Washington Nationals: Along with his hunting equipment and his red
baseball gloves with the nickname "NASTY" stitched in blue, John Patterson tucked away something else as he prepared Wednesday for the trip north: the knowledge that he's finally the No. 1 starter on a major league staff.
"John has taken his appointment as an ace ... seriously," Nationals manager Manny Acta said, calling Patterson "our main guy."
It's certainly something the lanky right-hander appeared destined for years ago, when he was a No. 1 draft pick, a top prospect filled with potential -- before surgery and other setbacks slowed his progress.
Patterson finished spring training Wednesday by throwing 6 2/3 innings in Washington's 2-2 split-squad tie against the Baltimore Orioles.
"Things were working," Patterson said. "I felt pretty strong all the way through. All my pitches were working well today."
Johnson on DL: First baseman Nick Johnson went on the 15-day DL while he recovers from the broken right leg that ended his 2006 season.
Right-hander Luis Ayala (reconstructive elbow surgery in March
2006), left-hander Mike O'Connor (left elbow surgery in November)
and outfielder Alex Escobar (right shoulder surgery in September)
also were put on the 15-day DL.
Washington purchased the contract of right-hander Jesus Colome
from Triple-A Columbus.
Johnson will go north with the team to continue his rehab work in Washington. He has yet to resume full baseball activities, and the team doesn't have a timetable for when it thinks he might return to action.
Elsewhere in the Grapefruit League:
New York Yankees: Left-hander Andy Pettitte threw 31 pitches Wednesday during his second bullpen session since experiencing back spasms earlier this month.
Pettitte is scheduled to pitch in a minor league or simulated game Friday.
"Depending on tomorrow, which we always say for safety sake, and make sure he comes out of this," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "That will be another test for him."
Torre expects Pettitte to break camp with the team, although his first start of the regular season may be pushed back a few days.
Right-hander Jeff Karstens will resume throwing Thursday. He has been shut down since leaving his start last Sunday after two innings with right elbow stiffness. Torre still hasn't announced his Opening Day starter for April 2 against Tampa Bay. Carl Pavano, who hasn't pitched in the majors since June 2005 due to a variety of injuries, is considered the front-runner.
Minnesota Twins: The Twins gave Carlos Silva a spot in their rotation Wednesday and sent Matt Garza to Triple-A Rochester, leaving the promising right-hander unhappy and out of the big leagues for at least the start of the season. Garza, the team's first-round draft pick in 2005, appeared upset upon arriving in a golf cart at the minor league complex with his equipment. He declined to comment.
Silva, a right-hander who struggled mightily last year and brought an 11.02 ERA into Wednesday night's exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox, will start the season in the rotation with Johan Santana, Ramon Ortiz, Boof Bonser and Sidney Ponson.
Bothered by a sore neck early in camp, Garza gave up two earned runs in 12 innings this spring with nine hits, five walks and seven strikeouts. The 23-year-old became the first Twins player in nine years to advance from Class A to the majors in the same season, going 3-6 with a 5.76 ERA in nine starts for Minnesota down the stretch.
Outfielder Lew Ford (knee) and infielder Alejandro Machado (shoulder), who were in the mix for spots on the bench, will start the season on the 15-day disabled list. Machado had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum and will be out four to six months.
Boston Red Sox: Curt Schilling outpitched Minnesota ace Johan Santana in a spring training matchup of two of the best pitchers in the major leagues.
Schilling allowed two hits in 4 2/3 shutout innings to help the Red Sox beat the Twins 5-4. He struck out one and didn't walk a batter, finishing a test run of his new changeup.
"It depends on the day," Schilling said of how the changeup has been going. "How it feels. The hitters. The game plan. All of it."
The Red Sox trotted out their opening-day lineup, and Santana said he noticed. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings.
Boston placed right-handers Matt Clement and Mike Timlin and left-hander Jon Lester on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 23. Timlin is recovering from an oblique strain and hopes to pitch in a minor league game this weekend. Lester is expected to start the season on a rehabilitation assignment at Single-A Greenville.
Cleveland Indians: Ryan Garko earned a spot on the Indians' Opening Day roster and will platoon with Victor Martinez at first base.
Utility infielder Mike Rouse and reliever Tom Mastny also made the team, which announced its roster Wednesday when it optioned outfielders Shin-Soo Choo and Ben Francisco and left-hander Juan Lara to Triple-A Buffalo. Infielder Luis Rivas was reassigned to minor-league camp.
Garko, who drove in 45 runs in 50 games last season, landed the most-contested spot on the roster by batting .279 with 10 RBIs so far in spring training.
Rouse beat out Rivas for the utility infield spot by batting .366 and showing himself to be a capable shortstop. Rivas, Minnesota's Opening Day second baseman for five years, hit .200 this spring and has only eight games of big-league experience at shortstop.
Baltimore Orioles: Brian Roberts' reluctance to sign a lengthy extension with the Orioles had nothing to do with money.
Roberts agreed this month to tack an extra two years and $14.3 million on his contract, a deal that runs through 2009. The Orioles attempted to work out an even longer deal with the former All-Star second baseman, but Roberts couldn't see making a longer-term commitment to a franchise that hasn't had a winning season since 1997.
"I think anybody who plays this game, if you go through enough losing and you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, at some point you're going to be tired of it," Roberts said. "We're hoping we can get going in the right direction. Then I'd love to be here for a long time."
