Nationals Park

7:05 p.m., Nationals Park, Washington. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM), WUBA (1480) Spanish. Pitching matchup: RHP Roy Oswalt (5-7, 3.84) at RHP Livan Hernandez (7-11, 4.21) OSWALT vs. NATIONALS: Oswalt looked a lot like his old self last weekend in an 11-3 win over the Nationals. He allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings and struck out five - his most K's since June 12. This will be Oswalt's third start since a layoff of 5-plus weeks due to bulging disks in his back.

WASHINGTON - A horde of TV cameras surrounded Nationals righthander Miguel Batista and Miss Iowa an hour before Friday's game. Later, the guest of honor threw out the first pitch. Wait. Miss Iowa? To explain, we must go back to Tuesday. That's when Batista emerged from the Nationals' bullpen, prompting boos from the sellout crowd at Nationals Park. They came to see phenom Stephen Strasburg. But he was scratched with shoulder tightness and later placed on the disabled list. Of course, Batista didn't allow a run in five innings against the Braves to earn his first victory of the season.

WASHINGTON - There was a 19-year-old outfielder spraying beer and a 69-year-old manager sipping champagne and a stereo system blasting Kid Cudi as Wolf Blitzer watched with a smile. "It's a little different crowd here," Jayson Werth said later as he walked through an empty clubhouse, weaving through the cans and bottle caps that littered the carpeted floor. Of course, the strangest sight was Werth himself, at least to anybody who watched his rise to prominence a few hours north on I-95.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - This time, it was a purpose pitch from Roy Halladay that got the blood flowing in a burgeoning rivalry between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals. You couldn't call it bad blood because the benches and bullpens never emptied, and there was no warning from the umpires. But you have to believe the day's events will be filed away as potential ammunition for a more heated confrontation when the teams meet for the first time in the regular season May 24 at Nationals Park.

Mets   The Mets starter with the shortest leash going into this season had to be veteran second baseman Luis Castillo. He's 33 years old. He's coming off an injury-plagued season during which he started just 87 games and batted .245. He was regularly booed at Shea Stadium. His career seemed to be on the downside, and in spring training even general manager Omar Minaya could muster only a lukewarm endorsement, saying he deserved a chance at the beginning of the season to prove he could still contribute.

Among my various idiosyncrasies, such as (twice) driving from Washington to New York to watch a world-championship chess match, the most baffling to my friends is my steadfast devotion to the Washington Nationals. When I wax lyrical about having discovered my own private paradise at Nationals Park, eyes begin to roll, and it is patiently explained to me that my Nats have been not just bad, but prodigiously - epically - bad. As if I don't know. They lost 102 games in 2008; 103 in 2009.

Despite his reputation as a stern guardian of Catholic orthodoxy, Pope Benedict XVI's first papal visit to the United States will likely be upbeat and positive, say church leaders. Benedict plans to arrive Tuesday evening at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Washington and spend two days in the capital before departing Friday for New York City. The visit, which is scheduled to include a Wednesday meeting with President Bush, a Friday address to the United Nations, and stadium Masses in Washington and New York, also will mark the creation 200 years ago of four Roman Catholic dioceses, including Philadelphia's.

WASHINGTON - Six months ago, the 2012 season began at Nationals Park with a Take Back the Park campaign and a "Natitude" slogan that was decorated everywhere, including on the bathroom door signs. Despite going 8 straight years without a winning season, the franchise was brimming with confidence, even if the optimism wasn't matched with the empty seats at the 5-year-old ballpark. But after a half-year and more than 150 games, Washington fans believe. They filled nearly all of the blue seats in the ballyard by the Navy Yard on Monday night.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the perks of living in Philadelphia is the luxury of showing up to work every day without being surrounded by tens of thousands of New Yorkers. So imagine how Ty Wigginton felt one day in Baltimore when he sent a fly ball sailing over the outfield wall, only to be greeted as if he had finished the last of the corned beef. "I can remember hitting a home run one time that gave us the lead at home," Wigginton said yesterday, "and then hearing boos.

Recently, the Washington Nationals, a club that ranked 20th in attendance in 2011, filling on average less than 60 percent of their stadium, announced that there were some fans whose money they'd rather not take. In hopes of preventing the annual migration of Phillies fans to the Nationals stadium, Washington has implemented a "Take Back the Park" plan that would restrict sales of tickets to 2012 Nats-Phillies games to fans whose credit cards are tied to D.C., Maryland, or Virginia zip codes.