Backhand

HittingHenry Rodriguez, Cubs: 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, 3 runs scored.Barry Larkin, Reds: 3-for-5, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs.John Olerud, Mets: 4-for-4, 2 HRs.PitchingAndy Ashby, Padres: 8 innings, 1 run, 4 hits.Jose Lima, Astros: 8 innings, 2 runs, 3 hits.Mark Portugal, Phillies: 7 innings, 0 runs, 6 hits.Mike Remlinger, Reds: Complete game, 3-hitter, 7 strikeouts.FieldingJose Guillen, Pirates: The right fielder made an exceptional play in the third, running into the wall on a backhand catch of Desi Relaford's drive, then whirling to double off Mark Lewis at first with a strong one-hop throw.

Javy Lopez was exhausted after yesterday's workout at Orioles camp, and no wonder. He took more grounders at first base and also participated in catching drills, ending his afternoon by racing for "errant throws" behind first base and preventing the ball from going into the dugout. In the morning, Lopez fielded fungoes from instructor Dave Trembley, the manager at Triple-A Ottawa. He had no problem with balls hit directly at him or to his backhand side, though they weren't exactly scorched.

WIMBLEDON, England -- Roger Federer's first-week nemeses are lined up as if in a gantlet determined not to let him win a fourth consecutive Wimbledon, and this may be, in fact, the toughest draw any defending champion has faced. When Wimbledon begins tomorrow, Federer will be looking at Richard Gasquet in the first round, with the winner to probably play Tim Henman, likey followed by Kristof Vliegen, Tommy Haas and Mario Ancic. All but Vliegen have beaten Federer at least once and Gasquet and Haas forced him to three sets in Halle, Germany, a week ago. If Federer is to join Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg as the only males in the Open era to win at least four straight Wimbledons, he'll have to produce the greatest two-week performance of his career.

WIMBLEDON, England -- Conchita Martinez grew up in Monzon, Spain. The daughter of a factory worker, she spent her days hitting tennis balls against the factory wall on a court her father, Cecilio, made for her.As she hit those balls, one harder than the next, she dreamed of her tennis idol. And the thoughts were so constant that she gave the wall a name -- Martina.Yesterday, when Martina Navratilova played her last Wimbledon, was Conchita Martinez across the net who ushered her idol off the Centre Court grass, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3."

WIMBLEDON, England - What had the potential to be an electrifying day of tennis at Wimbledon came up a few shots shy of truly memorable yesterday. Not that Lindsay Davenport and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia didn't try their best, albeit unintentionally, to push things in that direction in the fourth round. Third-seeded Hewitt, unusually, squandered two match points in the third set and needed another set to finish off Taylor Dent, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3. Top-seeded Davenport, who blew a match point in the second set by pushing a backhand just long, lost the second-set tiebreaker but rallied to defeat No. 15 Kim Clijsters of Belgium, 6-3, 6-7 (4)

WASHINGTON -- After Andre Agassi lost the first set last night to Brett Steven, a fan screamed, "Don't tank now, Andre!"It is unclear whether Agassi was giving his all in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, but he lost to the 25-year-old New Zealander, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, before 6,741 at the Stadium Court of the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center."

NEW YORK -- For a night and part of a day, he was the "new" Ivan Lendl, the Grand Old Man of American tennis, the people's choice, the wild and crazy serve-and-volley guy who shrugged off match points with guts and heart.And then he lost.Same old Lendl.Yesterday, in the resumption of a dramatic U.S. Open quarterfinal interrupted two minutes past midnight by a misty rain three games into the fifth set, Lendl and No. 2 seed Stefan Edberg of Sweden battled for nearly an hour to a taut, terrific tiebreaker.

PARIS - And so Argentines everywhere had their prayers answered yesterday. Four of their compatriots are in the semifinals of the French Open. Three of the four are men. First, unseeded Gaston Gaudio, a modest man with a bold backhand, thoroughly broke down Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, in one hour, 55 minutes. Then, David Nalbandian, using controlled offense and carefully plotted defense, wore out the tiring three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6). That sends No. 8 seed Nalbandian and Gaudio against each other tomorrow, guaranteeing that at least one Argentine will reach the French final for the first time since Guillermo Vilas won the tournament in 1977.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- It has become one of the sporting cliches of the 1990s: Monica Seles with warm-up jacket neatly zipped up, clutching a large silver trophy as a horde of photographers jostle for a clear view.The scene was replayed yesterday at Flinders Park, just as it has been replayed before at Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows."I never thought I'd do so well in Grand Slams," said Seles, after beating Steffi Graf, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to win her third straight Australian Open.Few have ever done so well so young.

Nothing makes a team look worse in a losing effort than shoddy defense, and the reeling Orioles showed plenty of that in Tuesday night's 8-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. It doesn't help when frustrated players lose their cool and take it out on the umpires, either. But we'll get to Matt Wieters in a moment. First, the errors. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta simply rushed his throw on the bunt Rajai Davis laid down in the third inning. Ugly, sure. But stuff like that happens. And normally sure-handed Adam Jones had David Cooper's fly ball to center drop out of his glove in the fourth.  That was even uglier.