Just a warning, and the Nationals want to spread the word about this, but Metro's Green Line will undergo track work on Saturday and Sunday that (and again, lifting right from the release here) "will delay fans' postgame ride from the ballpark." Metro is providing complimentary bus service from Nationals Park to the Federal Center and Easter Market stops, where fans can access the Blue and Orange Lines. They will also provide complimentary bus service to Union Station, where fans can access the Red Line. Drivers shouldn't be affected - you can buy single-game parking or park free at RFK Stadium and take the Nats Express (free) to the yard. Moving on. Marlins in town. If Florida wins tonight, they'll have their best start after 35 games since ... ever. Chico Harlan in the house. I'll get you lineups when they're available. Rain is supposed to be gone in time

There has been much discussion over the last few days in the comments section of this here Journal about the effectiveness of one Timothy Lee Tolman, who serves as the third base coach for the Washington Nationals. Let's give some background on Tolman. He's 52. He played collegiate ball at USC, where he was the captain of the Trojans in 1978, was named Pac-10 player of the year and helped USC win the College World Series, beating Arizona State for the title. He ended up playing parts of seven seasons in the majors, five with Houston, two with Detroit, but never appeared in more than 43 games. His career stats: .168, 5 HR, 24 RBI. Tolman managed at every level in Houston's minor league system from 1991-96. In 1991, he was managing in Burlington, Iowa, in the Class A Midwest League. He had a young infielder there named Manny Acta.

So Manny Acta confirmed that Jesus Flores will be the starting catcher and Wil Nieves the backup beginning tomorrow. I would guess that would mean Flores plays roughly five games to Nieves's two, or something roughly equivalent to that. Acta said that Flores's .153 batting average at Class AAA Columbus doesn't concern him. "He's been catching well," Acta said. "His numbers offensively, they're not there, obviously, but it's no big deal. He's been working hard. He's going to come up here, and he'll be fine." "I'm fine with him," Acta said. "I like what I saw last year. We know what we're doing here. This guy is part of our future and we're going to play him and continue to develop him." Paul Lo Duca was clearly frustrated by his situation. He had a splint on his wrist, one he'll have to wear for a couple of weeks. He also

Never a dull moment. As reported earlier, Paul Lo Duca has a broken bone in his right hand. Haven't talked to him yet -- he's sitting in the clubhouse watching Twins-White Sox and looking rather depressed with a cast on his right wrist. But the other news: Johnny Estrada will also go on the disabled list with what they're calling "ulnar neuritis" in his right elbow. "I'm done trying to just battle through," Estrada said of his balky elbow, on which he had surgery in the offseason. "I've got to look out for what's best for me and my career." He also noted: "I'm throwing changeups to second base." The rub: Jesus Flores will be recalled from Class AAA Columbus tomorrow. Haven't talked to Manny Acta yet, but I'm guessing he'll be the starter, with Wil Nieves a two-times-a-week backup, because the organization's plans have always called for Flores to

A couple of things regarding Paul Lo Duca that happened last night, but the most significant is this: He swung at a Roy Oswalt pitch in the seventh and, an MRI revealed today, fractured the the fourth metacarpal bone in his right hand, the hand that originally sent him to the DL on April 13. Lo Duca is expected to miss four to six weeks. No move is expected tonight, being the last night of a road trip, though we should find out the club's plans for a move tomorrow within the next couple of hours. Quite a night for Lo Duca. First, he allowed two stolen bases. He is now 0 for 10 this year throwing out base runners. Only one NL catcher, San Francisco's Steve Holm, has allowed more stolen bases without throwing anyone out. I talked to Lo Duca about this problem before hand, and the note

Bill Gluvna of the Nationals PR staff takes considerable care and time each week to prepare a minor league briefing for the members of the media. I asked Bill yesterday if I could simply cut and paste the "MLR" (as we like to call it) into the Journal so that it might reach a wider audience and be enjoyed by many. His response: An enthusiastic YES! So, without further ado, the Nationals MLR, with stats perhaps a day or two old. This Week's Top Headlines NOTHING MINOR ABOUT IT: Entering Wednesday's action, the Nationals own the 4th-best minor-league win-loss record...Columbus, Harrisburg, Potomac and Hagerstown have combined on a 73-53 (.579) mark to date. PICKING UP SOME HARDWARE: RHP Jason Bergmann , RHP Jordan Zimmermann and INF Bill Rhinehart were each named Offensive Player or Pitcher of the Week by MILB.com in their respective leagues for the week of April 28-May

First of all, I had it a bit off. Tim Redding will start on Friday night against Florida, and Mike O'Connor on Saturday. With Monday's off day, that just keeps Redding on his regular turn. The guy's been the team's best starter, might as well pitch him as often as possible. Here's Manny Acta. "We just want to release Matt from some of that tension that he's having every five days going out there," Acta said. "We want to give O'Connor a shot. He pitched very well in Triple-A. we still see him as a starter. And then they're just flip-flopping. Chico's going to go over there and do the same thing O'Connor was doing, which is he can come in and get a lefty, or he's going to be a long man out of the pen, which we need." Are there specific mechanical things you want Chico to work

