Games Started

BOSTON -- To a man, the Orioles aren't sure why they have had so many problems against left-handed starters, but third baseman Melvin Mora wants one thing to be clear. It's not one of those baseball anomalies chalked up to the relative newness of the season. "It's not a coincidence," Mora said after the Orioles were beaten, 10-3, yesterday by Boston Red Sox left-hander Lenny DiNardo. "There's not any excuses. We need to find a way to beat a lefty. I was talking to [Miguel Tejada]. Maybe [we need to]

Table games at Maryland Live Casino generated $8.4 million in revenue in their first month at the Anne Arundel County facility, on top of $38.2 million from its slot machines, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency reported Monday. While overall revenue at Maryland Live was up $1.95 million in April from March, revenue from slots fell about $6.45 million in April from the month before. By far the largest of Maryland's casinos, Maryland Live operates 4,217 slot machines and 122 table games.

Yankees updateThe Orioles wish they could be more like the Yankees right now. New York has underachieved all season, but is just a half-game behind Seattle in the wild-card race. The Yankees are 4-5 against the Orioles this season. The Orioles have almost no hope in the wild-card race. The Yankees do and have played like it, winning six straight before last night's loss to Cleveland. They've won seven of their last nine, 12 of their last 15, and 13 of their last 17. The Yankees' 13-4 record since Aug. 27 erased a 5 1/2 -game deficit in the wild-card standings.

Loyola's quest to repeat as national champion begins with a road trip this Saturday to an opponent that has already played two games. Delaware is 1-1, following a season-opening 12-10 win against High Point with a 9-8 loss to No. 17 Bucknell. But more than the Blue Hens' record, Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey is leery about Delaware's head start. “The thing we're always concerned about when we open up with Delaware is that they've got a couple games under their belt,” he said Thursday morning.

Quote: "If the 162-game schedule is an equalizer, then we've got a lot of one-run victories coming." -- Manager Larry Dierker, whose Astros are 0-12 in one-run decisions It's a fact: The Mets are 9-0 in games started by a left-hander. Who's hot: . Extra ushers were in the right-field bleachers near the Braves' bullpen as John Rocker made his first appearance of the year in Milwaukee. Who's not: The Rockies' Darren Bragg is in a 2-for-25 slump. On deck: The Diamondbacks' Todd Stottlemyre goes for his league-leading eighth victory tonight.

Some tips this week for fantasy football players:Players to keepQB Elvis Grbac, 49ers: San Francisco is 23-9-1 since 1981 in games started by backup quarterbacks.QB Jeff Blake, Bengals: Posted a 144.3 quarterback rating in past two games against Steelers.QB Mark Brunell, Jaguars: Has five touchdown passes in past three games, which could be a single-game total facing the hapless Jets.RB Thurman Thomas, Bills: Has six 100-yard rushing efforts against the Dolphins, second most by a Miami opponent.

Angels: Ken Hill, who had to leave Wednesday night's game shortly after he was nicked on the right hand by a line drive inthe second inning, will not miss a start. His fingers are bruised. Troy Percival, who had sat out two days because of a sore shoulder, overpowered the Twins Wednesday night, retiring them in order with two strikeouts, for his 39th save.Indians: Dwight Gooden has not lost since July 26, a span of eight starts.Rangers: Texas is 42-18 in games started by Aaron Sele and Rick Helling, and just 36-49 in the rest.

Some of baseball's younger fans aren't pleased with the postseason format. And it has nothing to do with the addition of wild cards.For the past several years, all postseason games have been at night. This year, no game will start before 7 p.m., and more than half will begin after 8 p.m.A majority of the 30 younger fans interviewed said the starting times hurt them the most."It's like they don't think of us," said Jason Burk, 11, of Lutherville. "Maybe if they played just one or two [games during the day]

* When Kevin Tapani threw four shutout innings at the outset of Wednesday's game against the Angels, it was the first time this year a Minnesota starter had gone that far without giving up a run.* In 27 games between the two clubs, Atlanta has outscored Colorado, 193-91.* In three games against Texas, Toronto starting pitching allowed 21 runs in 9 2/3 innings.* The Mets went into last night 4-0 in games started by Pete Harnisch, and he had a 1.73 ERA. But his record was 0-0.* The Cubs, who had a team ERA of 2.80 through Wednesday's game, have not won an NL team ERA title since 1945.

