Cleveland Indians

News Corp.'s Fox Sports Media Group has added to its growing portfolio of regional sports networks. On Friday, Fox Sports said it has acquired SportsTime Ohio, a Cleveland-based channel owned by Larry Dolan, who also owns the Indians baseball team. As part of the deal, Fox Sports has also signed a long-term agreement to carry Indians baseball. Terms for the sale were not disclosed but Sports Business Journal put the price tag in the $250 million range. Fox already has a strong presence in the Buckeye state with its Fox Sports Ohio channel, which has more than 5 million subscribers.

Heads up Brandon McCarthy was eager to inspect the pitcher helmets making the rounds this spring. Then he tried one on. "It felt like a cat was sleeping on my head," he said. McCarthy had emergency brain surgery after he was hit on the head by a line drive last year. J.A. Happ of the Toronto Blue Jays was hospitalized overnight and diagnosed with a skull fracture after he was hit on the head Tuesday. McCarthy, with the Oakland Athletics last year and Arizona Diamondbacks this year, said the helmet prototypes this spring were neither comfortable nor sufficiently protective.

Olonzo Woodfin, a left-handed pitcher from Sylmar High, signed a contract with the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday for a package that included cash, college tuition and incentives worth $54,000. Woodfin, 18, was selected by the Indians in the eighth round of the baseball draft earlier this month. He was the first Valley-area high school player selected. "I really felt all along that I was going to sign," said Woodfin, who leaves Friday for Burlington, N.C.

With a nod toward Saturday's Kentucky Derby, these are Times staff writer Kevin Baxter's rankings as the teams come out of the clubhouse turn. (Statistics through Friday's game. Last week's rankings in parentheses): Setting the pace 1; BOSTON Trying to go wire to wire behind Buchholz (6-0, 1.01), Ortiz (.465, 15 RBIs in 11 games) (4) 2; TEXAS Yu Darvish (5-1, MLB-best 58 strikeouts) has Rangers riding high in the saddle (1) 3; ST. LOUIS Cards charges though pack to division lead despite losing two closers (3)

Cleveland 10, at Seattle 3: The Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera homered, drove in two runs and scored three times to back a strong start by Jeremy Sowers. Oakland 6, at New York 4: Landon Powell and Orlando Cabrera each drove in a pair of runs for the Athletics, who ended the Yankees' winning streak at eight games. at Detroit 4, Chicago 3 (10 innings): Detroit tied the score against Bobby Jenks in the ninth inning, then won it with Carlos Guillen's run-scoring single against D.J. Carrasco in the 10th.

Youngstown developer Edward DeBartolo Sr., whose son owns the San Francisco 49ers, has reportedly offered to buy the Cleveland Indians and develop a new stadium in the city's Central Market area. Cuyahoga County Commissioner Timothy F. Hagan, a mayoral candidate, told the Plain Dealer that DeBartolo told him he had offered to buy the team within the last month but that his offer was rejected by Indians' owners Richard and David Jacobs.

He has hit a game-winning, 400-foot homer with one hand, made two perfect throws in one inning to nail runners, and even visited the White House to see his old friend, George W. Bush. Juan Gonzalez had some first month with the Cleveland Indians. His impressive statistics--nine homers, 32 RBIs and a .388 average going into the weekend--have placed him among the AL leaders in most offensive categories, and his five assists were tops in the majors for April.

B-r-r-r-r! Welcome to the Winter Olympics! Otherwise known as the 1995 World Series. The, er, ah, C-c-c-cleveland I-i-indians w-w-won the th-th-ird g-game of the W-W-World S-S-Series h-h-here T-T-Tuesday night. The g-g-game, if t-that's w- what it w-w-was, t-took p-place on an ice floe off Lake Erie c-called J-J-Jacobs F-Field. You'll have to p-p-pardon me, I-I'm trying to w-w-write this with f-f-fingers that f-f-feel m-m-more like i-icicles.

