The Boston Red Sox have promoted first baseman Lars Anderson from Triple-A Pawtucket and put him in the starting lineup against Tampa Bay in his major league debut.

The leading receiver from a year ago is gone, the leading rusher was rumored to be heading out only to be at practice, and a half-dozen new players made introductions on Monday at Seahawks headquarters. According to Pete Carroll and John Schneider, the massive roster shakeup just a week before the start of the regular season was all part of their plan when they approached building and…

Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees surpassed Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx with his 14th season of 100 RBI or more.

A look at each team's biggest concern with the start of the NFL season less than a week away. Arizona Cardinals Derek Anderson is the starting quarterback but has struggled with accuracy throughout his career, completing 56 percent of his passes. Still, coaches say he had more skills than Matt Leinart, who was released Saturday, in terms of arm strength and leadership. Quarterbacks coach Chris Miller has worked hard with Anderson on developing touch on shorter throws and longer ones that require him to drop the ball between coverage.

For all the time Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings have spent studying his fumbling problem, knowledge and strategy will mean nothing if he loses the ball this week in New Orleans.

Capsules for the 32 NFL teams as they begin the 2010 season, in predicted order of finish:

Jason Vargas’s first three pitches resulted in a home run and triple as Oakland beat the Seattle Mariners.

Well, hopefully most of you spent Labor Day doing something more interesting than watching the Mariners for two hours, 19 minutes today. They lose, 6-2, in a game that was pretty much over after a couple of first-inning pitches by Jason Vargas.

Two children have been taken to the hospital after being struck by a bat and a ball at Monday’s game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants.

Jason Vargas has done more than most people, myself included, thought he would this year. But now, after 169 1/3 innings pitched, it looks like some of it is catching up to him.