* The Tigers became the 41st team in major-league history to hit seven homers in one game last Sunday. They also became the first team to hit seven homers and lose.* From May 10 to June 1, Albert Belle hit .217, Carlos Baerga .269, Eddie Murray .229, and Kenny Lofton .215. And the Indians went 13-5, which speaks volumes about the other hitters in their lineup, like Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome.* More Tribe: In his first 12 appearances for Triple-A Buffalo, reclamation project Gregg Olson is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and seven saves.

The Orioles have agreed to contract terms with right-hander Tommy Hunter on a one-year, $1.82 million deal. Hunter, 26, pitched in 33 games (20 starts for the Orioles), going 7-8 with a 5.45 ERA. He was more effective as a reliever, winning all three of his decisions while pitching to a 3.71 ERA. This was the first year of arbitration for Hunter, who made $493,500 in 2012. According to an industry source, the Orioles are also close to a deal with left-hander Brian Matusz, though it is not official.

Ahmad Bradshaw has said that he plans to play Sunday, which should cause some concern for the Ravens. The New York Giants running back leads the team in rushing, piling up 869 yards and five touchdowns on 196 carries. And in his only meeting against the Ravens on Nov. 16, 2008, Bradshaw averaged 10.7 yards on just nine carries, rushing for 96 yards. That might not bode well for a Ravens defense that just surrendered 118 yards and one touchdown to the Denver Broncos' Knowshon Moreno in last Sunday's 34-17 loss.

Many Maryland fans complained on Twitter that they missed the opening of today's Terps-Virginia game because the Richmond-New Hampshire television broadcast ran long on Comcast SportsNet. The Maryland game began at 3 p.m. Fans missed a portion of the opening quarter, which included a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown by Stefon Diggs on the first play. Maryland released a statement attributed to Brian Potter of Comcast SportsNet (below): "In order to be fair to all teams and their fans, Comcast SportsNet's policy (which is similar to other sports networks)

So now the Orioles hand the ball to Wei-Yin Chen, and all they ask the 27-year-old rookie lefty from Taiwan to do is hold off the powerful New York Yankees and keep this magical Orioles season on the right track. The big question for Chen is this: can he do it in October? Can he do it on the big stage? Can he handle the pressure of postseason play, which is to the regular season what medical school is to high school? Not to put too fine a point on it, but this ain't the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League, where Chen pitched for four years before signing with the O's. Although as Buck Showalter likes to point out, pitching in front of thousands of fans in baseball-mad Japan isn't for wusses, either.

Here are the starting lineups for the Orioles' American League Division Series Game 1 against the Yankees: Orioles Nate McLouth LF J.J. Hardy SS Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 1B Manny Machado 3B Chris Davis RF Lew Ford DH Robert Andino 2B Jason Hammel RHP Yankees Derek Jeter SS Ichiro Suzuki LF Alex Rodriguez 3B Robinson Cano 2B Nick Swisher RF Mark Teixeira 1B Curtis Granderson CF Russell Martin...

Its opponents' win-loss records suggest that this difficult season could get more manageable for a Maryland football team that hasn't beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since Labor Day and is coming off a 25-point loss. After playing a schedule ranked by the NCAA as the nation's third toughest, the Terps see the caliber of opposition sharply drop. Beginning with 1-6 Boston College on Saturday at Byrd Stadium, Maryland's final five opponents have a combined record of 18-17.

DETROIT -- Six games into the season, the pattern already is clear. The Orioles are 4-0 in games started by Mike Mussina and Ben McDonald, 0-2 in games started by Jamie Moyer and Arthur Rhodes.Obviously, the fast starts by Mussina and McDonald are encouraging, considering the questions that surrounded them at the end of spring training and the importance of both to the Orioles' postseason chances.Yet, the Big Two will start no more than 75 of 162 games even if they stay healthy. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Orioles can't win without adequate pitching from Sid Fernandez, Moyer and Rhodes.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter found himself trying to temper expectations again, which might be tiresome if it weren't the byproduct of another unlikely upsurge in the fortunes of his team. When the Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-1, on Sunday, they completed a three-game sweep at Tropicana Field and have started a new season with three straight victories for the first time since the 1997 team won its first four to begin a wire-to-wire to for the American League East title.

Maryland defenseman Brett Schmidt rarely let North Carolina's top attackman, Billy Bitter, stray any farther than four or five yards away in Friday night's ACC semifinal at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. The tight marking was crucial for the fifth-ranked Terps, who wanted to keep the No. 3 Tar Heels offense from getting into any rhythm and dictating the pace of the game. Maryland executed the strategy nearly flawlessly, holding North Carolina scoreless for nearly 22 minutes to open the game.