Bronx

Despite yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Yankees, the Orioles can still earn a series win here in New York, which would mark the first time the O's have won all three series in the Bronx in a season since 1976. The Orioles will pin their hopes on right-hander Chris Tillman, who has won six of his past seven decisions and is coming off back-to-back quality starts. The Yankees have had success against Tillman. The top three hitters in the Yankees lineup -- Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano -- are hitting a combined .487 (19-for-39)

Dorothy I. Levin, a longtime Columbia resident who was known for her colorful personality and lively parties for members of the burgeoning dinner theater scene in Maryland, died Monday in her home after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 86. The daughter of an Irish immigrant father who owned a paint store, the former Dorothy Cowley was raised in the Bronx borough of New York City. When her father died, she was left at age 16 to care for her ailing mother while attending high school.

The Orioles are looking to complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees today at 1 p.m. Zach Britton (1-0) will make his fourth start of the year.   Britton is 1-1 in his career against New York in four starts. In his two starts at Yankee Stadium, he has allowed 13 runs, 10 earned, over 5.1 innings.   A win would give the Orioles their first three-game sweep of the Yankees in the Bronx since 1986, and it would mark the first time since 1980 that the O's have swept the Yankees and Red Sox on the road in the same season.

NEW YORK - When Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez takes the mound for Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Wednesday, , it will be the rookie's third start at Yankee Stadium. The 28-year-old Gonzalez, who signed as a minor-league free agent in February, has assembled impressive numbers in the Bronx, so getting the call from Orioles manager Buck Showalter to start the first game in New York had to be by design. In two starts, Gonzalez is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA, allowing four earned runs and 10 hits over 13 2/3 innings.

NEW YORK -- We took the subway to The Bronx, though everyone said this was dangerous. We wanted a peek at Yankee Stadium while there was still time. We left the stadium and walked up to the Grand Concourse, though everyone said this was suicidal. We wanted a glimpse of the old apartment house, whose time had long since passed.The apartment house was located at 1269 Grand Concourse. My grandmother raised two children there a long time ago, and my mother had moved back in with her when my father went off to the war, and I'd been born there a few months later.

NEW YORK -- As the son of a Bronx native, allow your friendly local columnist to explain the meaning of the term, "Bronx rules."When you knock down your opponent in a game of basketball, it's "Bronx rules."When you drill a receiver in a game of touch football, it's "Bronx rules."And when you reach over the wall to interfere with a potentially catchable fly ball in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, it's "Bronx rules."The Orioles didn't get that call when a fan interfered with right fielder Mark McLemore on a controversial homer by Don Mattingly in 1993.

It's a little early for the Reign of Terror to begin up in the Bronx, but I'll take my chuckles where I can find them. Steinbrenner the Lesser, the chip off the old block known as Hank, is in full-throttle Robespierre mode now that the Yankees are just 10-10 and 3 1/2 games out of first in the American League East (we can all hope that losing two of three to the Orioles also helped). Team co-chairman Hank is especially upset that Joba Chamberlain is still working out of the Yankees' bullpen rather than starting.

MEXICO CITY -- It was nearly 3 p.m., and a legislator wanted to talk a little longer about Social Security reforms. Other members of the Chamber of Deputies, Mexico's lower house of Parliament, wanted lunch. So they let their colleague have it."Put a lid on it!" they yelled. "Pinocchio! Go get paid!"Welcome to the Bronx, the name given to members of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party -- the PRI -- who spend their time not legislating or debating but heckling speakers from other parties.

With strong parent support, the National Foundation of Hispanic Americans from the Bronx is making its inaugural appearance in the Cal Ripken 12-and-under World Series in Aberdeen. The Bronx contingent is one big happy family. The Bronx team, made up of all Hispanic players, coaches, parents and fans, opened with an impressive 3-0 victory over Jackson, Mo., yesterday at Memorial Field. "All of our kids take baseball seriously because their parents do," Bronx manager Rico Pena said. "We use baseball to encourage success in education.

"Rumble in the Bronx" may or may not make Jackie Chan as large a star in America as he is in Asia, but it certainly will appeal to a certain kind of person.That would be the person who a.) lives and b.) breathes.Chan is capable of making real movies, as his great Hong Kong drama "Police Story" demonstrated, but this one is hardly in that category. Consider it more a goof, a laugh, a platform for showing off the banty guy's awesome physical skills as martial artist and absolutely fearless stuntman.

