Olsen joins Marlins' hit parade  —  WASHINGTON — After slapping a base hit in an exhibition game last month, Scott Olsen joked that he'd try to beat out fellow pitcher Dontrelle Willis for the Silver Slugger award.  —  In his first start of the season Tuesday night, he didn't waste any time.

A day when 1 was the loneliest number  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — He could not have felt any worse than Jose Contreras of the White Sox did after giving up eight runs in one inning-plus.  Or Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano, negotiating a mega-million-dollar extension and getting tagged for six hits, five runs, and five walks by the Reds.

More baseball clubs joining spending spree  —  The New York Yankees, at $189.6 million, still have the highest payroll in baseball, but other teams are beginning to close the gap.  —  According to USA TODAY's 23rd annual survey of salaries, seven of the 30 teams have 2007 payrolls above $100 million.

Ozzie's opening line: If we don't win, fire me  —  Ken Williams at first seemed a bit taken aback by his manager's latest words Monday.  But after pausing a moment, the White Sox general manager smiled and borrowed a phrase associated with enigmatic Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez.

Elbow inflammation forces Carpenter to miss next turn  —  ST. LOUIS — Chris Carpenter will miss his next turn in the St. Louis Cardinals' pitching rotation due to right elbow inflammation.  —  Carpenter complained of soreness Monday, the day after he struggled in the season opener against the New York Mets.

Selig earned $14.5 million in fiscal 2005  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball commissioner Bud Selig earned as much last year as some of the league's top players.  —  Selig received $14.5 million in the 12 months ending Oct. 31, according to Major League Baseball's tax return, which was obtained by the Sports Business Journal.

Heilman Thinks His Way Out of a Tough Spot  —  In the eighth inning Tuesday night, Mets reliever Aaron Heilman found an answer to an unanswerable question: How do you get one of the most balanced hitters in baseball off balance?  —  Sometimes, you notice something and guess right.

Pirates Notebook: Lincoln has major elbow surgery  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  HOUSTON — Another top pitching prospect has gone under the knife.  —  Brad Lincoln, the Pirates' first-round draft pick last summer, yesterday had reconstructive surgery to repair ligament damage …

Iowa Cubs without Prior for now  —  Staying in Mesa camp to build arm strength  —  CINCINNATI — Mark Prior is staying in Mesa, Ariz., for extended spring training and will not report to Triple-A Iowa for at least a week.  —  Prior threw three innings in his final Cactus League outing Wednesday before being optioned to Iowa.

Opening Day Observations  —  I watched baseball all day.  You got a problem with that?  — All the games Monday seemed to be played much more quickly.  The average time of game doesn't really matter—you'd expect it to be lower due to the caliber of pitchers starting on Opening Day …

Cantu will report to Durham  —  Disgruntled and demoted second baseman Jorge Cantu will report to Triple-A Durham in time for Thursday's season opener and will be focused and prepared to play hard, agent Steve Canter said Tuesday.  —  But whether Cantu plays again for the Devil Rays could be another issue.

MASN Flops  —  I wasn't going to complain about this today, but the morning show on WNST Radio on my drive to work today got me all kinds of fired up about it.  —  I was honestly going to just let my opinions about MASN's first regular season broadcast slide.  Maybe it was first game kinks that needed to be worked out.

Felix has career day on Opening Day  —  Hernandez fans 12 A's and Sexson clubs three-run homer  —  SEATTLE — Felix Hernandez went on a mission in Spring Training to be the Mariners' Opening Day starting pitcher.  —  He completed that goal and blasted off the way few others have on Monday afternoon …

Iffy cloud hovers over Cubs  —  Contract talks with ace Zambrano thrown into limbo  —  CINCINNATI — The Cubs say the announcement Monday morning of the sale of their parent company had no impact on how they played in their season-opening loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

Lawrence wants to curtail rehab  —  Brian Lawrence doesn't want a distraction, just a mutual understanding.  He plans to start the Sky Sox's Triple-A opener Thursday, but has no intention of completing the maximum 30-day rehab assignment.  —  "I understand their position and I just hope they understand my position," Lawrence said.