Wire Taps: Unbeaten Washington Nationals Set To Face St. Louis Cardinals.

• Today's Game: Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals - 1:05 pm EST - Today's game is available via Gameday Audio on MLB.com. Also on Sirius/XM Channel 186 at 1:05 pm EST. It is the Cardinals' feed though...It's also available as a Live Box Score on MLB.com and on your iPhone via the MLB At Bat 11 app...

• LINKS AND LINKS AND...

• Nats Beat: 

• "Everybody's got to have a role, and everybody's going to help at different times. I think when you check your ego at the door and realize what it takes to win, you're going to be fine." - Rick Ankiel  - CSN Washington/NatsInsider.com's Mark Zuckerman, "Nats' Ankiel has unique perspective."

• "Keep an eye on Maya and Detwiler, as well; with Tom Gorzelanny being a little behind because of sinus infection, both pitchers have helped their causes early." - MASNSports.com's Ben Goessling, "Nationals 8, Marlins 4: Postgame thoughts."

• "The body has a natural healing process. You can't rush that. Whenever I'm ready, I'm going to be ready." - Stephen Strasburg - Washington Post's Adam Kilgore - Nationals Journal - "Stephen Strasburg watches the Nationals 'like a fan'."

• "I felt real good being the first day," Maya said. "Winter ball help me out 100 percent. I had the opportunity in winter ball to come and show what I got." - "Maya supremely confident after first outing." - MLB.com's Bill Ladson

• "'In the third, I got the double play, but then I hit a batter which hurt, so if I had gotten out of it with just one run, it would have been better.'" - John Lannan - Craig Heist, WTOP.com - "Bernadina, Ankiel homer as Nats beat Marlins."

• "'I’m a pinch hitter,' he said. 'I love pinch hitting. I’m not sitting on the bench thinking: Why aren’t I playing today?'" - Matt Stairs - "Pinch Hitter Par Excellence."Dan Daly, Washington Times

• Required Reading: 

• "1955 MVP: A Detective Story." - Joe Posnanski, SI.com

• NatsTown: 

• "'Pitchers like Garrett Mock, J.D. Martin and Luis Atilano all had surgeries back in September and October. If they’re OK, then that gives us some pretty good arms.'" - Chiefs' Skipper Randy Knorr - "Chiefs ready to open camp." - Tom Leo, The Post-Standard, syracuse.com

• "A Couple of Minor Pitcher Signings." - Sue Dinem, NationalsProspects.com

• "Desmond brings to the game that makes guys like Tulo, Rollins and Hanley special--Offense." - "Player Profile: Ian Desmond." - Jeff Bergin, Washington Nationals Daily News

•  "...the Curacao native came into camp noticeably ripped, the product of twice-daily workouts and has gotten off to a very nice start through three games, and today's performance with go into the books as another plus sign on his resume." - Dave Nichols, NATIONALS NEWS NETWORK: "Maya and Bernie's Day to Impress; Nats beat Marlins 8-4."

• Today's Message from the Dalai Lama on Twitter (@DalaiLama): "We cannot overcome anger and hatred simply by suppressing them. We need to actively cultivate the antidotes: patience and tolerance."

• NatsTown South: 

• "Nationals exploring relocation." - Mark DeCotis, floridatoday.com: 

"'For baseball reasons primarily stemming from travel and proximity issues, the Nationals are looking at alternative spring training sites within the state of Florida and Arizona," said John Dever, the team's senior director of baseball media relations and baseball operations."

• NL EAST:

• Braves: "'I didn't really change anything. I just kept working on the things I was working on. It was successful, and hopefully every outing it'll get better.'" - Braves' closer candidate Craig Kimbrel - "Kimbrel takes positive step forward." - Evan Dreilich - braves.com: News

• Marlins: Fish backstop Joe Buck on Josh Johnson (and the Bernadina HR): "'Obviously, he doesn’t throw that many change-ups. He wouldn’t have thrown that many early, or even to some of those hitters, particularly on the home run, or that count. He was throwing a lot of pitches he wouldn’t throw in games." - Florida Marlins’ Josh Johnson’s spring debut cut short - Florida Marlins - MiamiHerald.com

• Mets: "The probability that one or more of the Mets starting pitchers hit the DL this year is high, and we're not even talking about Johan Santana here. Check the numbers at Amazin Avenue." - The Mets Starting Staff and Injuries - Amazin' Avenue

• Phillies: "Bang the Dom Slowly: Domonic Brown's Baseball Obituary." - Wet Luzinski, The Good Phight

• Scouting the Cards before today's game - Viva El Birdos - For St. Louis Cardinals Fans