MLB

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.

Thursday night during the Yankees vs. Red Sox game, Michael Pineda cheated, plain and simple.

There was enough pine tar, Firm Grip, Valvoline or Jell-O pudding on the palm of his throwing hand, and back of his glove hand, that most of the Internet thought he had just watched the movie Naked Gun before taking the mound (skip to the 2:30 mark).

After a stellar 2013 season in which they went 94-68 and won the National League Wild Card Game, the Pittsburgh Pirates appear to be on track for another great season in 2014. 

Backed by the big bats of Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez and Russell Martin, the Pirates have a dangerous lineup that can power their way to the top of the standings throughout the season. 

As a fun way to put each team's early-season records into perspective, I extrapolated their current winning percentage out over a full 162 games in order to see how they would be projected to finish if they kept up their current pace.

From there, I decided if each team's start to the year was fact or fiction, based on whether their projection was plus-or-minus eight wins of where I think they'll finish the year.

Why eight games? Because eight games gave me roughly a five-percent margin of error in either direction, allowing for a clearly defined range with which to work.

What good is talent to a fantasy owner who lacks timing?

Fantasy baseball—just like the real thing—is a game of skill, luck and timing. That last trait, in particular, comes in handy in regards to getting value in the trading game.

Knowing which player(s) to trade away and which to deal for—and knowing just the right time to do so—can make all the difference.

The Cincinnati Reds have a very important series coming up against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Reds are 3-6 on the young season, and the Rays come into the series at 5-5 in a tie for first place in the always-difficult AL East.

The Reds need something to turn their season around, and this series presents them with a golden opportunity to either pull within two games of .500, or even things up at 6-6 by the end of the weekend.

The rivalry between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers is the "new kid on the block" among some of the more notable ones in baseball. But it sure has picked up steam in a hurry over the past few years.

You’ve got The Hustle. You’ve got American Hustle, smart hustle, false hustle and Charlie Hustle.

After winning the NL Central Division in 2011, the Milwaukee Brewers and their faithful followers commenced on a steep downward spiral that nearly transformed into a harrowing free fall.

The team spent portions of the 2013 season in the NL Central cellar, which meant it was actually playing worse than the hopeless Chicago Cubs.