Logan Is Feeling Better

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 29 -- Washington Nationals center fielder Nook Logan went through a series of strenuous running tests Thursday and said afterward that his strained right groin felt "great," giving club officials more hope that he'll be able to start in center come Monday, when the season begins.

"He's in tomorrow," Manager Manny Acta said, indicating Logan would play Friday in Norfolk when the Nationals play the Baltimore Orioles for the third straight day. "I wish my other eight guys could run like that."

Logan went through a series of agility drills running around small cones in the outfield under the supervision of head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz. He then mimicked swinging and running to first base from the batter's box, then swinging again and sprinting to second. He showed no signs of a limp.

"It went well," Logan said. "Great, actually. I wasn't surprised with it, though."

Logan strained the hamstring last Saturday rounding first base in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis in Viera, Fla. Initially, team officials thought he would be out at least two weeks.

Acta said that if Logan came out of Friday's game healthy, he would also play in Saturday's exhibition finale at RFK Stadium as a final test.

Hill Shines

Right-hander Shawn Hill, who will start against Florida on Tuesday, posted the longest outing for any Nationals starter in the exhibition season. He worked seven of the 10 innings in a 3-3 tie and gave up eight hits and three runs, two of them earned, while concentrating more on his offspeed pitches.

After six spring outings in which he posted an ERA of 1.37, Hill said he enters the season with confidence.

"I feel a lot more comfortable now," he said. "If I stay healthy, I should be able to go out and give six, seven innings every start."

Fick Excused

Catcher-first baseman Robert Fick was excused from the team so he could fly to Thousand Oaks, Calif., and visit his ailing mother. Gloria Fick is battling lung cancer, and Fick -- who spent the entire offseason at his mother's house -- hadn't seen her since departing for spring training nearly seven weeks ago.

"He went over there for a day to pump her up," Acta said. Fick is due to rejoin the team Friday in Norfolk. . . .

This marks the first year of a two-year agreement between the Nationals and the Class AAA Columbus Clippers, who served as an affiliate of the New York Yankees for 28 years. . . .

The club outrighted reliever Brett Campbell to Class AA Harrisburg, moving him off the 40-man roster.

Pitcher of The Day Closer Chad Cordero, always one to flirt with disaster, allowed two hits in the eighth inning of a tie game, but worked out of it with a pair of strikeouts, keeping his spring ERA at 0.00. Up Next vs. Orioles in Norfolk, 2:05 p.m. MASN