Just got back from Shawn HIll's two-inning start against the Dodgers' Class A club over at the Nats' minor league complex. Hill wasn't totally sharp with his command in his first game action of the spring, but of more concern to him was the fact his forearm felt strong.

With Manny Acta and Pat Corrales watching from a golf cart, Hill retired the side in the first. He allowed a double, a walk and a single in the second but struck out two. He threw first-pitch balls to seven of the nine batters he faced. Final line: 2 ip, 2 h, 2 r, 1 bb, 2 k. 39 pitches, 23 strikes. His fastball was clocked at 91 mph.

Hill's evaluation of his pitching performance: "So-so. But to be honest, I really didn't care how I did. It was more how I felt today."

And how did Shawn feel? "I was really tight and in a little bit of pain when I was warming up. It's still tight, but when I got going ... it felt better."

What it amounts to is this: Hill is going to be pitching in pain for the foreseeable future. He knows this. It's just a matter of how much he can tolerate it.

"Whatever's causing pain, I'm not going to hurt myself by throwing," he said. "And we're still trying to find out what might be wrong. Until we find out, I might as well keep throwing because if I can tolerate pain, I can continue to throw. It hurts like hell sometimes. Today it didn't really hurt that bad."

The plan from here: Hill is now on a five-day pitching schedule. He'll throw three innings in another minor-league game on Saturday, then four innings on April 3, then five innings on April 8. If everything works out, he still hopes to pitch for the Nats on April 13.

Meanwhile, in the big-league game, the Tigers currently lead 3-1 in the sixth. Jason Bergmann just departed in favor of Joel Hanrahan. His line: 5.2 ip, 7 h, 3 r, 2 er, 2 bb, 4 k.