HAMPTON TOSSES FOUR SCORELESS INNINGS (10:44 p.m. ET)
Houston's Mike Hampton had his best outing of the spring on Friday in Kissimmee, Fla. He looked good and, perhaps more importantly, he felt good. Hampton allowed three hits in four scoreless innings while striking out four as the Astros and Washington Nationals played to a 2-2 tie in 10 innings. The injury-plagued lefty missed all of 2006 and 2007 and was limited to just 13 games last season because of various injuries, but is hoping to revive his career in his return to Houston, where he won 22 games in 1999. The 36-year-old had allowed six runs combined in his two previous outings. BEDARD CANCELS ANOTHER BULLPEN SESSION (10:36 p.m. ET)
Seattle left-hander Erik Bedard has canceled a bullpen session for the second consecutive day in Peoria, Ariz., raising concerns that the Mariners' ace may be hurt more than he's letting on. Bedard was scratched from his scheduled start against Kansas City on Wednesday because of sore buttocks and missed his bullpen session on Thursday because of the same thing. He canceled again Friday. Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu has downplayed the severity of Bedard's injury and says Seattle is taking a cautious approach with its top pitcher. NATIONALS ADD TAVAREZ (8:30 p.m. ET)
Right-hander Julian Tavarez has agreed to a non-guaranteed, minor league contract with the Washington Nationals. He's the second player the Nationals have brought aboard this week in Viera, Fla., joining Kip Wells as possible help for the bullpen. The 35-year-old Tavarez is 85-75 with 22 saves and a 4.45 ERA over 16 seasons with 10 clubs in the majors, working as both a starter and reliever. He went 1-5 with a 5.10 ERA in 52 appearances for Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta in 2008. MORALES SHOWING SOME POP (7:33 p.m. ET)
Kendry Morales, who'll replace Mark Teixeira as Angels first baseman this season, is hitting .355 in 31 Cactus League at-bats. Morales hit a tape measure grand slam off Chad Gaudin for his first home run of the spring in Los Angeles' 8-2 victory over the Cubs on Friday. While Morales has only 12 homers in his first 377 major league at-bats, he's coming off an impressive performance in winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Manager Mike Scioscia will probably hit Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter in the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 spots unless Howie Kendricks works his way into the second spot and bumps everybody back a notch. That means Morales will bat either fifth or sixth in the order. "He has big power,'' Scioscia said of Morales. "Whether that translates into 15, 20 or 30 home runs is impossible to say. What we need for Kendry is that production. He's going to be up there with a lot of guys on base.'' -- Jerry Crasnick, ESPN.com A'S OPTION HERRERA TO TRIPLE-A (3:39 p.m. ET)
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Outfielder Javier Herrera has been optioned from the Oakland Athletics to Triple-A Sacramento. The 23-year-old went 3-for-6 with a double, two walks and scored twice in seven spring training games for the Athletics. In 61 games at Double-A Midland a year ago, Herrera hit .267 with nine homers and 36 RBIs. Herrera is a .284 career hitter in five minor league seasons with 48 homers, 208 RBIs and 72 stolen bases in 90 attempts. BREWERS EXPECT CAMERON BACK SOON (2:40 p.m. ET)
Brewers center fielder Mike Cameron could be swinging a bat as soon as Saturday and is expected to return in a few days from a strained rib cage muscle. Manager Ken Macha said Friday that Cameron's injury to an intercostal muscle on his left side needs a few days of rest. Cameron was upbeat in the clubhouse, but wasn't sure when he'd be back in the field after getting hurt during a drill. "I feel good, but my ribs feel bad," he said. Cameron, a three-time Gold Glove winner, hit .243 with 25 homers and 70 RBIs last year in his first season in Milwaukee. ANOTHER VOTE FOR PEDRO (10:49 a.m. ET)
Jose Reyes, back in Mets camp after the World Baseball Classic, was singing the praises of Dominican Republic teammate Pedro Martinez and says the former Mets right-hander would welcome a return to Queens. "He said he just wants to go somewhere he'd like to be comfortable," Reyes said, according to Newsday. "He'd like to pitch here. To be honest with you guys, he said he'd like to come back here, but I don't know what's the deal here." The Mets have already said they're not interested in re-signing Martinez. But if they asked Reyes for his opinion, they'd get a ringing endorsement. "Unbelievable, unbelievable," Reyes said of Martinez, according to Newsday. "He's fantastic. He's loose, comfortable on the mound. He threw a lot of strikes, bro. He throws hard, too. He looked great." "Last year he had some tightness in his shoulder, but now he looks relaxed," Reyes added, according to the report. "He's ready. Whoever signs him, he's going to do good." MARINERS SEND DOWN TOP DRAFT PICK FIELDS (10:19 a.m. ET)
Mariners right-hander Josh Fields, the team's first-round draft pick in 2008, was one of five players the team reassigned to its minor league camp Thursday. Fields has not pitched in a Cactus League game since arriving in camp and has been relegated to side work, though manager Don Wakamatsu hasn't ruled out bringing him back up at some point. "I was extremely proud of the way he handled himself and impressed," Wakamatsu said. The move to send Fields down was expected and the 22-year-old didn't seem concerned about not pitching in a game while with the big league club. The Mariners also sent right-hander Tracy Thorpe, catcher Israel Nunez and infielders Callix Crabbe and Oswaldo Navarro to the minor league camp. The moves leave Seattle with 58 players on its spring training roster. -- Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.