Bad Pitch

NEW YORK -- These are not the best of times for Orioles relief pitchers. But Mark Williamson said the recent work overload was not responsible for yesterday's 4-2 loss to the Yankees."

Orioles officials treated Daniel Cabrera's last start, in which he shut out the Toronto Blue Jays, with cautious optimism. After all, they had seen such a dominating performance from their enigmatic right-hander before. What they haven't witnessed many times is Cabrera following such an outing with a similar performance. He did that Friday night, pitching seven shutout innings in the Orioles' 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 25,510 at Camden Yards. "We talk about how we are trying to get our young kids finishing strong, and he's really done a good job since he's been back [from the minors]

JUPITER, Fla. - Knowing that he was hidden on one of the back fields yesterday, Orioles pitcher Calvin Maduro wanted to make sure a few visitors to the clubhouse knew about his grand slam. Calvin Maduro hit a grand slam? "No, I gave it up," he said with a grin. Maduro hadn't lost his appetite because of it - he slapped a little more mustard on his sandwich while describing the bases-clearing blast by Eli Marrero - and he wasn't going to lose any sleep, either. It was one bad pitch in an otherwise solid start, the only runs allowed by Maduro in four innings of the Orioles' B game against the St. Louis Cardinals that preceded their 4-1 victory over the Montreal Expos.

WHEN THE Washington Senators left for Minnesota after 60 years in the American League, it was decided that the nation's capital needed an immediate replacement. The American League was expanding for the first time in 1961, intent on adding a new team in Southern California following the earlier West Coast migrations of the National League's Dodgers and Giants. Since expansion must be undertaken by twos, the second team was placed in Washington. That version of the Senators had one winning season in 11 and left to become the Texas Rangers in 1972.

HELSINKI, Finland -- The ball field nestles between two downtown city streets. As the sun edges toward the horizon on a late summer evening, baseball smells waft on a gentle breeze: popcorn, roasting sausages, cut grass.The crowd waits silently as the pitcher takes the plate, flips the ball into the air above the batter's head and steps back. The hitter connects and dashes up the third-base line with a single.Wait a minute: He dashes up the third-base line?Of course -- that's where first base is, about halfway down the path toward third base.

CHICAGO -- Win or lose, good or bad, David Wells always has come out to talk with reporters after he pitches. But not last night, after one bad pitch cost him in the Orioles' 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.The Orioles have lost 13 of their last 18 games, have fallen 3 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees, and should they lose tonight, their record will fall to .500 -- the first time they would have an even number of wins and losses since April 1,...

One of the premier money pitchers in the majors and the hottest starter on the Orioles staff collide today in Game 2 at Oriole Park.The matchup of Cleveland Indians veteran Orel Hershiser and the Orioles' Scott Erickson provides a number of contrasts.Hershiser, who is 8-1 with a save in postseason play, is the only man to be the Most Valuable Player of the championship series in both leagues.But Camden Yards has not been kind to the 38-year-old right-hander, and he did not finish the regular season well (1-2, 5.81 ERA in September)

Rangers huff and puff, but can't blow Olson's save this timeARLINGTON, Texas -- Reliever Gregg Olson was beginning to wonder. He had blown one save opportunity this year and he was flirting with disaster in another.He came on to pitch the ninth inning of last night's 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers and promptly got himself into another unsavory predicament. He gave up a leadoff double to pinch hitter Doug Dascenzo and had to get the last two outs of the game with the potential tying run at third base.

Lifting his ban, at least temporarily, on speaking to the print media yesterday, Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson said he's frustrated and embarrassed by his performance this season. Ponson became the first pitcher in the majors to lose 10 games Thursday - not exactly what the organization wanted for $22.5 million over three years. He didn't meet with reporters afterward, but agreed to take questions yesterday while standing at his locker. "I've lost seven games in a row," he said. "That's kind of hard and I'm just frustrated with myself."

