O's are chief guest at Riley coming-out party

Lefty's debut long awaited by front office

Ripken moved up in order

Second baseman Delino DeShields was examined yesterday by a Baltimore specialist; however, the club chose not to disclose the prognosis until Wren could speak with DeShields. He has been limited by a strained quadriceps, last starting a week ago. The Orioles will likely activate relief pitcher Jim Corsi from the disabled list today. Corsi was put on the DL Aug. 28 retroactive to Aug. 25 because of a strained right hamstring. The roster move dovetailed with the club's desire to correct an imbalanced roster that left Miller with 13 pitchers and 12 position players. Miller on Hairston after last night's win: "He's made some great strides, especially when you think he turned into a second baseman little more than a year ago. He's got quickness and agility and he's got the arm to make throws from just about any position." The Orioles have a "tragic number" of two for mathematical elimination from the AL East race and eight for elimination from wild-card contention. Any combination of two Orioles losses or New York Yankees wins takes care of the division. Any mix of eight Orioles losses or Boston wins officially ends their postseason possibilities. A meeting of 21,559 at-bats took place behind the Orioles batting cage yesterday when Ripken and 3,000-hit club member and ex-Twin Paul Molitor greeted each other. Ripken ranks 11th on the all-time at-bat list (10,724 before last night). Molitor stands at 10th (10,835).

Pub Date: 9/09/99