Grand Slam

They were different. Opposites, really. Martina Navratilova, the left-hander from Czechoslovakia who used tennis as a passport to the West. Pam Shriver, the right-hander raised in an upper-middle class household in the suburbs of Baltimore.One became the pre-eminent singles player of her time, perhaps even of all time. The other made a fleeting appearance in one Grand Slam final as a 16-year-old, and then spent the rest of her career trying to recapture the moment.One registered as a Democrat and covered the left side of the court.

Former MLB player Bill Ripken will headline a new charitable gala in Columbia May 9. The Grand Slam Gala also will include live and silent auctions, and athletic challenges. The Baseball Factory, a Columbia-based player recruitment and development operation, launched the gala event to support its Factory Foundation, a nonprofit designed to assist underprivileged student athletes. Dress is casual, and attendees are encouraged to wear their favorite jersey or hat. Food will be provided by Clyde's, with desserts from Elkridge Furnace Inn, Georgetown Cupcakes and Milk 'N Cookies.

Right-hander Tommy Hunter had his shortest outing of the season today in the Orioles' series finale against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Hunter lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs -- all earned -- on eight hits. He allowed four of those runs in the sixth inning, which included a game-tying grand slam by Will Middlebrooks, the third baseman's first big league homer. Hunter's outing was just the third time in 13 games in which an Orioles starter has not thrown a quality start (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs)

The sight of Matt Wieters' home-run trot ending in a frenetic pile at home plate conjured memories of the 16 straight extra-inning wins the Orioles orchestrated last season. But Thursday night's 10-inning 10-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays - which ended with the Orioles' first walk-off grand slam in 14 years - deserves its own spot in Orioles lore. The Orioles' first extra-inning game of 2013 came nearly a year to the date that Wieters hit a grand slam to help the Orioles to their first extra-inning win last season, a 10-4 win against the White Sox in Chicago last April 16. His blast Thursday was the Orioles' first walk-off grand slam since Harold Baines' on May 4, 1999 against the White Sox. “Any time you get a get a walk-off and get to celebrate with your teammates, it's a good day,” Wieters said.

After going 0-for-4 in his first injury rehabilitation game with Double-A Bowie on Wednesday, Orioles infielder Wilson Betemit was 2-for-4 with a grand slam Thursday night for the Baysox. Betemit played third base as the Baysox won, 8-6, over Erie at Prince George's Stadium. He was Bowie's first baseman Wednesday. Betemit was scheduled for a two-game rehab stint with Bowie, so it's likely he'll be activated when rosters expand this weekend as long as he doesn't report any issues.

Among all the statistics that have swirled around the Orioles' all-or-nothing slugger Mark Reynolds through the years, there was one that was particularly hard to explain. Reynolds is absolutely terrible in his career with the bases loaded. Head-shaking, mind-numbingly bad. He had struck out in half of his 52 official at-bats with the bases juiced and had never hit a homer in that situation. Until the sixth inning on Saturday night, when he smashed a 94-mph fastball from Toronto's electric lefty Ricky Romero into the left field seats for his first career grand slam, one that gave the Orioles an eventual 5-3 win. "Obviously, that's the best result possible, but I'm just trying to get a pitch to hit," said Reynolds, who entered the at-bat hitting .186 on the season.

HAGERSTOWN -- Chris Harmes' grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning capped a five-run rally and gave the Hagerstown Suns (13-6) a 6-5 win over the Capital City Bombers and a sweep of their Single-A South Atlantic League doubleheader last night.The Suns scored eight runs in the second inning and rolled to a 14-1 win in the opener. Keith Hines was 3-for-4 with three RBI.Harmes was 2-for-2 with five RBI in the nightcap.

C NEW YORK -- There will be no Grand Slam this year for the top-ranked women's doubles team of Natalia Zvereva and Gigi Fernandez. And there will be yet another day of tennis for the No. 2 seeds, Helena Sukova and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.Sukova and Sanchez Vicario stopped a run of six Grand Slam doubles titles for Zvereva and Fernandez with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in last night's U.S. Open semifinal. Sukova and Sanchez Vicario will play the ninth-seeded team of Amanda Coetzer and Ines Gorrochategui in today's noon final.

CLEVELAND -- Chris Hoiles understands that one day can't change an entire season, or alter a career. But he also knows that what happened to him 48 hours ago can be more that just a temporary reprieve.Hoiles' numbers suggested a refresher course in Rochester might have been in order, though manager John Oates says the thought never crossed his mind. The young catcher had a batting average that was under two dollars (.198) and his two home runs had produced only four runs batted in.Then, with one swing of the bat the RBI count doubled and before the day was over Hoiles had left an impressive reminder of his offensive potential.

