Obviously, John Patterson's release is the big news of the day, but there are a couple other items worth mentioning...

-- Bret Boone has been reassigned to minor-league camp, though this doesn't mark the end of his comeback attempt. The Nats needed to get Felipe Lopez and Ronnie Belliard playing time at second base, so this will allow Boone to continue playing. And interestingly enough, Boone said he will accept a spot on the Columbus roster to open the season. Good for him. "I need to play every day to find out if I'm going to be in the bigs or at home," he said.

-- Paul Lo Duca will not be making his big-league game debut tonight after all. Manny Acta said he didn't want Lo Duca catching in potentially poor weather conditions (it's sunny right now, but it did rain earlier today). And the Nats aren't using a DH anymore, not against fellow NL teams like the Astros, so there wasn't that option. Lo Duca will be behind the plate tomorrow against the Mets in Port St. Lucie.

-- Shawn Hill threw 38 pitches to live hitters yesterday and said his arm both felt good yesterday and today. Next step: Another 40 pitches against hitters tomorrow, split into two "innings" of 20 pitches each. If that goes well, Hill will pitch two innings in a minor-league game on Monday. He repeated today that his target date to return to the rotation is April 13.

-- Rob Mackowiak is finally back in the lineup, starting in left field tonight.

-- Matt Chico will be pitching in Patterson's spot tomorrow against the Mets, but don't read too much into that yet. John Lannan starts Saturday against the Braves, so it would be easy for him to slide into that spot as well.

-- And for those wondering about Patterson's contract, here's the deal: He was given a nonguaranteed, $850,000 major-league contract over the winter. If he had made it to Opening Day, the contract would have become guaranteed. Because he was released within 16 days of Opening Day, the Nats are now only responsible for 45 days of prorated salary ($212,500). Had Patterson been cut 17 or more days prior to Opening Day, the club would only be responsbile for 30 days severance pay.

OK, here's tonight's lineup against the Astros, who are starting right-hander Chris Sampson...
SS Cristian Guzman
CF Lastings Milledge
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Nick Johnson
RF Austin Kearns
2B Ronnie Belliard
LF Rob Mackowiak
C Jesus Flores
P Odalis Perez