Gavin Floyd

CHICAGO - For a franchise that had just won its first postseason series, the Tampa Bay Rays showed they certainly know how to celebrate. The champagne-soaked visitors' locker room at U.S. Cellular Field resembled a frat party after the 6-2 victory yesterday over the White Sox had clinched the American League Division Series, three games to one. "To do this in my hometown ... my family was all here," Rays outfielder Cliff Floyd said. "We look forward to the next round." The Rays parlayed the pitching of starter Andy Sonnanstine and the hitting of B.J. Upton, who homered twice, and Carlos Pena, who went 3-for-4, to dispatch the Sox. "I just tried to keep an even keel and work to my strengths," said Sonnanstine, who went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits.

Calvert Hall's late-season surge continued yesterday with a 9-4 rout of Mount St. Joseph as the visiting Cardinals put themselves in position for their 11th Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A conference baseball title since 1984 and the eighth since 1990. All-Metro left-hander Ryan Kyle (8-1) out-dueled Gaels junior All-Metro ace Gavin Floyd (11-2) for a second straight game and is now 3-1 against the latter over the past two seasons. Floyd, who is 21-3 in two years, fell victim to seven unearned runs in the second inning, all coming after two were out. In contrast, Kyle was brilliant, tossing a four-hitter with nine strikeouts.

In September 2003, a reluctant Jerry Narron talked a bit about his interest in becoming a major league manager again. It looked like the Orioles were about to fire Mike Hargrove, and Narron, then bench coach for Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little, was rumored to be a candidate. An Orioles coach under Johnny Oates and a minor league manager in the Orioles' organization, Narron took the professional approach, saying he didn't want to speculate about a job that wasn't vacant. But he acknowledged that he loved Baltimore and would be honored to try to steer the Orioles back to respectability.

Severna Park's Floyd brothers, Gavin and Michael, are about to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. An agreement was reached late last night between the Phillies and the two Mount St. Joseph High School graduates. "We are thrilled that both boys are now Phillies," said Rodney Floyd, the father of the brothers, speaking for himself and his wife, Elaine, just before midnight. "We are very proud parents." Gavin Floyd, 18, a 6-foot-6 and 215-pound right-handed pitcher, was the Phillies' No. 1 draft pick in June and the fourth player chosen overall.

News item: Severna Park's Gavin Floyd (Mount St. Joseph) took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning against the struggling Detroit Tigers yesterday on the way to his second victory of the young season. My take: Great to see him getting off to a good start. It'll also be good to see him make his first appearance as a pro at Camden Yards on Thursday, barring a weather disruption in the Chicago White Sox rotation. News item: An unidentified construction worker told the New York Post he cursed the Yankees by burying a Red Sox jersey under the visitors clubhouse at the new Yankee Stadium.

SEATTLE -- In organizational meetings during spring training, Orioles officials pondered slotting right-hander Steve Trachsel, and not Jeremy Guthrie, into the No. 1 spot in the rotation. Their logic was that as a veteran, Trachsel, who had 141 wins entering the season, was better prepared to deal with the rigors of occupying that role. He wouldn't be overwhelmed by the high expectations or the challenge of facing the other team's top starter. It's not that Orioles officials felt Guthrie would be, but the right-hander did have just one full major league season of experience and 27 career starts.

CHICAGO - -Felix Pie's role in the Orioles' first back-to-back wins in three weeks threatened to go unnoticed because of Brian Roberts' sudden power surge. However, Orioles manager Dave Trembley wouldn't let that happen. After Thursday's and Friday's victories, Trembley, who was highly critical of the outfielder earlier this season and played him sparingly, singled out Pie for his contributions. In the Orioles' 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, Pie drew a key walk to load the bases and knock starter James Shields out of the game.

Top-ranked McDonogh outscored Calvert Hall 4-0 in the pivotal third quarter en route to a 9-4 victory in boys lacrosse yesterday at Calvert Hall.Brad Dumont scored twice and Matt Primm, and Owen Daly each scored in the third period, giving McDonogh (17-2) an 8-3 lead going into the final quarter.No. 5 Boys' Latin 21, No. 11 Mount St. Joseph 8: Dan Lamonica scored five goals, and Brian Nee added four to power the visting Lakers (7-3).No. 13 Broadneck 11, No. 15 Southern-AA 3: Joe Case had two goals and five assists and Brendan Poleski scored three times for the Bruins (8-2)

America's national pastime took a major hit last night. On home turf, no less. Daisuke Matsuzaka remained undefeated in the World Baseball Classic and defending champion Japan beat the United States, 9-4, in a semifinal at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Japan advanced to tonight's title game against South Korea, a 10-2 winner over Venezuela in a semifinal late Saturday night. Cleveland Indians outfielder Choo Shin-Soo hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run first inning for South Korea in that game.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd , a 27-year-old right hander from Severna Park (Mount St. Joseph), enters tonight's start against the Orioles having turned around what early on had the makings of a disappointing season. In his past six starts, Floyd (7-8, 3.54 ERA) is 3-1 with a major league-low 0.89 ERA. For his performance, Floyd was named the American League's top pitcher for July. Floyd, whose ERA had ballooned to 6.52 in early June, said before Friday's game that his recent improvement was the result of "my focus, my persistence of working at trying to get better and my conviction on each pitch.