Tim DeCinces, Calvin Pickering and Ryan Minor each had run-scoring doubles as the Delmarva Shorebirds edged the Hagerstown Suns, 7-6, yesterday in a Single-A South Atlantic League game in Salisbury.Shorebirds starter Brian Falkenborg (4-4) had allowed just one run over seven innings before being relieved by Josh Towers with one out and the bases loaded in the eighth.But three more runs were added to Falkenborg's line when Hagerstown's Luis Lopez, the league's top hitter at .388, then hit a grand slam off Towers to pull the Suns within 7-6.But Towers went on to record his first save of the season by getting the final five outs of the game.

After Oriole Park sat silent for six months and the Orioles spent the past seven weeks in Sarasota, Fla., preparing for the season, manager Buck Showalter believed his players needed the “pickup” that only a Camden Yards sellout crowd could give them in Friday's home opener against the Minnesota Twins. But it was first baseman Chris Davis who supplied the big lift, providing the home crowd with a memorable Opening Day fireworks display in the Orioles' 9-5 comeback victory as he continued his assault on baseball's record books.

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters joked that he will receive no slack from his wife, Maria, if he ever has to catch another 18-inning game. That's because Maria was in labor for 23 hours, from Thursday morning into early Friday, before giving birth to the couple's first child, an 8-pound, 2-ounce, 23 1/4-inch boy named Maverick Luther Wieters. "No sympathy for me," Wieters said before playing Saturday's game against Boston. "Catching 18 innings was a lot easier than what she had to do. I'd probably have to catch three in a row, 18-inning games, to equal that.

[ Down the stretch is a daily Orioles Insider blog that will set up the coming day for the O's and their American League competition as the push for the postseason continues. ] About last night Orioles split doubleheader with Jays Steve Johnson makes most of Game 1 start Notes: Hoes dedicates season to late grandfather Randy Wolf to have MRI on left elbow today Wei-Yin Chen's downward trend continues Who should start a one-game playoff for O's?

After going 0-for-4 in his first injury rehabilitation game with Double-A Bowie on Wednesday, Orioles infielder Wilson Betemit was 2-for-4 with a grand slam Thursday night for the Baysox. Betemit played third base as the Baysox won, 8-6, over Erie at Prince George's Stadium. He was Bowie's first baseman Wednesday. Betemit was scheduled for a two-game rehab stint with Bowie, so it's likely he'll be activated when rosters expand this weekend as long as he doesn't report any issues.

NEW YORK - Chris Tillman didn't feel well when he arrived at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Batting flu-like symptoms since a day before his last start, the Orioles sent him back to the team hotel early on Monday with antibiotics in hand, hoping some extra rest would help the right hander. After giving up five runs to the Yankees in a 36-pitch first inning, Tillman couldn't have felt any worse. But he then watched from the dugout as his Orioles teammates provided him with a remedy no antibiotic could provide - instant offense.

Right-hander Tommy Hunter had his shortest outing of the season today in the Orioles' series finale against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Hunter lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs -- all earned -- on eight hits. He allowed four of those runs in the sixth inning, which included a game-tying grand slam by Will Middlebrooks, the third baseman's first big league homer. Hunter's outing was just the third time in 13 games in which an Orioles starter has not thrown a quality start (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs)

MILWAUKEE -- Greg Vaughn hit a grand slam in the ninth inning and drove in six runs yesterday as the Milwaukee Brewers, after blowing a six-run lead, beat the Oakland Athletics, 11-7, and knocked the A's out of first place in the American League West.Vaughn, who homered twice off Dave Stewart on Saturday, also hit a two-run double. Mark McGwire homered twice and drove in four runs for Oakland, and Jose Canseco added a two-run homer.Jim Gantner opened the ninth with a single off Gene Nelson (0-1)

ELMONT, N.Y. -- If you were looking for a horse to challenge Real Quiet on the lip of the Triple Crown, look no further: Grand Slam, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, won the Peter Pan Stakes yesterday to stay undefeated at Belmont Park and create a new role as the potential spoiler.This is a horse whose past is filled with agony and ecstasy. Last year, he won the Belmont Futurity in September and outran Lil's Lad to win the Champagne Stakes at Belmont in October. But in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November, he suffered a deep cut in his left hind leg and missed four months of racing.

His throwing arm wrapped in a huge bag of ice, he and his Orioles teammates taken through a roller coaster of a night, catcher Matt Wieters put it perfectly. “This year nothing's really come easy so far,” he said. On a night when the Orioles nearly gift-wrapped a win to the White Sox on a chilly Chicago night at U.S. Cellular Field, frustration and elation merged within a matter of innings. The Orioles went into the eighth inning down three runs, unable to give starter Jake Arrieta the run support he deserved while committing three errors in the field.

September 22, 1961: Jim Gentile hit his fifth grand slam of the year, which set an American League mark.