Despite yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Yankees, the Orioles can still earn a series win here in New York, which would mark the first time the O's have won all three series in the Bronx in a season since 1976. The Orioles will pin their hopes on right-hander Chris Tillman, who has won six of his past seven decisions and is coming off back-to-back quality starts. The Yankees have had success against Tillman. The top three hitters in the Yankees lineup -- Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano -- are hitting a combined .487 (19-for-39)

Orioles third baseman Wilson Betemit has been on of the streakiest hitters in the Orioles lineup, but he's currently one of the hottest. Betemit, who saw his average dip to .248 just a week ago, enters tonight's series opener against Tampa Bay riding a club-high six game hitting streak. In that span, Betemit is hitting .458 (11-for-24) with 3 runs, 3 doubles, a home run and 3 RBIs in that stretch. He had four multihit games in his last six contests. Betemit was 7-for-11 in the Orioles' three-game series in the Bronx, where he spent nearly two years playing for the Yankees in 2007 and '08.

The Orioles are looking to complete a three-game sweep of the Yankees today at 1 p.m. Zach Britton (1-0) will make his fourth start of the year.   Britton is 1-1 in his career against New York in four starts. In his two starts at Yankee Stadium, he has allowed 13 runs, 10 earned, over 5.1 innings.   A win would give the Orioles their first three-game sweep of the Yankees in the Bronx since 1986, and it would mark the first time since 1980 that the O's have swept the Yankees and Red Sox on the road in the same season.

Cast members from 1993's "A Bronx Tale" will reunite with Chazz Palminteri at Chazz: A Bronx Original on Monday night for a special fundraising happy hour. "A Bronx Tale" was the movie adaptation of Palminteri's one-man stage show of the same name. Almost 20 years later, Palminteri's love affair with his native borough would in part inspire the Inner Harbor restaurant that bears his name. Guests at Monday's happy hour will meet cast members from the movie, along with other Baltimore celebrities and sports figures who are helping the restaurant launch a new charitable fundraising campaign for the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation.

With the grandstands still filling up before noon, Rose Kramer of Wilmington, Del. said she loved people-watching as the day progresses. She's been coming to Maryland for the race for the past few years. She donned a fuzzy pink "Supergirl" hat with sequins, which she bought on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, New York. "I try not to go traditional," Kramer said. "I don't like traditional. I like craziness. " Tricia Brissett and John Santos of Baltimore City brought their 1-year-old daughter, Valentiana, who wore a polka-dotted hat with a big flower.

NEW YORK - On Opening Day at Camden Yards, Oriolesstarter Jake Arrieta talked about setting the tone for the season with a quality start. A month later at Yankee Stadium, it was Arrieta continuing to follow the lead of his rotation-mates, throwing eight shutout innings in a 5-0 win over the New York Yankees in what has become an impressive and, frankly, unexpected run of starting pitching.    Surprising, apparently, to everyone but those wearing orange and black. “Those guys have great stuff and great ability,” said Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, whose fourth-inning homer gave his team all the offense it would need.

NEW YORK - If one were to poll a group of travel professionals, the Bronx is probably the last place on Earth that would come up as an "eco-tourism destination." What they might be surprised to discover is that the Bronx is filled with wild animals - and we don't mean at the Bronx Zoo. Along with typical urban fauna like pigeons, squirrels and sparrows, the Bronx is visited by coyotes, wild turkeys, deer and the occasional bald eagle. In fact, the Bronx is so crowded with furred, feathered and finned species that the New York City Parks and Recreation Department posts a full-time wildlife manager there.

BRONX, N.Y. -- Kevin P. Clark drove through his old haunts yesterday, where he spent four years as commander in two of the most violent and crime-infested police precincts in New York City. As he cruised through the Bronx in a Mercury SUV, Baltimore's new police commissioner combed the streets for criminals until he spotted a known drug dealer in a thick puffy jacket and a baseball cap standing alone on the sidewalk. Clark asked the man to come to his side of the street; the dealer refused.

Joe Flacco celebrated his 27th birthday at Chazz: A Bronx Original on Monday night with his wife, Dana. The Flaccos were joined by the Pittas, Ravens tight end Dennis and his wife, Mataya. At Chazz , The group ordered a number of appetizers including fried calamari, tomato bruschetta, the signature veal meatball and, from the mozzarella bar, the burrata and parma prosciutto. According to a representative from the Harbor East restaurant. The table also enjoyed two coal-fired pizzas, the Burrata and the Funghi, and for dessert, the group shared the tiramisu and cinnamon-spiked, vanilla-iced bread pudding.

"Seasonal" and "classic" are buzzwords nowadays in the cocktail world, denoting the use of fresh ingredients to revive old standards. Often, the trend falls flat; occasionally, though, it's wildly successful. It seems only fitting, then, that at Chazz: A Bronx Original, innovation comes as effortlessly as the restaurant's name implies, with the perfect pear cocktail, La Pera. The restaurant, a fairly new addition to Harbor East, specializes in coal-fired pizza and Italian-American fare.