Nats' Ace Not Used to Being the One  —  Never mind, the Washington Nationals say, that John Patterson's pitches sailed in and out, up and down, in the fourth inning Friday afternoon.  Forget that he needed 30 pitches to get out of that inning, that he required 72 to get through his four-inning outing …

Delayed start  —  Wang headed to disabled list after pulling hamstring  —  TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Yankees right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, a 19-game winner last season, will start the season on the disabled list with a right hamstring pull.  —  Wang, who had been under consideration to start opening …

Rangers send Volquez to Class A  —  Decision made in hopes that prospect will fix his control issues  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. - In an attempt to resurrect the career of once-prized prospect Edinson Volquez, the Rangers are sending him all the way back to Class A.

Zito's complex diet plan is out-of-this-world fuel  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - What fuels Barry Zito?  —  Is it his desire to excel?  Or the pressure of living up to a $126 million contract, the richest ever given to a pitcher?  —  Well, literally, what fuels Zito is a chocolate cherry muffin …

It's a command performance  —  Piniella encouraged by Prior's 59-pitch effort against Padres  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Go figure.  Just when it looked about time for the Cubs to write off Mark Prior, the confounding former ace pitched just well enough for four innings on Thursday to suggest …

3/23 Vs the Orioles  —  I'll go back and get to some of the questions posted sometime in the next few days.  As spring winds down there's always a lot of personal stuff to take care of as you prepare to move back home.  Even worse for the kids in the minor leagues that aren't sure where they are headed …

Rockies shake up roster  —  Sullivan, Barmes sent to Triple-A; Fogg No. 5 starter  —  TUCSON - The Rockies made a statement Friday that reinforced their belief that they upgraded their roster for the 2007 season.  —  Center fielder Cory Sullivan and shortstop Clint Barmes …

Mariners Notebook: Angels bring out devil in Guillen  —  Animosity remains for Mariners right fielder  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Two teams and more than two years removed from his ugly departure from the Los Angeles Angels, you'd think Jose Guillen would be over it.  —  You'd be wrong.

Notes: Gross gets good news  —  GM Melvin says outfielder will be on Opening Day roster  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told Milwaukee radio station WSSP-AM 1250 on Thursday that outfielder Gabe Gross would be on the Opening Day roster.  Melvin reiterated that statement Friday.

Danks' outing strikes chord with Guillen  —  TUCSON, Ariz. — If manager Ozzie Guillen has his way, left-hander John Danks will be on the White Sox's 25-man roster as their fifth starter or a reliever.  —  "Right now, I'm voting for him to be there, but that decision is a group decision," …

O's Walker providing relief off field, too  —  FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. // A sign is taped to the back of a large glass beverage cabinet in the Orioles' clubhouse that faces reliever Jamie Walker's spring training locker.  He can't turn his head to the left without staring directly at it.

Take a journey with a baseball legend  —  Biographical accounts of Buck O'Neil a guaranteed page-turner  —  Truth be told, a thousand writers probably could have traveled across the country with Buck O'Neil over the period of a year and written a book about it.

Griffey in — Reds vs. Phillies  —  SARASOTA — Batting fourth and playing right field, Ken Griffey Jr.  —  Jerry Narron said Griffey would get two or three at-bats today and he'd try to play him in as many games as possible betwen now and opening day.  —  Reds  —  Ryan Freel CF  —  Adam Dunn LF