Grand Slam

When he was at the plate in the fifth inning, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters stepped out of the batter's box to allow the applause from the frenzied crowd to grow louder. It was his night, so it seemed the least that the 23-year-old could do for one of his new teammates. Wieters' efforts were rewarded when Luke Scott finally emerged from the home dugout and briefly acknowledged the curtain call and the chants of "Luuuuke" with a quick wave. Scott did the impossible Friday night, overshadowing the much-anticipated major league debut of the Orioles' top prospect.

SEATTLE -- Composed of veterans who've experienced lots of highs and lows, the Orioles rarely are affected by defeat, acting the same way after losses as they do after victories.But the wrenching 9-6 loss to Seattle on Thursday night got to them. One out away from a victory that would've left the Orioles only three games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East and a full game ahead in the wild-card race, closer Randy Myers gave up a grand slam to Mark Whiten.As the ball rose toward the right-field stands, Bobby Bonilla raced to the wall and leaped, even as Whiten's homer carried some 20 or 30 feet over his head.

WIMBLEDON, England - Forget Wimbledon's whiners. Ignore the championship pretenders. Until further notice, Wimbledon is running on Pete Sampras time. Tennis' grass-court king opens defense of his Wimbledon crown on Centre Court today against Jiri Vanek, beginning a march that he hopes will lead to a seventh men's championship and record 13th Grand Slam trophy. When it comes to making tennis history, Sampras adamantly refuses to be rushed. "I don't look at the record as something I want to get over with," he said last week during final preparations for a Wimbledon campaign that could take him past Australia's Roy Emerson as the all-time Grand Slam king.

With one swing last night, Cal Ripken shook up the Kansas City Royals and ruffled the pages of baseball's record book.First, the Royals.They never recovered from Ripken's first-inning grand slam, a tremendous drive to left field off Glendon Rusch that had the crowd roaring the moment it left his bat. The lead jumped to 5-0, there still was only one out, and the disappointment of Opening Day already was forgotten."

WILMINGTON, Del. -- The setting will be similar, a steamy afternoon that will only add to playing in the heat of the final round in a major championship. This time, even more might be at stake for Juli Inkster.Buoyed by her victory in the U.S. Women's Open three weeks ago, Inkster will be going after something other than just another major championship here in the McDonald's LPGA Championship at DuPont Country Club.Inkster will be chasing a piece of history, trying to follow Hall-of-Famers Pat Bradley and Mickey Wright as the only other LPGA players to have won all four Grand Slam events in their careers.

WIMBLEDON, England -- The Wimbledon Championships were put right yesterday by a hacking woman playing wondrous tennis.No. 1 seed Steffi Graf, the only player, man or woman, to live up to her ranking during this fortnight, overcame a cough, sniffles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to win a seventh singles title on Wimbledon's Centre Court lawn."

Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo keeps hoping his team's offense develops some consistency and takes some pressure off its starting pitching. But for now, his starters are showing no signs of buckling. Long before Nick Markakis' first career grand slam touched down in the right-field seats in the eighth inning last night, breaking open a game that shouldn't have been close, Erik Bedard became the latest Orioles starter to seize control of a game. Royals@Orioles Tonight, 7:05, MASN, 105.7 FM Starters: Odalis Perez (0-2, 10.80)

The U.S. Open captured the imagination a year ago. Australian Patrick Rafter revived the exquisite serve-and-volley game while winning the U.S. Open, his first career Grand Slam; and Venus Williams breathed new life into the women's game. As her beaded hair clickity-clacked, she took center stage and became the first unseeded woman in 39 years to reach the Open final, before losing to No. 1 Martina Hingis.Now the Open is again ready to see history made. But will it?As the two-week tournament begins tomorrow in New York, No. 1 seed Pete Sampras is just one win shy of Roy Emerson's record 12 Grand Slam victories.

PARIS -- The French, it seems, are traditionalists. They love Steffi and Arantxa and Monica and Andre. And for the French and the ones they love, yesterday was a good day. And perhaps, though all those players advanced to the French Open semifinals, it is Andre Agassi who had the best day of all. The lone American left in the men's draw, Agassi walked onto Court Central here late yesterday afternoon, knowing the last big gun in his path...

NEW YORK -- Andre Agassi painted a masterpiece yesterday on Stadium Court at the U.S. Open.Mixing his serves, like an artist mixing paints on a palette, Agassi drove Michael Stich to distraction and then put him away with broad, dynamic strokes from the baseline.It was Stich who had come into the match talking about a desire for perfection, but it was Agassi who delivered a near-flawless performance, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.And yet, though Stich exhibited a touch no more pliable than that of a blacksmith, his show of class at the finish was as graceful as a dove.