Cust

SEATTLE - With injuries to Brian Roberts and B.J. Surhoff leaving their bench woefully short, the Orioles made a roster move after last night's game, sending Rick Bauer to Triple-A Ottawa to make room for left-handed hitter Jack Cust. The Orioles dropped to 11 pitchers, figuring the bullpen is well rested after last night's complete game by Sidney Ponson against the Seattle Mariners. Cust was batting .283 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs for Ottawa. This will be his second regular-season stint with the Orioles since they acquired him from the Colorado Rockies for Chris Richard on March 11. Roberts was hoping his back would feel better yesterday, but it didn't, so the Orioles sent him to see Mariners orthopedist Larry Pedegana.

A recap of the Orioles' 2-1 loss to the Athletics last night: ALL TIED UP With men on first and second and one out in the seventh inning, Orioles manager Dave Trembley pulled starter Garrett Olson in favor of Matt Albers. He did his job, retiring Bobby Crosby on a flyout. Then Trembley summoned Jamie Walker, who allowed two straight infield singles, the last by Rajai Davis with the bases loaded to break a scoreless tie. The Orioles had a chance to tie the game in the eighth, but neither Brian Roberts nor Nick Markakis could get a run in with men on second and third and one out. But the Orioles came through in the ninth.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- An easy smile crosses Jack Cust's face when he thinks about it now: The stumble heard 'round the world. Twelfth inning, two outs, the Orioles trailing the New York Yankees by a run. Larry Bigbie doubles into the gap, and a sellout crowd at Camden Yards goes bonkers. Cust lumbers around the bases from first, and it's the longest 270 feet of his life. After rounding third, he falls -- not once, but twice. The Yankees botch the rundown play and leave home plate vacant.

Jack Cust might forever be remembered in Baltimore for the night he took a comical spill while trying to score the winning run in an eventual loss to the New York Yankees. It's part of his Orioles legacy, and he's always accepted it with good humor. A better story, one that doesn't involve his crawling toward home plate and being tagged out, is the way Cust has landed on his feet. Acquired from the San Diego Padres after designated hitter Mike Piazza went on the disabled list earlier this month, Cust has transferred the power he's displayed in the minors - 199 home runs - to the Oakland Athletics' lineup.

RICHMOND, Va. - Some hitters have a tendency to leave the bat on their shoulders. Jack Cust allows it to become so embedded there, the label creates an imprint in his skin. Ever since the Orioles acquired him in a trade with the Colorado Rockies two months ago, they've been trying to pry it loose. Their message was first delivered in spring training before they reassigned him to the minor league complex in Sarasota, Fla. It's still being directed at Cust before his games with the Ottawa Lynx, the Orioles' new Triple-A affiliate.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Needing a spot on their 25-man roster for tonight's starting pitcher, Erik Bedard, the Orioles decided to designate Jack Cust for assignment after last night's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Cust was out of minor league options, and with this move, the Orioles will have 10 days to either trade him or expose the outfielder/designated hitter through waivers. The only way he would be sent to Triple-A Ottawa is if no other team claims him, and because of Cust's potential, that is highly unlikely.

SEATTLE - The last time Jack Cust started a game for the Orioles, he lay face-down in the dirt. And it wasn't because he fell on his way to home plate. Tampa Bay pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez picked off Cust at second base, eliminating the potential tying run in an Aug. 19 game the Orioles eventually lost, 9-2. It was one of the low points of their season, and it seemed to make Cust invisible. Going into last night's game at Safeco Field, he had been seen only once since Gonzalez caught him straying too far from the bag. He pinch-hit for B.J. Surhoff during the ninth inning of Sunday's 7-0 loss in New York, a token at-bat that had nothing to do with strategy.

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles aren't beating a lot of teams this season, but the roster of their Triple-A affiliate has taken a pounding because of them. Jack Cust, 24, became the fourth player to be recalled from Ottawa in the past week, inheriting the roster spot yesterday that opened when the Orioles waived outfielder Gary Matthews. Acquired from the Colorado Rockies in March for Chris Richard, Cust was batting .247 with three homers and 21 RBIs in 44 games. He reached base via a hit or walk in 41 of 44 games.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- When the Orioles call teams to talk trade these days, it's not always intended to provide immediate help at the major-league level. Though still searching for ways to add a run producer to a team that treated home plate like a poison ivy patch last season, the Orioles also want to strengthen their affiliates and lose the "F" grade assigned to their farm system by Baseball America. The Orioles are willing to move a veteran player in exchange for a minor-leaguer, and vice president Mike Flanagan confirmed yesterday that they're close to finalizing a trade with the Colorado Rockies.

Once Melvin Mora proved that he couldn't grip a bat, the Orioles no longer were willing to hold a place for him on their active roster. Mora went on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a bruised right hand, and the Orioles recalled outfielder Jack Cust for the third time this season. Cust, who arrived in Baltimore around 3 p.m., didn't appear in a game with the Orioles in his two previous stints in the majors, and he was a reserve last night because the Minnesota Twins started left-hander Kenny Rogers.