It wasn't only that the Cleveland Indians were facing World Series elimination. It was that his uncharacteristic decision to remove himself from Game 1 may have contributed to their tenuous situation.

It had been awhile Clayton Kershaw's go-ahead eighth-inning home run was the first home run in his five-year career. It was also . . . The first home run hit by a pitcher on opening day since Joe Magrane's in 1988. The first home run by a Dodgers pitcher on opening day since Don Drysdale's in 1965. It was also . . . The sixth shutout of Kershaw's career. The first opening-day shutout by a Dodger since Hideo Nomo's in 2003. And . . . Kershaw is the first pitcher to throw a shutout and hit a home run on opening day since Bob Lemon did it for the Cleveland Indians in 1953.

— The last time the Angels saw Scott Kazmir , the former All-Star left-hander was a physical and mental wreck. He pitched one game — well, nearly two innings — in April 2011, giving up five runs and five hits, walking two, hitting two and committing a balk. And things didn't get any better in the minors, where Kazmir gave up 30 runs in 15 1/3 innings, leading the Angels to release him with more than $8 million left on his contract. Kazmir was back on the mound at an Angels game Monday, only this time he was pitching against them.

News Corp.'s Fox Sports Media Group has added to its growing portfolio of regional sports networks. On Friday, Fox Sports said it has acquired SportsTime Ohio, a Cleveland-based channel owned by Larry Dolan, who also owns the Indians baseball team. As part of the deal, Fox Sports has also signed a long-term agreement to carry Indians baseball. Terms for the sale were not disclosed but Sports Business Journal put the price tag in the $250 million range. Fox already has a strong presence in the Buckeye state with its Fox Sports Ohio channel, which has more than 5 million subscribers.

As much as the Angels valued Tom Kotchman's three decades of work as a minor league manager and scout, General Manager Jerry Dipoto asked him two weeks ago to give up his on-field duties with Class-A Orem (Utah) to focus solely on scouting. Kotchman chose to do neither. The longest-tenured manager in the farm system and father of Cleveland first baseman and former Angels first-round pick Casey Kotchman resigned Friday after 29 years in the organization, though he said any inference he was "forced" out were not accurate.

If a tree falling in a forest doesn't make a sound, then the streaking Cleveland Indians in an empty ballpark must be just as insignificant. With nearly 45 games complete, the Indians are one of the most surprising teams in the majors and are perched atop their division. But the Indians aren't the only team causing double takes for those who live by the saying: "If the season would end today ... " The Orioles are leading the AL East over the likes of Tampa Bay, New York and Boston.

Reporting from Cleveland — As the ball dropped into center fielder Peter Bourjos' glove, Ervin Santana thrust his arms into the air and looked for someone to hug. But the man he most wanted to embrace wasn't there. So Santana honored him the best way he knew how. "I want to dedicate this no-hitter to my cousin, who just passed away," an emotional Santana, his eyes red and his voice cracking, said after throwing a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians in the Angels' 3-1 win Wednesday afternoon.

It's no accident that they're on top Although the Cleveland Indians went into the weekend having lost six of their last nine games, they still have the best record and largest division lead in the major leagues. And Kansas City Manager Ned Yost says it's time people start taking the Indians seriously. "Cleveland's got a heck of a team," he said. "You don't get this far into the season [in first place] unless you've got a real balanced team. " Take a deeper look at Cleveland's 12-game improvement from this point last season and you'll see Yost is right.

Cleveland 6, Dodgers 1 AT THE PLATE: On the day the Dodgers broke camp, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp left the game after taking an at-bat. James Loney played six innings and was one for three. Aaron Miles, a candidate to make the team as a utility infielder, was two for two to finish his Cactus League season with a .347 average. Angels-Dodgers Freeway Series meaningful for players on bubble ON THE MOUND: With the exception of a shaky second inning, Chad Billingsley looked sharp in his final exhibition start.