Roster moves: The Orioles optioned outfielder Adam Stern to Triple-A Norfolk and reassigned catcher Alberto Castillo and pitcher Paul Shuey to the team's minor league camp in Sarasota. Castillo and Shuey expected the move, but Stern hoped to make the team as a backup. A pulled ribcage muscle at the beginning of the month and food poisoning this week limited Stern to 18 at-bats.
Florida Marlins: Alejandro De Aza started Marlins camp as an obscure non-roster invitee who seemed destined to start the season at Double-A Carolina. But after a strong spring, the 22-year-old rookie was chosen
over two more experienced candidates and will start in center field.
De Aza has never played above Double-A, where he hit .278 in just 69 games last year. In 24 games this spring, he has batted .350 with two triples and four stolen bases.
Alex Sanchez was considered to have the edge for the center field position, but he hit .163 and was released Wednesday. Sanchez was trying to make a comeback after being the first player penalized under baseball's toughened steroids rules in 2005. Eric Reed, Florida's opening-day starter in 2006, was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque despite hitting .351 with five stolen bases.
The Marlins also said left-hander Taylor Tankersley, who has shoulder tendinitis, and right fielder Jeremy Hermida, who has a sore right knee, will start the season on the disabled list. Florida released veteran right-handers Mike Koplove and Felix Rodriguez. Both were competing for bullpen spots.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Joe Mays is headed to the minors but remains hopeful he'll get a chance to pitch for the Dodgers this season.
The 31-year-old right-hander was a non-roster invitee trying to earn the fifth spot in the rotation, but the competition ended Sunday when Dodgers manager Grady Little said Brett Tomko was the winner.
"These guys used 10 or 11 starters last year so I know if I can just go down and do my job and throw the ball well, if there is an opportunity here, hopefully I can be the first one they call," said Mays, who is to pitch in a split-squad game Thursday -- the last one in Florida for the Dodgers this spring.
Little told Mays of his decision before Tomko, though the team didn't reassign him to Triple-A Las Vegas until after Tuesday's game. Catchers Kelly Stinnett and Sandy Martinez also were reassigned to Las Vegas, and left-handed reliever Tim Hamulack was optioned to the 51s.
Bumps and bruises: Second baseman Ramon Martinez and center fielder Juan Pierre seemed to avoid serious injuries Wednesday.
Martinez hurt his right ankle in the first inning of the 3-3 tie against the Detroit during a defensive play, and Pierre fouled a ball off his right leg.
"Very, very, very minor," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "[Martinez] just turned his ankle when he was coming across the base. He could've kept going. The same with Pierre. Both of those guys can play tomorrow night. That makes today a good day."
Outfielder Jason Repko underwent
surgery Wednesday to reattach two hamstring tendons to his pelvic bone. Repko was injured while chasing a fly ball in an exhibition game in Vero Beach, Fla., last Thursday, tearing the tendons.
Philadelphia Phillies: Brett Myers tuned up for his first Opening Day assignment with six scoreless innings in Philadelphia's 9-2 victory over Tampa Bay.
The 26-year-old right-hander will take the mound next for the Phillies against Atlanta in the season opener Monday.
A former first-round pick, Myers has won at least 11 games each of the past four seasons. He went 12-7 with a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts last season and led the Phillies in wins, ERA, starts, innings (198), strikeouts (189), winning percentage (.632) and opponents' batting average (.257).
Garcia released: Karim Garcia, trying to make a big league comeback with the Phillies, was released. He batted .305 (18-for-59) with four doubles and one homer in spring training and was competing for a spot as the Phillies' fifth outfielder.
Garcia, best known for tangling with a Fenway Park groundskeeper during the 2003 AL Championship Series with the New York Yankees, spent the past two seasons playing in Japan. He signed a minor league contract with the Phillies in January.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Freddy Sanchez pulled up after hitting a
line-drive single to right field, not taking a wide turn at first base or gambling he could stretch the hit into a double. When he reached first base, he headed back to the dugout and a pinch-runner replaced him.
A setback for the NL batting champion in his first game action in three weeks? Not at all. Sanchez, the Pirates second baseman who had been out since spraining a right knee ligament March 6, was told by the Pirates to take it easy before going 3-for-8 in a Triple-A exhibition game Wednesday.
One of majors' surprise stars of last season with his .344 average, Sanchez also fielded ground balls and ran the bases during a pregame workout -- the first time he's done that since he was hurt. He still has pain in his knee when he pivots and goes to his left on ground balls, and when he accelerates around the bases, but he insisted that's not a problem.
Since getting hurt while turning a double play during the opening week of exhibition games, the only other time Sanchez faced anything except batting practice pitching was during a Pirates workout last week.
Houston Astros: The Astros placed pitcher Brandon Backe and catcher Hector Gimenez on the 15-day disabled list.
Backe is rehabbing from right elbow reconstruction surgery, and Gimenez had shoulder surgery this month.
Houston also released minor league left-hander Kelly Wunsch. Outfielder Charlton Jimerson requested and was granted his release.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: The Devil Rays optioned right-hander Tim Corcoran and left-hander J.P. Howell to Triple-A Durham and sent right-hander Scott Dohmann outright to the minor league affiliate.
Corcoran was 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in six appearances in spring training, allowing seven runs in 11 innings. Howell (1-1, 1.80) gave up three runs and 13 hits in 15 innings, while Dohmann (0-1, 9.00) allowed nine runs in nine innings.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.