League Game

On a 95-degree day, Sue Sellner fumed from under an oversize green-and-lavender umbrella next to the third-base dugout. How was it possible that neither umpire called catcher's interference on the play moments earlier? "If everyone else saw it, why didn't you?" she yelled. When she started another round of complaining, her younger son started laughing and walked over. "Be quiet, Mom," Tony Tiani said. "We don't want him to get mad at us." This might sound like a scene from a Little League game, but Tiani is 26 years old. He and his brother Jason, 27, play on the Cubs in the over-25 adult baseball league run by the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks.

Two of the Orioles' top pitching prospects helped limit Reading to one run last night as the Bowie Baysox won, 2-1, in a Double-A Eastern League game at Prince George's Stadium.Chris Fussell, named the system's fourth-best prospect by Baseball America, pitched five shutout innings before eventual winning pitcher Alvie Shepherd allowed one run over three innings. Matt Snyder picked up his second save.Bulls 5, Keys 2: Durham (10-9) limited Frederick (11-7) to four hits and scored three runs in the sixth inning to win a Single-A Carolina League game at Durham Athletic Park.

FREDERICK -- Ryan Hendricks' pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning last night sparked the Frederick Keys to a 6-3 win over the Wilmington (Del.) Blue Rocks in a Single-A Carolina League game.Baysox 5, Thunder 4: Bowie scored four runs in the last two innings, capped by David Delucci's two-run homer in the top of the ninth, as the Baysox edged Trenton in a Double-A Eastern League game.Shorebirds 1, Sand Gnats 0: Brian Falkenborg struck out 11 as host Delmarva ended a six-game losing streak, defeating Savannah in the Single-A South Atlantic League.

Johnny Isom led a 17-hit Bowie attack by going 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs last night, and the host Baysox scored seven runs in the seventh inning and four in the eighth to beat the Akron Aeros, 14-5.The win was Bowie's second straight in both teams' first series of the Double-A Eastern League season.Melvin Rosario went 2-for-4 with five RBIs, and Rocco Cafaro picked up the win in relief for Bowie.Keys 6, Blue Rocks 3: Frederick turned five hits into a decisive four-run rally in the third inning and held on to beat host Wilmington in a Single-A Carolina League game.

Chris Fussell, one of the Orioles' most highly regarded prospects, saw his tough season continue yesterday when the host Binghamton Mets ripped him for eight runs in an 11-4 Double-A Eastern League win over the Bowie Baysox.Fussell (1-6) lasted 2 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and three walks.In other Baysox news, right-handed pitcher Matt Snyder and catcher Melvin Rosario were named to the Double-A All-Star team. The July 7 game in San Antonio will pit players from American League and National League affiliates.

New Britain scored five runs -- four earned -- in six innings off Alvie Shepherd to beat the Baysox, 5-1, last night in a Double-A Eastern League game in Bowie.The Rock Cats were outhit, 5-4, but got a home run from Doug Mientkiewicz and a two-run double from Ryan Lane.New Britain's Trevor Cobb allowed four hits and struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings for the victory.Bryan Bogle went 2-for-3 for the Baysox (43-43).Indians 6, Keys 4: Kinston scored single runs in six of the first seven innings and withstood the Keys' four-run sixth to win a Single-A Carolina League game in Frederick.

Cape Fear Crocs pitcher Guillermo Mota threw seven shutout innings and struck out six to deal the visiting Delmarva Shorebirds their third consecutive loss, 5-0, in a Single-A South Atlantic League game last night.Tim DeCinces doubled for the Shorebirds (17-18) to extend his hit streak to nine games.Baysox 10, Sea Dogs 6: Chris Kirgan and David Dellucci hit home runs to help Bowie defeat host Portland in a Double-A Eastern League game.Indians 9, Keys 3: Kinston banged out 13 hits and defeated visiting Frederick in a Single-A Carolina League game.

Friends did something yesterday that no team has been able to do for nearly two years -- beat St. Paul's.Alyssa Bergy finished off an early corner play for a 1-0 victory as the No. 10 Quakers dealt the No. 4 Gators their first loss in 21 games.The defending Association of Independent Schools A Division champs had not lost since Nov. 11, 1995, when they fell in the tournament title game to Garrison Forest, 1-0. Since then, the Gators had gone 15-0-5.In yesterday's A Division Homer League game, the Quakers (4-3-1 overall, 1-2 league)

Keith Shepherd, a right-hander for Triple-A Rochester who spent some time with the Orioles this season, has been suspended for four games for throwing behind Tony Rodriguez of Pawtucket June 1, immediately after giving up a homer to Jim Tatum.Shepherd, a former amateur boxer known as Kid Apache, also was fined $450. Throwing at hitters carries a minimum penalty of three games, but Shepherd got four games because he's a repeat offender.Red Wings 4, Chiefs 2: Rocky Coppinger (6-4) gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings, lifting host Rochester past Syracuse in an International League game.

