Elbow

After making 18 big league starts, Orioles rookie right-hander Jake Arrieta has been shut down for the season, but not solely for the expected reason. Arrieta, 24, will have a bone spur removed from his right elbow Wednesday by Orioles orthopedic surgeon Andrew Cosgarea . Arrieta said he has had the spur for years and it isn't painful, but the club decided to have it taken care of now as a precautionary measure. "I think it's going to be for the best. I talked to the doctor and the trainers, and we decided that I'm just going to go ahead and get that bone spur taken out," Arrieta said.

Billiards Fort team from Baltimore wins APA national 9-ball title The Fort, a team from Baltimore, defeated the Ryders of Meriden, Conn., in the final of the Open 9-Ball Division of the APA National Team Championships in Las Vegas. The Baltimore team — Eddie Grau (captain), Manny Topal (co-captain), Ray Kikola , Sharon Kikola , John McSweeney , Don Wilson and Daniel Pietruska — advanced to the final with a victory over Land Sharks of Garner, N.C., and earned $15,000 in first-place money.

The mystery of what is going on inside Stephen Strasburg's prized right arm, a question that has left the phenom's season in limbo and the Washington Nationals' brain trust in a state of angst, will endure for at least another 72 hours. Strasburg's absence from a major league mound, meantime, will last at least another two weeks. Thirteen days after coming off the disabled list following a bout of shoulder stiffness, Strasburg, 22, went right back on it Monday — this time with a forearm/elbow injury suffered Saturday night in Philadelphia.

The second opinion on Orioles reliever Jim Johnson's sore elbow confirmed he has a slight ligament tear and will be shelved for at least two months, with the possibility remaining that he could eventually choose season-ending surgery. Johnson, 26, met with renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews on Thursday in Pensacola, Fla., and was diagnosed with a slight tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, which Andrews said would keep Johnson sidelined for eight to 10 weeks. The diagnosis was similar to that of the Orioles' orthopedist, Dr. John Wilckens, who said Johnson had a strained UCL with "possibly a low-grade tear" and estimated he would be out about six weeks.

The Orioles were hoping Jim Johnson would go down to Triple-A Norfolk, regain his confidence and command and return to the club to occupy a key role at the back end of the bullpen. Now, they just hope he'll avoid right elbow surgery and be healthy enough to pitch for the club again this season. Johnson, who made one appearance at Triple-A Norfolk after his May 1 demotion, will visit orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., this week to get a second opinion on his elbow.

Clementine (5402 Harford Road., 410-444-1497, bmoreclementine.com) opened in April 2008 without a liquor license and only 43 seats. From the very first, space, or the lack of it, was a concern. The way co-owner Cristin Dadant remembers it, "you think you've thought of everything, and then when you finally get the place open, you think "where am I going to put the straws, let alone people?" People just took right away to Clementine's version of comfort dining, equal parts Pacific Northwest and New England, with an emphasis on homemade ingredients, friendly to kids and hipsters alike.

Dirk Nowitzki missed the Mavericks' home game against the Cavaliers on Sunday night because of soreness in his elbow, where two teeth belonging to the Rockets' Carl Landry wound up following a collision a few nights before. "I tried (shooting), but it's just too sore," said Nowitzki, his arm bandaged from his elbow to his wrist. Nowitzki needed several stitches to repair the gash in his right elbow, which he suffered during the second quarter of an overtime loss Friday to the Rockets.

NEW YORK - - If the Orioles want to see how right-hander Koji Uehara reacts to a bullpen role, they'll have to wait until next season. With Uehara still experiencing some soreness in his right elbow, the Orioles decided to shut him down for the rest of the 2009 campaign, ending a disappointing year for the first Japanese native to play for the club. "I'm upset because I wasn't able to contribute to the team," Uehara said through his interpreter, Jiwon Bang. "It's a lot of minuses, so I can't really assess my season."

Christina Marie Morganti, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine with the Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Center, explains "tennis elbow" - also known as lateral epicondylitis - and how to take care of it. * "Tennis elbow" is a tendinosis of the wrist and finger extensor muscles that occurs where they originate on the outside of the elbow. This area is where the tendons of the four to five muscles on the back of the forearm coalesce into one "common extensor tendon." Similar to this is "golfer's elbow," or medial epicondylitis, which refers to tendinosis of the wrist and finger flexor muscles on the inside (medial side)