Hanson superb before Braves awaken late  —  Starter tosses four strong innings; Parraz, Constanza clutch  —  VIERA, Fla. — The Nationals and Braves found themselves in a pitchers' duel on Wednesday afternoon before the Braves tied it in the ninth and eventually won it in the 10th, 3-2, at Space Coast Stadium.

New-look Red Sox hope to put collapse behind  —  The Red Sox begin their second century at Fenway Park with a lot of changes.  Considering the way the first century ended, that's good.  —  Since missing the playoffs with the worst September collapse in baseball history …

Hughes completes five against Rays  —  PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Right-hander Phil Hughes let up two runs over five innings in Wednesday afternoon's 5-2 Yankees victory over the Rays, as his bid to be New York's fifth starter continued.  —  With the game tied at 2 entering the top of the ninth inning …

New setback for Carpenter  —  JUPITER, Fla.  • Cardinals co-ace Chris Carpenter returned to St. Louis on Tuesday to be further examined by nerve specialists after experiencing renewed symptoms associated with a bulging cervical disc.  —  Carpenter, who threw live batting practice Sunday …

The Business Of Baseball 2012  —  Click for full photo gallery: Baseball's Most Valuable Teams  —  The National Pastime is flourishing thanks to cable companies' desire for live baseball programming.  —  The average Major League Baseball team rose 16% in value during the past year, to an all-time high of $605 million.

Inbox: Does Washington get enough respect?  —  Reporter T.R. Sullivan answers Rangers fans' questions  —  Everybody says that Ron Washington's main asset is that he gets players to play hard, and during the playoffs last year they kept making a big deal about how excited he gets.

Could Cubs' glut of starting pitchers lead to trade?  —  MESA, Ariz. - The eye-opening emergence of Jeff Samardzija as a starting pitcher for the Cubs could turn a rotation candidate into a very expensive Class AAA pitcher by Opening Day - or a valuable trade commodity.

Timmons, real-life Crash Davis, may finally get Hollywood ending … PHOENIX — Wes Timmons thought it was another march to the baseball gallows.  —  Eight of his A's teammates had already been cut from big-league camp in the previous 24 hours, so when he received a summons to the manager's office …

Q&A: Doug Glanville on Defensive Metrics  —  Had “The Fielding Bible” existed during his playing days, Doug Glanville would have graded out well among outfielders.  As it is, the respected ESPN analyst has to settle for being one of 10 panelists who voted on this year's awards.

GM Alderson: Mets to stick with austerity plan  —  Mets on Twitter  —  PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets aren't rebuilding, they are going through an “evolutionary process,” according to general manager Sandy Alderson.  And evolution doesn't speed up just because ownership no longer has a clawback lawsuit clouding its future.

Orioles sign two-time All-Star left-hander Willis  —  SARASOTA, Fla. — Dontrelle Willis and the Baltimore Orioles have agreed to a minor league contract.  —  The 30-year-old lefty, who won 22 games in 2005, was released by the Philadelphia Phillies on March 16.