So the Nationals made a move, about which we haven't talked to Manny Acta yet. But beginning with tonight's game, second-year left-hander Matt Chico will be available out of the bullpen, and lefty Mike O'Connor is scheduled to throw Friday night at home against the Marlins. Chico has been really struggling, "pressing," as he said. He said of the move, "I'm fine with it." He says his struggles (0-5, 6.87 ERA) have been because he's trying to be too fine. "To be honest with you, it's not mechanical," he said. "I'm not thinking too much. I'm trying too hard, trying to get back even. I'm trying to do too much, thinking I'm going to get five wins in one game." O'Connor considers himself a starter at this point. Twenty of his 21 major league appearances in 2006 were starts, and he was a starter at Class AAA Columbus when he

Just before I head to the clubhouse. Washington: Lopez -- 4 Guzman -- 6 Zimmerman -- 5 Johnson -- 3 Milledge -- 8 Kearns -- 9 Lo Duca -- 2 Pena -- 7 Perez -- 1 (Or the same as yesterday, except for Perez.) Houston: Bourn -- 8 Matsui -- 4 Tejada -- 6 Berkman -- 3 Lee -- 7 Pence -- 9 Wigginton -- 5 Ausmus -- 2 Oswalt -- 1 (Only the battery is different for the Astros, looking for their fifth straight win.)

More than a year ago, I wrote a story about what seemed to me to be the inordinate number of Nationals blogs given the team's profile nationally and even in DC. Anyone who reads this space closely knows that, of all those blogs (and there are several good ones), Chris Needham's "Capitol Punishment" was my favorite. I say "was," because Chris announced on said blog that he would be putting down the pen (or is it scalpel?) and discontinuing his service. Thus, Capitol Punishment is no more. This is a sad day. I told Chris that I considered him my ombudsman. If I made some half-arsed analysis, he'd call me on it. Ask mlb.com's Bill Ladson if he's ever been called out by Capitol Punishment. Chris came with the hammer, and it was almost always well-deserved. (And when it wasn't, well, let's just say I emailed him and let him

What if Austin Kearns had snared Carlos Lee's liner? What if Luis Ayala had wasted an 0-2 pitch? What if Lastings Milledge could break right on Lance Berkman's ball in the seventh? What if Saul Rivera didn't balk? What if Lance Berkman hadn't gone 5 for 5 -- and stolen two bases? Things to consider after a 6-5 loss. Homers from Nick Johnson, Aaron Boone and Kearns. Four one-run leads -- all lost. Ick. I'll leave it at that, and remind you that I have a chat at 2 p.m. (eastern) today, live from somewhere on Westheimer Road in sprawling Houston. (I'd also point out that the notebook has some idle speculation that Jason Bergmann could replace Matt Chico in the rotation on Friday.) Enough of that. Let's play a little game that we did a few times last year. More than 30 games into the season, it seems about

I'm not going to mince words here. I hate Houston. My least-favorite American city. If I thought you were interested in the reasons why, I'd put them here. Instead, we have lineups. Waddya know? Zim's playing. Washington: Lopez -- 4 Guzman -- 6 Zimmerman -- 5 Johnson -- 3 Milledge -- 8 Kearns -- 9 Lo Duca -- 2 Pena -- 7 Hill -- 1 Houston: Bourn -- 8 Matsui -- 4 Tejada -- 6 (.349, 5 HR, 24 RBI, four birth certificates) Berkman -- 5 (.325, 10 HR, 31 RBI) Lee -- 7 Pence -- 9 Wigginton -- 5 Towles -- 2 Chacon -- 1

So the off day brought a story about what's possibly to come for the Nationals. I've documented before that some pitchers were promoted from Class A Potomac to Class AA Harrisburg. But this morning's $.35/.$50-edition has a more in-depth look at Jordan Zimmermann, Cory VanAllen and Zech Zinicola. Those three, though, are just representative of the renaissance in the Washington farm system. I'm skeptical about all this stuff, especially about things I haven't seen, but I kind of believe in this whole rebuilding-the-farm-system thing. There are lots of good arms down there, and this is all about quantity of quality. In other words, it's somewhat arbitrary who I'm writing about now. The idea is to stockpile talent and then see who survives the grind of the minor leagues. Balester, Zimmermann, Smoker, McGeary, Alaniz, Clippard. As long as the Nationals produce a couple of major league pitchers from that group, they'll

