Dehydrated Patterson Receives IV

VIERA, Fla., March 24 -- Washington Nationals right-hander John Patterson felt dehydrated Saturday afternoon, one day after his penultimate Grapefruit League start, and, according to Manager Manny Acta, "almost passed out" after a routine morning in which he shagged fly balls during batting practice.

Patterson was treated with intravenous fluids and driven home without a visit to the hospital, team officials said. Acta said he believes Patterson will be able to make his scheduled start Wednesday in preparation for his turn on Opening Day, April 2.

Still, the incident was somewhat alarming for Acta, who was speaking with Patterson in the dugout moments earlier.

"It's scary," Acta said. "Almost every year, whether it's football or baseball, something happens on the field. You don't take anything lightly."

Acta said Patterson, who was unavailable to comment, would report Sunday to Space Coast Stadium for further evaluation.

In May 2005, Patterson received three injections to help relieve back pain. He said then that he felt "woozy" and nearly passed out. He received oxygen, an IV and was placed on the disabled list.

Hill's Toughest Critic

Right-hander Shawn Hill's spring continued down the same path: tremendous results, a mediocre evaluation from Hill himself. "I'm just not throwing the ball where I want to," Hill said after a 5 1/3 -inning stint in which he allowed two unearned runs in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis.

Hill said he had particular problems locating his curveball, which led to three walks, but was very pleased with the movement on his key pitch, the sinker.

Hill threw 77 pitches, the most he has thrown all spring, including 47 for strikes. His ERA is now 0.93 over 19 1/3 innings.

Simontacchi Still Hurting

With right-hander Jason Simontacchi still battling a strained groin -- "We've kind of hit a plateau," he said Saturday -- the Nationals will start Jason Bergmann in Monday's game against Detroit in Lakeland, following him with Levale Speigner.

With Tim Redding struggling to a 11.42 ERA, those would be the two most likely candidates to start in Simontacchi's place in the regular season.

Hey, What's Up?

For the second straight day, the Nationals hosted a famous coach from another sport. Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight, a good friend of Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa, was on the field for batting practice and sat next to La Russa throughout the game. This a day after former NFL coach Bill Parcells visited Detroit Manager Jim Leyland at Space Coast Stadium. . . .

A crowd of 7,253 -- including thousands of Cardinals fans -- filled Space Coast Stadium, the first sellout of the spring.

Pitcher of the Day Reliever Ryan Wagner took the loss by allowing two ninth-inning runs in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis, though he was hurt by SS Josh Wilson's fielding error -- the Nationals' fourth error of the day. Up Next vs. Braves at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 1 p.m.