Era

Navy came into Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping to add to Penn State's collective misery from the past 10 months. The Midshipmen had designs on keeping the Nittany Lions and their new coach, Bill O'Brien, winless. Hours later, as Navy was leaving this scenic campus after playing a once-dominant football program transformed by scandal and tragedy, the Midshipmen had already set another goal - finding a way to win a game in what has been an unusual but not unexpectedly tough start to their 2012 season.

Lefty Randy Wolf, whom the Orioles signed Aug. 31 after he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers, will get the starting assignment Sunday against the A's. He's made three outings in relief for the Orioles (2-0, 5.68 ERA) but hadn't started a game since Aug. 19, when he allowed five runs for the Brewers in a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. “It's great to have that opportunity,” said Wolf, who has started 366 of his 374 big league appearances in a 14-season career. “When I came over here I told them I'm going to help out whichever they need me, and they told me a couple days ago that they were thinking about having me start [Sunday]

In the end, these Orioles reduced the milestone to something small, almost insignificant. That's how weird, wonderful and exciting they have turned out to be in 2012. For years, any big-picture assessment of the franchise has included a reminder of its growing streak of losing seasons. The number was 14 going into this year, a run of futility stretching all the way back to 1997. It won't hit 15. The Orioles guaranteed that Thursday with a spine-tingling, 14-inning victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that brought their season win total to 81. On Opening Day, many Orioles fans said they'd be thrilled if the club finally broke even - 81-81.

TORONTO -- Orioles Opening Day starter Jake Arrieta has returned to Baltimore and is expected to be recalled when the team returns home from its six-game road trip and opens a seven-game homestand Thursday against the Yankees. Arrieta has been working out with Double-A Bowie the past two days after starting Triple-A Norfolk's season finale. Arrieta was optioned to Norfolk on July 5 after going 3-9 with a 6.13 ERA in 18 starts for the Orioles. He has pitched well in Triple-A.

TORONTO -- Left-handed pitcher Kevin Grendell, the Orioles' 11th-round pick in this June's amateur draft, has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for a substance banned under the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Grendell, who was 0-4 with a 7.27 ERA in seven starts with the Gulf Coast League Orioles, tested positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone, also known as DHEA. Grendell was selected with the 342nd overall pick out of San Pasqual High School in Escondido, Calif.

Penn State began what it calls a "new era" of football Saturday by allowing 21 unanswered second-half points in a 24-14 loss to Ohio University. Penn State played its first game under Coach Bill O'Brien and fourth since former coach Joe Paterno was fired last November. An announced crowd of 97,186, about 9,000 below Beaver Stadium capacity, returned to pledge support for O'Brien and his football team, which went through a tumultuous offseason. On the field, however, second-half lapses led Penn State to its first opening-day loss 2001.

Sophomore Seth Higgins likes to think of himself as a student of the game. This offseason, Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley found out first-hand just how intent his starting quarterback is on becoming a football scholar. "Seth was always in the office. It was almost like he was employed," Hill-Eley said. "I mean, seeing the copier machine was just like seeing Seth. He was going to be there, and he was going to put the time into watching film and learning what's expected. " It's that kind of commitment that has Morgan football fans buzzing about the former Edgewood standout, who started the team's final seven games as a true freshman, throwing for 1,116 yards and nine touchdowns.

Bowie lefty Jake Pettit has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, becoming the first Baysox player to receive the honor since Zach Clark in June. Pettit, 25, went 1-0 on the week with a 1.17 ERA and five strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings pitched. He threw 7 1/3 no-hit innings against the Trenton Thunder on Saturday before giving up a homer. On the season, Pettit, a 42nd-rounder in 2010, is 9-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 22 games (19 starts) with the Baysox.

There was plenty of motivation for Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman  on Monday night if he wanted to seize it. He was facing the Seattle Mariners, the team that traded him away in 2008; his Orioles are in a surprising pennant race; his fellow starters had just strung together three impressive outings and, in his last start, he got bashed for five runs in the first inning before settling in. Tillman, though, said none of that is fueling him....

A few recognizable names have been designated for assignment in the past few days, including outfielder Bobby Abreu and first baseman Lyle Overbay. But the one that can most easily be connected to the Orioles is right-hander Derek Lowe, whom the Cleveland Indians designated Wednesday after he allowed seven runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. For the season - which was excellent followed by disastrous for Lowe - the sinkerballer is 8-10 with a 5.52 ERA. Lowe, 39, has just too many connections to the current Orioles not to be a serious target.