Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez was removed from Thursday night’s exhibition game against Team Australia in the fourth inning with lower back tightness.

Don Mattingly hasn’t announced the Dodgers’ starting lineup for the first game of the Opening Series, but the one he put on the field for Thursday’s exhibition game against Team Australia will probably be repeated against the D-backs on Saturday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sydney Cricket Ground, which hosts the Opening Series between the Dodgers and D-backs this weekend, has an expansive amount of foul ground that caused coaches to point out situations players need to be prepared for this weekend.

D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and a host of front-office executives visited the Taronga Zoo on Thursday prior to the team’s workout.

D-backs shortstop Didi Gregorius, preparing for the Opening Series against the Dodgers in Australia, isn’t concerned with reports stating he’s being made available in trade discussions.

Carlos Villanueva, a valuable swingman who made his first Cactus League start Wednesday for the Cubs, has been in the big leagues for nine seasons, and he’s had to answer the same question in six of those. Where does he fit?

It was not unexpected, but D-backs manager Kirk Gibson made it official on Thursday when he said that Addison Reed would be his closer, instead of J.J. Putz.

Wednesday night at Surprise Stadium, the danger on batted balls hitting pitchers was demonstrated all too clearly when Aroldis Chapman, closer for the Cincinnati Reds, was struck in the forehead by a line drive off the bat of Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez.

Charlie Blackmon belted a walk-off, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Rockies a 9-6 victory over the Cubs on Wednesday night at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman was carried off the field on a stretcher and taken to an Arizona hospital after getting hit in the head with a line drive during Wednesday night’s game against the Royals. Chapman never lost consciousness, but suffered fractures above his left eye and nose. The game was then called.

The idea of the Royals as a Wild Card this season makes perfect sense. After all, if you improve significantly from 86 victories, you’re entering the postseason neighborhood. There are solid reasons to believe that the 2014 Royals will take those forward steps. And Ned Yost has chapter and verse handy.

When Jake Peavy feels so good in his second start of Spring Training that he is consciously telling himself he has to hold back, this is a positive sign. More than anything, it is a sign that Peavy’s right shoulder feels stronger than it has in years.

Ervin Santana remained on the free agent market for much of the winter before signing with the Braves last week, and the former All-Star is scheduled to make his highly anticipated Grapefruit League debut on Thursday afternoon.

Just six days after clashing in Fort Myers, Fla., southpaws Cliff Lee and Jon Lester return to the mound again Friday in a marquee matchup between the Phillies and Red Sox at 1:05 p.m. ET on MLB.TV. That contest is just the first of 10 games that can be seen on MLB.TV.

The Pirates had been searching for a catcher with presence since trading Jason Kendall in 2004, and Russell Martin ended the search, helping Pittsburgh improve in almost every way.

Rockies right-handed pitcher Jhoulys Chacin holds hope he can return from a shoulder injury by the middle or end of April, but he won’t fight it if the club doesn’t let him pitch in a regular-season game until May.

Astros right-hander Jarred Cosart, fresh off an eye-opening outing against the Nationals in which he retired all 15 batters he faced, was leaving Space Coast Stadium on Wednesday night when Bo Porter reached out to shake his hand. “You were decent,” Houston’s manager said with a smile. “I’ll let you know when you’re good.”