An amazing thing happened to the unbeaten St. Mary's team during an 18-day layoff due to all the bad weather recently.The third-ranked Saints became a better shooting team and now they can take the entire package on the court with them every game in the Catholic League.Tenth-ranked Mercy was the first to face the hot-shooting St. Mary's squad yesterday after the layoff and got blitzed, 67-46, in a Catholic League game that was virtually over midway in the second quarter when the Saints built a 31-10 lead.

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman pitched to catcher Matt Wieters during the 2008 season at Double-A Bowie. He threw to him again this season at Triple-A Norfolk. And when Tillman debuted for the Orioles in July, Wieters, the franchise's most hyped phenom in two decades, had already been in the major leagues for two months. Yet, the quiet Wieters who Tillman knew so well in the minors dissipated with each big league game, replaced by a more confident, more vocal force behind the plate.

It had been about three years since outfielder Jeff Fiorentino last entered the home clubhouse at Camden Yards and prepared for a big league game. Reliever Dennis Sarfate's wait had been four months, but it seemed just as long. The pair, along with Triple-A Norfolk relievers Matt Albers and Alberto Castillo, were summoned to the major leagues Tuesday on the first day rosters were eligible to expand. "I was excited and relieved to get another opportunity up here," said Fiorentino, who batted .312 with 12 homers and 67 RBIs in 102 games for the Tides.

Outfielder Lou Montanez toiled in the minor leagues for nearly nine full seasons before finally getting his first big league shot. Pitcher Brian Bass has made 46 appearances, but before last night, he had never started a major league game. Reliever Jim Miller had never saved a major league game despite accumulating 80 saves in the minor leagues. As the Orioles play out the string of what, barring a miraculous final two-week turnaround, will be an 11th consecutive losing season, the games still carry great importance to several members of the club.

NEW YORK - Days ago, when Orioles closer George Sherrill contemplated what it would be like to be part of Major League Baseball's 79th All-Star Game, he figured he would be content with just being there, even if he never made it to the fabled Yankee Stadium mound. "I think the only thing I wouldn't want to do is pitch multiple innings," Sherrill said at the time. "But I don't think they'd ask me to do that." At 2 a.m. yesterday, with an ice pack strapped to his left arm and a smile cemented on his lips, Sherrill sat in the home clubhouse and offered up a delirious laugh when reminded of his earlier comment.

Although she has never played an inning in the Orioles' farm system, Vi Ripken knows a thing or two about the minor leagues as the wife of a player-manager and the mother of two boys who came up through the ranks. "Did I ever think minor league baseball would look like this? No, never," says Ripken, nursing a soft drink as she stands on the concourse behind home plate at the stadium named for her husband. "When Rip and I went to Salisbury for my first modern minor league game, I was amazed.

On a 95-degree day, Sue Sellner fumed from under an oversize green-and-lavender umbrella next to the third-base dugout. How was it possible that neither umpire called catcher's interference on the play moments earlier? "If everyone else saw it, why didn't you?" she yelled. When she started another round of complaining, her younger son started laughing and walked over. "Be quiet, Mom," Tony Tiani said. "We don't want him to get mad at us." This might sound like a scene from a Little League game, but Tiani is 26 years old. He and his brother Jason, 27, play on the Cubs in the over-25 adult baseball league run by the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks.

A scout's take On Chris Duncan, St. Louis Cardinals 25-year-old outfielder Hitting -- He's got good power and has shown in a very short time that he has a good feel for hitting. He has loft power, so he may not hit for too high an average. But in terms of on-base and slugging percentage, I think he'll be very productive. Attitude -- Tremendous. He's a terrific teammate. He has never wanted anything handed to him because of his dad's situation [his father, Dave, is the Cardinals pitching coach and a former Oriole and big league catcher]

The Indianapolis Colts took the Cincinnati Bengals' best shot yesterday and answered with an offensive clinic for the ages. Quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer performed like maestros, marching their respective teams up and down the field. They delivered big plays, perfect passes, gaudy touchdowns and lots of entertainment. In what had the feel of an Arena League game - all offense, all day - the Colts outlasted the Bengals, 45-37, in Cincinnati to become the ninth team since the NFL-AFL merger to go 10-0.

BOWIE - In Little Rock, Ark., Tuesday night, the Tulsa Drillers and Arkansas Travelers battled through 15 innings of a Texas League game that ended at 12:30 a.m. CDT. Bedtime was going to brief for those two teams' representatives for the Double-A All-Star Game the next evening at Prince George's Stadium. But nobody begged out. "It was a five-hour game and we had a 6 o'clock [a.m.] flight that stopped in Cincinnati," said Arkansas pitcher Bud Smith, who threw seven innings in the marathon and could not pitch in last night's game.

Geraldine Day will never forget the question her husband, Leon, asked several years ago after returning from a park dedication in East Orange, N.J. "He said to me, `Baby, I wonder will Baltimore ever name a park for me,'" she said yesterday. "I said, `Maybe, maybe they will.'" Yesterday, the grand opening was held for Leon Day Park in the Rosemont/Franklintown neighborhood in West Baltimore. Day, a former pitcher in the Negro League, died in Baltimore in March 1995, six days after learning he had been elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Day, who died at age 78, holds the record for the most strikeouts in a Negro League game (18)