Brad Mills

BOSTON -- Terry Francona didn't want Thursday night to be all about his return to Fenway Park. But let's be realistic: It was. And it was as special as it was sentimental. His first-place Cleveland Indians pounded out 16 hits en route to a 12-3...

The Sports Xchange By Mike Shalin, The Sports Xchange Indians 12, Red Sox 3 BOSTON -- Former Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona made a triumphant return to Fenway Park on Thursday night. The man who led Boston to its first title in 86 years in 2004...

BOSTON — He loves the ballpark again. Not Fenway or Yankee Stadium or Progressive Field specifically — Terry Francona loves them all again. "I get there absurdly early," he said Thursday. "I stay there absurdly late. I have no perspective."...

Like his bosses, Mike Foltynewicz is a baseball optimist. He can see the Astros rising out of the ashes they find themselves in at the beginning of the Jim Crane era. "In three or four years, we're going to be a fun team,'' said Foltynewicz, a 21-year-...

|TV SPORTS| Tennis--ATP World Tour-WTA Sony Open, 2 and 6 p.m. (ESPN2) Men’s College Basketball--NCAA Division I Tournament, Louisville vs. Oregon, 6 p.m. (CBS), Kansas vs. Michigan, 6:15 p.m. (TBS), Duke vs. Michigan State, 8:30 p.m. (CBS),...

|TODAY| |COLLEGE SOFTBALL| Presentation at Bethany Lutheran Triangular in Rosemount, Minn., day two of two, vs. Finlandia, 12:30 p.m, and vs. Bethany Lutheran, 4:30 p.m.   |TV SPORTS| Major League Baseball—Boston Red Sox vs. Baltimore...

|TV SPORTS| |SUNDAY| NHL Hockey--Chicago Blackhawks at Detroit Red Wings, 11:30 a.m. (NBC); Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins, 6:30 p.m. (NBCSN); Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild, 7 p.m. (FXSP) NBA Basketball--Miami Heat at New York Knicks,...

GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE Mets 5, Nationals 3: Stephen Strasburg surrendered three hits over two innings - including a single and home run to the first two batters he faced - in his first action since Sept. 7. David Wright was hitless in three at-bats for New...

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Angels open Cactus League play Saturday with split-squad games, to the displeasure of Manager Mike Scioscia. "A split-squad the first day is absurd," Scioscia said. "It just makes no sense." With 15 teams in the Cactus League, at...

Talking baseball while wishing we could fast forward to first-round games in the NCAA basketball tournament: 1. No matter what Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney were suggesting before Michael Bourn’s deal with Cleveland was finalized Monday, the Cubs...

|TV SPORTS| Major League Baseball—Playoffs, St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves, 4 p.m. (TBS); Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers, 7:30 p.m. (TBS) College Football—Pittsburgh at Syracuse, 6 p.m. (ESPN); Utah State at Brigham Young, 9:15 p....

Bobby Valentine has a better guess where he'll be Thursday than the Yankees do. Bobby V, who has posted fewer Vs than any Red Sox manager since Billy Herman in 1965, figures to be on the other end of a phone call summoning him to a meeting with the...