Notebook: Glavine, Smoltz will square off

Enjoy John Smoltz and Tom Glavine matching up against each other today for the first time as starters for a game in Atlanta. It may never happen again.

“It probably will be (the only time),” Smoltz said. “I don’t know what the future holds for either of us.”

The former teammates face off in today’s second game of the weekend series between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

Glavine and Smoltz pitched together in Atlanta from 1988-2002. This is the second time they have faced each other. The only previous time the two pitched against each other came on July 15, 2005, in New York. Smoltz and the Braves won 2-1.

Johnson nearly ready

Randy Johnson threw a bullpen session at Chase Field in Phoenix and is on schedule to make a minor league start Sunday as he works to join the Arizona Diamondbacks after offseason back surgery.

Gagne pitches

Texas Rangers closer Eric Gagne threw 15 pitches to three batters while starting for the Double-A Frisco (Texas) RoughRiders as part of his injury-rehab assignment.

He missed most of the last two seasons following elbow surgery in 2005.

Hamilton misses start

Josh Hamilton was expected to make his first start for the Reds in Thursday’s game against the Chicago Cubs in Cincinnati, but he came down with a 24-hour virus that kept him away from the ballpark.

A start will mark a milestone for the 25-year-old outfielder, who didn’t play for three years because of cocaine addiction.

Castro suspended

Infielder Bernie Castro, who played for the Nationals last season and is now at Triple-A Columbus, began serving a 15-game suspension for violating the minor league drug policy in 2005.

MLB fights fakes

Major League Baseball instituted the authentication process in 2001, after an FBI investigation determined that 75 percent of the items in the sports memorabilia market were fakes.

Now there’s an authenticator at every game. The authenticators keep track of all game-used items, then mark each one with a tamperproof hologram.