Some folks may not have seen this, because I hastily added it to the previous post as an update once I listened to my tape of Manny Acta's pregame media session and realized he had essentially named Matt Chico to the rotation. Here was the money quote:

"We haven't made the final decision yet," Acta said. "But I don't think a good or bad start is going to change our mind." According to Acta, Chico, 24, "went out the whole season for us last year and competed well under [difficult] circumstances, coming up from Double-A at such an early age. I think he did what he had to do last year. Our decision is almost made."

So your Nationals rotation, apparently, goes like this: Perez, Redding, Bergmann, Chico and (assuming he's ready by April 13) Hill -- not necessarily in that order.

Meantime, Chico was lifted from today's tilt a few moments ago with his pitch count at 84 in the fifth inning. His line: 4 1/3 innings, six hits, no runs, one walk, two strikeouts. According to Mets TV, Chico's fastball was clocking in at 86-88 mph.

In other news: Felipe Lopez made another error, his fourth of the spring, throwing one over the head of first baseman Dmitri Young in the bottom of the fifth. David Wright followed with a two-run homer off Nationals reliever Chris Schroder, and it's 2-2 right now in the sixth.

By Dave Sheinin  |  March 21, 2008; 2:53 PM ET
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