So what to make of these crazy Nationals? I took the long view in the gamer, wrapping up the longest homestand of the year. And I thought these stats were interesting. First 22 games (6-16): .227 average, 4.75 ERA, 14 errors, .983 fielding percentage Last 10 games: (8-2): .267 average, 3.87 ERA, 4 errors, .990 fielding percentage That .227 average was last in baseball at the time. The .267 mark is a more palatable sixth in the NL in that span. The 3.87 ERA is seventh in the NL, the .990 fielding percentage fourth in the NL. There is some sense of equilibrium now, even, as Aaron Boone said, "I still don't feel like the offense is really clicking." With Ryan Zimmerman hitting .217, Nick Johnson .211 and Austin Kearns .212, that's probably correct. Sometime this week, the Nationals could get Elijah Dukes back. Eventually, Dmitri Young comes back. One

Ryan Zimmerman is sitting today. It's not an injury. It's not a benching. It's just a day off. Zimmerman had played in every Nationals game since Sept. 19, 2006 -- including all 162 last year. But he and Manny Acta had talked about it, and they decided they wouldn't repeat that this season. "He told me he's not pursuing Cal Ripken Jr.," Acta said. Zimmerman said: "I knew I wouldn't want to." This gives Zimmerman two days off in a row, coupled with tomorrow's off day. Aaron Boone at third today. Zimmerman's streak of 205 straight games was the second-longest in the majors behind Atlanta right fielder Jeff Francoeur (355). So here are your lineups. Pittsburgh: McLouth -- 8 Sanchez -- 4 Bay -- 7 Doumit -- 2 Nady -- 9 LaRoche -- 3 Bautista -- 5 Bixler -- 6 Snell -- 1 Washington: Lopez -- 4 Guzman -- 6

Noted horseman and catcher Paul Lo Duca loves this time of year, when the Triple Crown races begin. As I've written before, Lo Duca owns a large stake in a 3-year-old, Golden Spikes, who was in contention to make the Kentucky Derby field. He ran second at the Illinois Derby last month, and if the field for the Preakness in two weeks (which falls on a day the Nationals play in Baltimore) gets whittled down, they might decide to run Golden Spikes there. Here's what Lo Duca sees for today's race in Louisville. "I like Big Brown, Colonel John, Z Humor and Visionaire," he said. "Those are my four horsees." Why?: "I think Big Brown is the most talented. I think the post position inexperience is going to hurt him. I think Col. John is an unknown, but I do like him. I think Z Humor will like an off

Started playing baseball again after a 25-minute delay. Nationals say they don't know why the lights went out -- just four or five banks -- but are looking into it. There was a bit of a key moment, perhaps, in teh game. After Wily Mo Pena's sacrifice fly made it 7-2 and Wil Nieves doubled home two more runs to make it 7-4. With two outs and Nieves on second, Manny Acta sent Mike O'Connor up to hit for himself. A single would have made it 7-5. O'Connor struck out looking. He then gave up Jose Bautista's second homer of the night in the next inning. So here we stand in the bottom of the fifth, Pirates leading 8-4.

Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that John Lannan has been lights out here at Nationals Park. In fact, quite the opposite. Just after Ryan Zimmerman dropped down a bunt single to open the bottom of the fourth, a couple of banks of lights went out above Nationals Park. We've been sitting here for probably 10 minutes in partial light. The Pirates came off the field. Kind of a weird murmur going around the yard now. And we have no information on how long the delay might be. Lannan got knocked around: 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Pirates scored six in the third, including a three-run homer for Jose Bautista. ERA bounces from 2.64 to 3.74. Nats trail 7-1 with one on and no one out in the bottom of the fourth. Will keep you updated.

Paul Lo Duca active, but Manny Acta's not going to break up that Wil Nieves-John Lannan chemistry just yet. Pittsburgh: McLouth -- 8 Sanchez -- 4 Bay -- 7 Doumit -- 2 Nady -- 9 Mientkiewicz -- 3 Bautista -- 5 Gomez -- 6 Dumatrait -- 1 Washington: Lopez -- 4 Guzman -- 6 Zimmerman -- 5 Johnson -- 4 Milledge -- 8 Kearns -- 9 Pena -- 7 Nieves -- 2 Lannan -- 1 Enjoy the evening.

Sitting high above the field here at Nationals Park on what looks like it will be a beautiful day for a ballgame. Only Joe Torre's Los Angeles Dodgers, on a six-game winning streak, have won more games in a row than the Nationals have. Imagine if Washington's 5-15 start was more like, oh, 8-12. They'd be flirting with the division leaders on the NL East. I come here now, though, not to talk about baseball, but briefly about baseball coverage. As has been discussed before, I'm leaving the Nationals beat, and while that plan has been in place for a while, we finally have the details of how the transition will work. I thought I'd share them with you. First off, if you see a young man wearing a Syracuse T-shirt wandering around Northwest looking for an apartment and saying, "G'Day" to everyone, that must be Chico Harlan. He has