TORONTO - It was the kind of play you really can't practice. Tie score, two outs, bottom of the 10th inning, bases loaded, and a ball gets lined into the left-center field gap toward the Green Monster at Fenway Park. When it happened to the Orioles on Thursday night, the entire bench held its breath, because if that ball off Bill Mueller's bat falls in, the Boston Red Sox win. What's worse, it put left fielder Larry Bigbie and center fielder Luis Matos, two promising young outfielders, on a direct collision course.

The Orioles had to clean up a roster mess involving Erik Bedard and Jack Cust yesterday, and the club was expecting to be fined by the commissioner's office after receiving word it had violated baseball rules by recalling Bedard from Triple-A Ottawa to start Saturday's game at Tampa Bay. Basically, the Orioles misinterpreted the rules when they optioned Bedard to Ottawa on March 30 with a plan to recall him for Saturday's start. Major league rules state a team cannot recall a player who has been sent to the minor leagues for 10 days "of the championship season," which started April 4 for the Orioles.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Needing a spot on their 25-man roster for tonight's starting pitcher, Erik Bedard, the Orioles decided to designate Jack Cust for assignment after last night's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Cust was out of minor league options, and with this move, the Orioles will have 10 days to either trade him or expose the outfielder/designated hitter through waivers. The only way he would be sent to Triple-A Ottawa is if no other team claims him, and because of Cust's potential, that is highly unlikely.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- An easy smile crosses Jack Cust's face when he thinks about it now: The stumble heard 'round the world. Twelfth inning, two outs, the Orioles trailing the New York Yankees by a run. Larry Bigbie doubles into the gap, and a sellout crowd at Camden Yards goes bonkers. Cust lumbers around the bases from first, and it's the longest 270 feet of his life. After rounding third, he falls -- not once, but twice. The Yankees botch the rundown play and leave home plate vacant.

JUPITER, Fla. - When it comes to style and grace, Jack Cust has wisely decided not to try to change anyone's mind. His one unforget- table series of slips and falls on the base path between third and home against the Yankees last season was enough to convince him he'll never be perceived as one of baseball's coveted five-tool players. But hey, for the one or two tools he does possess, Jack Cust is dead set on making sure we know he knows how to use them - or it. The young man can hit. "I've got to hit. No matter what, we know I'm not going to play in the big leagues because of my glove," Cust said yesterday, boyish smile only slightly off-setting his dead-on self assessment.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - David Segui will make $7 million this season whether he steps on the field for the Orioles or not. Omar Daal will make $4.5 million, and Marty Cordova will earn $3.5 million. But all of them are coming back from injuries this spring, and none is guaranteed a spot on the team's Opening Night roster. The same goes for Jack Cust, who is out of minor league options and would have to clear waivers before getting sent to Triple-A Ottawa. And the same goes for B.J. Surhoff, a fan favorite who was signed to a minor league contract.

Jack Cust looked up last night and saw home plate sitting there, naked and unattended, without a Yankee in sight. It was the glimmering hope on the horizon. The long, eventful trip around the bases, the hideous fall -- none of it mattered now, because Cust was about to score the tying run for the Orioles. Twelfth inning, two outs, a sellout crowd of 48,499 at Camden Yards in delirium, and then it happened again. Cust fell down -- this time face-first -- Aaron Boone tagged him, and the New York Yankees escaped with a 5-4 victory.

The bat left Jack Cust's shoulder, the Minnesota Twins lost their lead, and a player's temporary status on the Orioles' roster came under greater scrutiny. All in a matter of seconds. Implored by the Orioles at two levels to become more aggressive at the plate, Cust attacked the first pitch from Twins starter Rick Reed in the fourth inning yesterday and reached the flag court in right field. It was his first hit with the club, his first homer in the American League, and it beat the daylights out of a bloop single.

BOSTON - It's been a trying first season in the Orioles' organization for Jack Cust, who came over from Colorado in a trade for Chris Richard this spring, and still couldn't establish himself as a major league regular. Cust, 24, has had three stints with the Orioles, spanning 66 days, and last night was just the 16th time in the major league starting lineup. Orioles manager Mike Hargrove gave Cust a third straight start last night after he had five hits in the first two games against the Boston Red Sox. "You always want to play," Cust said before doubling in the Orioles' seven-run first inning last night.

TORONTO - The Orioles lost All-Star utility man Melvin Mora to a probable season-ending knee injury yesterday, and then they lost any semblance of defensive respectability. It all happened during a nightmarish fourth inning in their 6-1 defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays at SkyDome. Mora got injured, the defense fell apart, and the Blue Jays capitalized for four runs, sending the Orioles to their fourth consecutive loss. Mora crashed into the right-field wall and landed awkwardly after trying to make a leaping catch on a triple by Vernon Wells.