Wainwright Wilder Than Usual in Spring Debut, Cards Top Mets  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright struggled with his focus in his first start since last April and Matt Holliday made his professional debut at first base Monday as St. Louis beat a New York Mets split squad 9-4.

Jhonny Peralta Could Miss Two To Three Months With Thumb Injury  —  Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta left camp today with an apparent injury to his left hand, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  General manager John Mozeliak addressed the media minutes ago and told reporters …

Wong Goes 0 for 2 as Cards' Leadoff Man in Loss to Nationals  —  JUPITER, Fla. — Kolten Wong got a chance to bat leadoff for the St. Louis Cardinals and was hitless in two at-bats Sunday during a 5-2 loss to the Washington Nationals.  —  Wong vocalized his desire to hit in the top spot during the offseason.

White Sox Outright Mike Olt  —  TODAY: Olt has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com tweets.  He'll remain in major league camp with Chicago.  —  YESTERDAY: The White Sox have designated third baseman Mike Olt for assignment, the team has announced (via MLB.com's Scott Merkin, on Twitter).

The fastball — that faithful, simple pitch — is back en vogue with the Rockies.  —  The Denver Post  —  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — To understand baseball, it helps to hear the game's quirky language, from the obvious ("backdoor breaking ball") to the esoteric ("golden sombrero").