Cleveland

Jim Thome hadn't hit a homer in his first 11 games with the Orioles. He finally did it in the fourth inning Friday night in Cleveland. The Orioles were already up by six runs, so it was a pretty meaningless bomb. But when you are 41, have played 22 years and have been as daunting of a slugger as Thome has over his career, no homer is meaningless anymore. Thome's 418-foot shot - off the 39-year-old Derek Lowe - was the 610th of his career. That put him in sole possession of seventh all-time on the home run list, breaking a tie with former Oriole Sammy Sosa.

MINNEAPOLIS -- If you walked into the Orioles clubhouse at Target Field at the right time this week, you might have seen the seventh-leading home-run hitter of all-time laying on the floor of the clubhouse, stretching his legs up into the air with the help of the team's strength coach. Newly acquired designated hitter Jim Thome has accepted the twilight of his big league career with grace. He's been an Oriole for just 11 games, and the club hopes Thome, who turns 42 in six weeks, can help the it stay in the playoff hunt.

Eutaw Street homers are always a fun little novelty at Camden Yards. This year, they are almost the norm. On Friday, two homers - Asdrubal Cabrera's in the third and Matt Wieters' in the sixth - landed on the street beyond the right-field scoreboard and flag court. It was just the second time two have reached Eutaw in one game in the stadium's history. Rafael Palmeiro did it twice on April 11, 1997 against the Texas Rangers. So there was a little history on Eutaw Street on Friday and there will be more the next time one lands there this year.

Chicago's growing. Atlanta is too. New York added nearly 60,000 new residents. But not Baltimore. At a time when cities across the country are gaining population and young people are flocking to urban centers, Baltimore remains stuck in a decades-long decline. According to estimates released Thursday by theU.S. Census Bureau, the city lost about 1,500 people from April 2010 to July 2011.

Before the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton did it Tuesday night, the Cleveland Indians' Rocky Colavito was the only player to hit four home runs in a game against the Orioles. Colavito went deep four times at Memorial Stadium on June 10, 1959. Here's a story The Sun ran 30 years later, reflecting on the slugger's feat.   June 18, 1989 ROCKY IV 30 years ago, Rocky Colavito ended a slump by becoming only the third player to hit four homers in four consecutive at-bats in a nine-inning game Rocky Colavito clicked his way down the tunnel from the visitors clubhouse and emerged in the Cleveland Indians dugout carrying his K-55 bats -- 33-ounce models that most hitters would consider light when compared with the weight of a 3-for-28 batting skid.

Before the Orioles finished their exhibition schedule Wednesday at Triple-A Norfolk, manager Buck Showalter joked with Nick Johnson that the first baseman needed to stay healthy for just a matter of hours before the 5 p.m. roster deadline. The oft-injured Johnson, a non-roster invitee whose contract would be purchased by the Orioles by that deadline, took a ball to the ankle later in the day. "It just smoked him on the ankle," Showalter said. "He asked what time was it. I said it's a little early.

A Columbia-based affordable housing organization will announce today that it is merging a mortgage division with a Cleveland firm and will own a majority of the new company. Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit founded by Columbia developer James W. Rouse and wife Patty Rouse, is combining its Multifamily Mortgage Finance business with Bellwether Real Estate Capital, which focuses on commercial and apartment lending. Enterprise's for-profit arm, Enterprise Community Investment, will own 65 percent of the new outfit, Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital.

We're down to the last two games in regular season. To come out with a winning record, Teddy has to nail both picks. Fingers crossed. Paws crossed. Even tail in a little pretzel shape. Go Teddy!

Former Oriole outfielder Felix Pie is officially leaving the organization for another American League club. Pie has agreed to terms on a minor league deal and spring invite with the Cleveland Indians, according to an industry source. The 26-year-old Pie could make $1 million in salary and performance bonuses in the majors. He also would be able to opt out of the contract if he doesn't make the Indians' Opening Day roster. Pie spent three seasons with the Orioles, batting .259 with 14 homers in 268 games.

I've seen it all as a Cleveland Browns fan -- The Drive, The Fumble, leaving for Baltimore, etc. I've never seen a Super Bowl, playoff success, great draft picks who turn into franchise saviors. The latest entry in "It sucks to be a Browns fan" is Ben Roethlisberger's return to last night's game and the Steelers' subsequent victory. Let's face it,  Browns fans have had very little to cheer about. But when Scott Paxson hit Roethlisberger and the QB's ankle rolled under the Browns' defensive tackle, I thought for sure he was done for the season, not just the game.