Mariners

Seattle -- Orioles interim manager Dave Trembley's plan in the eighth inning last night was for Danys Baez, who had already pitched 1 1/3 innings, to get one more out and then hand the ball over to left-handed specialist Jamie Walker to face Ichiro Suzuki with nobody on base. But that backfired when Yuniesky Betancourt smacked Baez's first pitch to the wall in left field for a leadoff double, leaving the Orioles' bullpen with a mess that it couldn't clean up. They were one pitch away before Chad Bradford issued a bases-loaded, two-out walk to Adrian Beltre to score the winning run in the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners before an announced 28,550 at Safeco Field.

Tomorrow, Mariners 7:05 p.m., MASN Wednesday, Mariners 7:05 p.m., MASN Thursday, Mariners 7:05 p.m., MASN Friday, Red Sox 7:05 p.m., MASN Saturday, Red Sox 3:55 p.m., chs. 45, 5 [Radio: All games on 105.7 FM]

Moves BASEBALL ASTROS -- Named Glen Barker director of Pacific Rim scouting. INDIANS -- Exercised 2008 contract options on P Joe Borowski, P Paul Byrd and P Aaron Fultz. MARINERS -- Named former Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo third base coach. ORIOLES -- Named Dave Jauss bench coach. RED SOX -- Agreed to one-year contract with former Orioles P Curt Schilling. BASKETBALL SPURS -- Named director of pro player personnel Dell Demps GM of Austin (NBDL). COLLEGES UMES -- Announced appointment of Michael "Mick" Bigwood as baseball pitching coach.

Today, Mariners 7:05 p.m., MASN Tomorrow, Mariners 7:05 p.m., MASN Friday, Red Sox 7:05 p.m., MASN Saturday, Red Sox 3:55 p.m., chs. 45, 5 Sunday, Red Sox 1:35 p.m., MASN [Radio: All games on 105.7 FM]

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling called on Roger Clemens to give up the four Cy Young Awards he has won since 1997 if he can't clear his name after allegations that he used steroids to prolong and enhance his career. "Just like I stated about Jose [Canseco], if that is the case with Roger, the four Cy Youngs should go to the rightful winners, and the numbers should go away if he cannot refute the accusations," Schilling wrote yesterday in his blog, 38pitches.com. Clemens was the biggest name in the Mitchell Report released last week.

Moves Baseball CARDINALS -- Placed OF Preston Wilson on 15-day DL with inflammation in right knee. Purchased contract of OF Ryan Ludwick and P Brian Falkenborg from Triple-A Memphis. Optioned P Dennis Dove to Memphis. CUBS -- Recalled P Angel Guzman from Triple-A Iowa. Optioned IF Ronny Cedeno to Iowa. DODGERS -- Placed IF-OF Marlon Anderson on 15-day DL, retroactive to Saturday, with sore right elbow. Recalled IF Andy LaRoche for Triple-A Las Vegas. MARINERS -- Suspended P Julio Mateo for 10 games without pay for missing Saturday's game without permission.

Thursday, White Sox 7:05 p.m., MASN Friday, White Sox 7:05 p.m., Ch. 13/MASN Saturday, White Sox 7:05 p.m., MASN Sunday, White Sox 1:35 p.m., Ch. 13/MASN2 Next Monday, @Mariners 10:05 p.m., MASN2 [Radio: All games on 105.7 FM]

Offensive Player Dan Griffin North Harford In his third year as starting quarterback, the 6-foot, 180-pound senior smoothly ran the team's triple-option offense and proved to be effective in several ways. Griffin ran for 840 yards on 132 carries and scored 23 touchdowns to help North Harford (10-2) win its first state playoff game in school history. Griffin made himself more versatile by completing 70 of 119 passes for 1,121 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with 1,961 yards of total offense.

Second chance Miguel Tejada hit his 250th career home run, and 10th career grand slam, in the third inning to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead. But he shouldn't have been batting. The previous hitter, Nick Markakis, appeared to strike out - for the third out - but third base umpire Tony Randazzo ruled that Markakis checked his swing. Markakis then walked to bring up Tejada. Seattle Mariners starter Horacio Ramirez and manager John McLaren were furious. Costly mistake Tejada was involved in another critical moment in the sixth.

When the Orioles signed Jamie Walker to a three-year, $12 million deal this offseason, there were eyebrows raised around baseball. To some, it seemed a high price tag for a pitcher primarily known as a left-handed specialist. But in his first season as an Oriole, Walker has been so much more. He has gotten key outs against both left-handed and right-handed hitters and converted all four of his save opportunities when Chris Ray went to the disabled list. Last night, the Orioles needed him to get out a key left-hander in the seventh inning, Walker's specialty.

Joppatowne averaged nearly 33 points on offense while winning its first six games, but special teams and defense saved the Mariners on Monday night against North Harford. Epe Henriques and Joel Scott returned kickoffs for touchdowns, Dominic Harper intercepted two passes and made a key tackle, and No. 6 Joppatowne hung on for a 12-7 victory over visiting North Harford in an Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference game. Joppatowne has scored 208 points this year while allowing just 24. But the defense was tested in the second half as the Mariners couldn't make a first down and ran just 11 plays, none in the third quarter, mainly because of the kickoff returns.

