps, moving right-hander Garrett Richards from the rotation to the back of the bullpen. Right-handed Jerome Williams will start in Richards' place Sunday. "We definitely need to look at shuffling some things around to get a little deeper look in our bullpen," Scioscia said. "Garrett Richards' arm, right now in the bullpen, is definitely a power arm we hope can take some of the pressure off guys that are pitching a lot there." Richards opened the season in the bullpen but was moved to the rotation three weeks ago after Jered Weaver went on the disabled list with a fractured left elbow. And though he pitched well in his first two starts, giving up four runs and five hits in 13 1/3 innings, he was pounded his last two times out. The bullpen, meanwhile, has lost three key members -- Sean Burnett, Kevin Jepsen and Mark Lowe -- to the disabled list.

Los Angeles Times

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07:08 AM ET 05.03 | For his part, Justin Verlander shrugs off any suggestions he's losing heat on his fastball. A Yahoo! Report earlier this week, citing two unnamed scouts, raised the possibility. Verlander said after his latest outing -- seven innings of five-hit baseball in Tuesday night's 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins -- that there is no need to worry. "No, I know where I'm at and I feel like it's gotten a little bit better every start," the 30-year-old said before [Thursday's] game. "I threw a lot of innings last year and I was basically three weeks behind coming into spring training this year on purpose but I think it seems like for the most part our entire team has started to get better velocity wise."

Detroit Free Press

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07:07 AM ET 05.03 | Thursday set up as a busy one in the world of the Yankees, who have more than their share of injuries to address. Having progressed to "full-bore" running, [Alex Rodriguez] has been cleared to travel to Tampa to begin some early baseball activities. ... Although he's in a boot, [Derek Jeter] is able to remove the boot and do some exercises. He's also doing laser therapy, hydro therapy and daily bone stimulator treatments. ... [Mark Teixeira] will stay with the Yankees through this weekend and then join Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson. ... "[Michael Pineda] pitched today and was at 93 and up to 95 (mph)," [Brian Cashman] said. "He had a good physical day."

Journal News

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