Any time a team wins a game without an RBI, as the Orioles did in Thursday night's 3-2 win over Detroit, a lot of things have to go right.Or, in the case of the Tigers, wrong. Very wrong.In this instance it was a balk called on left-hander David Wells that produced the winning run. But there was an even more significant play three innings earlier that had as much -- or more -- bearing on the outcome and went almost unnoticed.Obviously we're not talking about Cecil Fielder's error on Rafael Palmeiro's erratically bouncing ground ball that produced the Orioles' first two runs.

Lifting his ban, at least temporarily, on speaking to the print media yesterday, Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson said he's frustrated and embarrassed by his performance this season. Ponson became the first pitcher in the majors to lose 10 games Thursday - not exactly what the organization wanted for $22.5 million over three years. He didn't meet with reporters afterward, but agreed to take questions yesterday while standing at his locker. "I've lost seven games in a row," he said. "That's kind of hard and I'm just frustrated with myself."

ST. LOUIS - The San Francisco Giants had to claw and scratch their way out of third place in the National League West to earn the wild-card berth that allowed them to keep playing tins October. They had to go five games to outlast the 101-win Atlanta Braves In the first round of the playoffs to reach the National League Championship Series. Now, they're making It look too easy. Shortstop Rich Aurllla hit two home runs and rlght-hander Ja-son Schmidt dominated the po-tent St. Louis Cardinals lineup for 72A innings as the Giants scored a 4-1 victory in Game 2 last night at Busch Stadium.

JUPITER, Fla. - Knowing that he was hidden on one of the back fields yesterday, Orioles pitcher Calvin Maduro wanted to make sure a few visitors to the clubhouse knew about his grand slam. Calvin Maduro hit a grand slam? "No, I gave it up," he said with a grin. Maduro hadn't lost his appetite because of it - he slapped a little more mustard on his sandwich while describing the bases-clearing blast by Eli Marrero - and he wasn't going to lose any sleep, either. It was one bad pitch in an otherwise solid start, the only runs allowed by Maduro in four innings of the Orioles' B game against the St. Louis Cardinals that preceded their 4-1 victory over the Montreal Expos.

NEW YORK -- As Rod Beck walked off the field Wednesday night, you could sense all of New England making space for him in Boston Red Sox history, that everlasting hell inhabited by the likes of Bill Buckner, Mike Torrez and the man who sold Babe Ruth."

By Rocky Coppinger's estimation, he made one bad pitch yesterday, and that cost him the game. Not known is whether he'll get one more chance.Clinging to a spot in the rotation that could slip from his grasp later this week, Coppinger was unable to give the Orioles their first consecutive wins since September. He allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings, a performance sharp enough to slice about 10 points off his ERA, but not to prevent a 7-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins before 44,054 at Camden Yards.

HELSINKI, Finland -- The ball field nestles between two downtown city streets. As the sun edges toward the horizon on a late summer evening, baseball smells waft on a gentle breeze: popcorn, roasting sausages, cut grass.The crowd waits silently as the pitcher takes the plate, flips the ball into the air above the batter's head and steps back. The hitter connects and dashes up the third-base line with a single.Wait a minute: He dashes up the third-base line?Of course -- that's where first base is, about halfway down the path toward third base.

By Rocky Coppinger's estimation, he made one bad pitch yesterday, and that cost him the game. Not known is whether he'll get one more chance.Clinging to a spot in the rotation that could slip from his grasp later this week, Coppinger was unable to give the Orioles their first consecutive wins since September. He allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings, a performance sharp enough to slice about 10 points off his ERA, but not to prevent a 7-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins before 44,054 at Camden Yards.

NEW YORK -- As Rod Beck walked off the field Wednesday night, you could sense all of New England making space for him in Boston Red Sox history, that everlasting hell inhabited by the likes of Bill Buckner, Mike Torrez and the man who sold Babe Ruth."

All season, the Orioles won with their fabulous bullpen.Last night was different.Last night was crushing.The Orioles were four outs away from victory, four outs away from moving within two games of their first World Series appearance since 1983.And then Armando Benitez, perhaps the most dominant setup man in the game, allowed a three-run homer to Marquis Grissom.Indians 5, Orioles 4.Suddenly, we've got a series.The Indians got what they wanted, a split of the first two games in Baltimore.