NEARLY PERFECT Only Nick Markakis' fourth-inning single to left field prevented Mariners veteran left-hander Jarrod Washburn from throwing a perfect game. Washburn retired the first 11 Orioles and the final 16 in the first one-hit shutout of his lengthy career. It was also the first one-hitter thrown by a Mariner in the 10-year history of Safeco Field. OUTDONE Orioles rookie Brad Bergesen didn't pitch poorly in suffering his first loss since May 19, but he did make two costly mistakes, allowing a solo homer to Russell Branyan in the first and a two-run double to Chris Woodward in the sixth.

Seattle went an impressive 5-4 on its just-completed road trip, on which it played three of baseball's best teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The Orioles and Mariners played six games in June with Seattle winning four. However, the Mariners will have a different look as starting infielders Adrian Beltre and Yuniesky Betancourt are on the disabled list and outfielder Endy Chavez is out for the season with a knee injury. Erik Bedard, the Orioles' former ace, will make his return to the Mariners' rotation Tuesday after not having pitched since June 7 because of left shoulder inflammation.

They had seen this from Seattle Mariners starter Garrett Olson many times before. They have watched him struggle to throw strikes, allow a litany of hard-hit balls and ultimately depart a game before it reached the middle innings. It was all setting up perfectly for the Orioles to have the breakout offensive performance that manager Dave Trembley has been predicting for days. And yet it never came, and it's fair to wonder when it will for a lineup that just can't get going. In the Mariners' 6-3 victory before an announced 12,260 at Camden Yards, Olson allowed six of the first nine Orioles he faced to reach base and needed 50 pitches to get through two innings.

LOPEZ LAUNCHES A PAIR Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie has been very vulnerable to the home run ball this season, coming into Wednesday's game having given up 14 in his first 67 1/3 innings of work. Obviously, Mariners second baseman Jose Lopez got the memo, as he hammered a pair of homers to account for much of the Seattle attack. ROBERTS BUSTING OUT? Brian Roberts came back from the recent West Coast trip in a 2-for-26 slump, but seems to be breaking out of it at home. He doubled to lead off the series opener and break a string of 39 at-bats without an extra-base hit and doubled again to open Wednesday night's game.

The Mariners have won seven of their past 10 games, including taking two of three from the Orioles last week at Safeco Field. They've played 27 one-run games this season and are 15-12 in those contests. In the two games since losing his 27-game hitting streak, Ichiro Suzuki is 5-for-9. Since being slotted into the No. 2 spot in the batting order, first baseman Russell Branyan is 6-for-17 with two home runs. Three Mariners - Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn and Felix Hernandez - rank in the top 10 in the American League in ERA. Left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith, who has been on the disabled list with triceps tendinitis, was supposed to make his season debut Thursday, but it appears plans have changed after he allowed 12 runs and 14 hits in 4 2/3 innings in a rehab start Friday.

The Mariners aren't exactly balanced right now. They are among the league leaders in ERA, opponents' batting average against and fewest runs allowed. But they are near the bottom in most offensive categories and have made more errors than any other AL team, an astounding 41 in their first 50 games. They can pitch, though, and they'll be throwing three straight lefties at the Orioles - and that isn't a good thing. The Orioles hit about 17 points worse against lefties than righties. The most intriguing matchup will be Tuesday night, when former Orioles ace Erik Bedard faces his old team for the first time since he was traded in February 2008.

CUMBERLAND - Joppatowne has been on a roller-coaster ride in 2008. Last night, the season for the No. 9 Mariners came to a screeching halt. Host Fort Hill took advantage of five second-half Joppatowne turnovers (three fumbles, two interceptions) to break open a scoreless game and defeat the Mariners, 28-0, in the Class 1A state semifinals. The Sentinels got a great game from running back Marcus Lashley, who rushed for 200 yards on 33 carries. The Sentinels (11-1) advance to next Saturday's Class 1A state championship at M&T Bank Stadium, where they will face the winner of today's Dunbar-Catoctin semifinal.

SEATTLE - Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera could have done several things yesterday to avoid the Seattle Mariners' decisive seventh inning. He could have thrown a full-count strike to Bryan LaHair and not issued a leadoff walk, a critical lapse in a tie game. He could have fielded Jeff Clement's ground ball that bounced right past him and ended up as an infield single. All he needed to do was throw a ball near the plate to Yuniesky Betancourt, who was more than willing to give the Orioles an out with a sacrifice bunt.

SEATTLE - When Erik Bedard walked up to the top step of the Seattle Mariners' dugout during the ninth inning of the Orioles' 10-5 victory Friday, several of his former teammates yelled at him from across the field. Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera asked Bedard what was wrong, and the Mariners pitcher immediately pointed to his left shoulder. Injuries have limited Bedard, whom the Orioles traded to the Mariners in February for reliever George Sherrill, outfielder Adam Jones and three prospects, to 15 starts.