Derek Lowe

On deck Kazuhisa Ishii of the Dodgers tries to improve to 6-0 to night, facing the Cubs. He said it "I'm definitely going. Knowing you have something in there, it will be different." Derek Lowe, who plans to go back to Cooperstown now that some of the gear from his no-hitter is displayed there

More baseball Gibbons on DL with eye woes; Baltimorean in Fan Cave Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Jay Gibbons , a former Oriole, was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Saturday, after new contact lenses failed to fix the vision problems he has been having all spring. "It's been a battle and we ran out of time," Gibbons said. Gibbons left camp two weeks ago to visit a specialist in San Francisco, who prescribed new contacts; the old ones kept popping out. He came back and reported his vision was great.

Opponent: Boston Red Sox Site: Camden Yards Time: 7:05 TV/Radio: Ch. 13/WBAL (1090 AM) Starters: Red Sox's Derek Lowe (5-10, 3.53 in 2001) vs. Orioles' Josh Towers (8-10, 4.49 in 2001)

Always the optimist, Orioles manager Dave Trembley said he arrived at Camden Yards on Sunday morning, hours before the Orioles routed the Atlanta Braves 11-2, before an announced 26,770, with the unequivocal feeling that his tortured offense had turned it around. The only evidence in Trembley's favor was the slumbering Orioles' six-run seventh in Saturday night's win over the Braves. Still, he had a good feeling - better than usual, he stressed. "Because [Saturday] night gave me, and I think, gave the guys, a real feeling that the worst is behind us and let's focus on today and go forward," Trembley said.

It's a fact: The Red Sox have three pitchers with 10 or more saves -- Derek Lowe (10), Tom Gordon (11) and Tim Wakefield (14) -- for the first time in franchise history.Who's hot: The Tigers' Damion Easley has homered in four of his past six games.Who's not: White Sox starter Mike Sirotka is 1-4 since the All-Star break.On deck: Cleveland's Charles Nagy tries to become a 15-game winner for the fifth straight season as the Indians face the Angels.Pub Date: 9/02/99

FINALLY Adam Jones not only broke out of a 1-for-18 slump with his two-run, first-inning homer off Kenshin Kawakami, but he also ended the Orioles' homerless stretch for batters not named Luke Scott or Nolan Reimold. The pair had hit the Orioles past 14 homers and every one of the team's long balls since May 26 before Jones blasted his 12th of the season. JUST DROPPING IN It appeared Orioles starter Rich Hill had gotten the second out of the fourth inning when Barbaro Canizares hit a blooper to right field that seemingly hung in the air for a while.

LOS ANGELES - For the first two games of the National League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers will head back to Philadelphia, the site of a four-game sweep in late August that started a season-worst eight-game losing streak for the Dodgers. But memories of Philadelphia don't necessarily elicit negative emotions for the Dodgers, who were outscored 27-5 by the Phillies in that series. Because of the beatings they absorbed, the players say, they found out how much manager Joe Torre believed in them.

And in the case of the aging O'Neal, it's a huge gamble because the Suns got an inside presence in the short run but forfeited a young, rising star by sending Shawn Marion to the Miami Heat. Mid- or late-season trades can cut both ways. Sometimes they're that extra shot of talent a team needs to propel it to the finish line. Sometimes the deals leave teams looking like the rube in a bad horse trade. One that worked well was the Astros' deal with the Seattle Mariners that brought Randy Johnson to Houston for the stretch drive of the 1998 season.

BATTING LINE OF THE DAY Craig Biggio, Astros 2B AB R H RBI HR 5 0 3 2 0 PITCHING LINE OF THE DAY Kip Wells, Pirates IP H R BB WP 3 2/3 5 6 6 2 WHO'S HOT Derek Lowe of the Dodgers has given up three earned runs and 19 hits in 31 2/3 innings over his past four starts. WHO'S NOT Jon Garland of the White Sox is 9-9 with two no-decisions since winning his first eight starts.

THE AGENT for one of the most coveted pitchers on the market was seen running down Orioles vice presidents Mike Flanagan and Jim Beattie in Florida this week. There's no better news for Orioles fans. Unless, of course, Carl Pavano's agent is merely using the Orioles as leverage to drive up Carl Pavano's price for the Yankees, who covet Randy Johnson, and the Red Sox, whose $25 million offer to Pedro Martinez is fair enough to get Senor Plunk back in Beantown for two seasons. That doesn't mean the Evil Empire and Red Sox Nation won't fight over Pavano, just like they fought over Bernie Williams, Jose Contreras and Alex Rodriguez.

BOSTON - Derek Lowe will be a free agent this offseason, and depending on what the Boston Red Sox decide to do, he could be a target for the Orioles. Yesterday, Lowe said he's open to coming to Baltimore. "Yeah, it's a possibility," he said. "There's a lot of possibilities out there." After being left out of Boston's postseason rotation, Lowe got a chance to start Game 4 and delivered a strong performance, holding the Yankees to three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. Lowe, 31, saw his performance slip this year after winning 21 games in 2002 and 17 games in 2003, but he still went 14-12 with a 5.42 ERA. Lowe made $4.5 million this season.