"Ricky Nolasco was one peeved pitcher Sunday. He was beside himself when he walked into the clubhouse following his final outing of spring training, and he said was still ``very'' upset some 30 minutes later.

``You don't want to end a day like that -- ever,'' Nolasco said. ``It's not acceptable.''

What was so troubling to the intense right-hander? What pitching crime did he violate? What terrible baseball sin was he guilty of committing during what was an otherwise meaningless spring training game that will be forgotten come Opening Day of the regular season, if it hasn't been already?

Here's what:

Nolasco walked a batter.

That's right. Nolasco walked a batter for the first time all spring. What galled him most was that it was the last batter he faced, and he lost him after putting the hitter in a 0-2 hole.

Never mind that Nolasco was near perfect otherwise, that he retired Houston's first 16 batters. The Astros managed only one harmless single -- and not a single run -- off the Marlins pitcher over 7 1/3 innings."