Curve

On a few occasions this season, Ben McDonald has displayed an ability to survive without being at the top of his game. Last night did not qualify as one of those experiences.What the Milwaukee Brewers enjoyed instead, was the opportunity to hack at what very possibly was the worst stuff McDonald has put on display in his professional career. In 1 2/3 innings he was hammered for seven hits and charged with eight runs -- and it was every bit as bad as that line would indicate.Twice before in his big-league career McDonald exited a game earlier, and one other time he gave up more runs.

Pitchers can learn a lot from each other. Just ask Calvert Hall's Tim Sexton, who pitched the No. 1 Cardinals to a 6-2 victory over No. 2 St. Paul's in Towson yesterday. Calvert Hall, which has won 23 straight, is one win from the state record for most consecutive wins in a season by 24-0 Northeast in 1991 but a long way from the overall record of 54 by Bowie (1981-83). The Cardinals are 16-0 in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference this spring. Second-place St. Paul's is 14-2 in MIAA play.

Yesterday Triple-A International League Syracuse 6, Ottawa 0, 7 inn.: The host SkyChiefs (7-5) held the Lynx (5-6) to three hits in a game shortened because of rain. Double-A Eastern League Bowie 11, Altoona 5: Val Majewski, Lance Burkhart, and Woody Cliffords each hit a home run and five batters had two or more hits as the Baysox (5-6) beat the host Curve (5-6). Single-A Carolina League Frederick 8, Salem 3: The visiting Keys (2-8) got five strong innings from starter Richard Stahl and Ryan Hubele homered twice in Salem, Va. The Avalanche fell to 7-3. Today Triple-A International League Ottawa at Syracuse, 6 p.m. Double-A Eastern League Bowie at Altoona, 6:35 p.m. Single-A Carolina League Frederick at Salem, 7:05 Single-A South Atlantic League Delmarva at Columbus, 7 p.m. Hagerstown at Charleston, S.C., 7:05 p.m.

A pitching coach has to be a salesman as well as an instructor.So, after Orioles coach Dick Bosman taught Ben McDonald how to throw an effective slider, his mission was only half accomplished.Bosman then had to sell McDonald on the merits of using the pitch in the right situations."We fooled around with it for about half the year, and when I thought he had it down sufficiently, I told him to try it," said Bosman."So he threw one one night and struck out a guy. He came into the dugout and said, 'I could do this all night.

Carla Hackley, "Left. Right. Curve." On this rainy Wednesday evening, the only sounds in the Mount Pleasant Ice Arena in Northeast Baltimore are the soft mechanical whine of equipment, the scrape of figure skate blades and a single voice calling instructions. Carla Hackley leads three students in a serpentine pattern. "Come into the line, push and curve," she says. Arms straight out from their shoulders, the students obey, skating tentatively, leaning as they glide in a semicircle. Another push, and they curve the other way, making a series of S-curves down the length of the rink.

Pregnant women do not tip over, and researchers say an evolutionary curve has a lot to do with the reason why. Anthropologists studying the human spine have found that women's lower vertebrae evolved in ways that reduce back pressure during pregnancy, when the mass of the abdomen grows by nearly one-third and the center of mass shifts forward considerably. That increases pressure on the spinal column, strains the muscles and generally reduces stability. Even without the benefit of advanced study in biomechanics, women tend to deal with the shift - and avoid tumbling over like a bowling pin - by leaning back.

Are you unhappy with this roller-coaster stock market? Here's an alternative: "U.S. Treasury bonds are yielding more than ever, relative to stocks," says Edward Yearned, economist, Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown. "The average yield for the S&P 500 is now only 1.84 percent, while the 10-year bond yields 5.84 percent. Bond yields could fall to 5 percent before autumn 2001, and 4.5 percent by 2005. When yields drop, bond prices rise - so buy bonds now." WALL STREET WATCH: "Your portfolio should include all styles, not just what's `in' at the moment."

It was 26 years ago that Martha Stenger was standing near some men putting up a partition at the Lord Baltimore Hotel where she worked. Suddenly the partition gave way and fell on her, breaking several ribs."

The majorettes marched up the death lane in the bright sunshine yesterday.Stepping swiftly and suavely to the snap of snares, the Westsiders performed in the middle of Hilton Parkway to celebrate the renovation of Baltimore's most sinister stretch of asphalt.For decades, the 1.4-mile parkway between North and Edmondson avenues has been the city's most dangerous artery, the scene of more than 10 traffic deaths in the last 10 years.The road was so bad -- "Horrible, absolutely horrible," said one police officer -- that the city often simply closed it when it rained.

Looking for a rise ball in tight? No problem. How about a curve low and away? You got it. Chesapeake senior pitcher Lindsay Ettinger, a three-year standout who has led the Cougars of Anne Arundel County to a 12-2 mark and the No. 1 ranking in the metro area, has definitely bought into the old sales-pitch theory: It's all about location, location, location. Here's proof: The All-Metro first-team selection has a 31-7 mark with a 0.55 ERA in her three seasons of varsity. In that time, she has faced 980 batters in 268 innings, striking out 244 batters and walking just 24. Ettinger, who recently signed to play at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., on a partial scholarship, has made her mark by finding the mark.