Rain Delay

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Wednesday's 43-minute rain delay was too long to allow starter Jake Arrieta to continue his outing when the game resumed in the sixth inning. Instead, he went to right-hander Tommy Hunter, who struck out the first two batters he faced, then gave up back-to-back solo homers to Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. “It would have been around 50 minutes before he threw his first pitch,” Showalter said of Arrieta. “I think that was a little too much, especially with the weather and the time of the year.

A 48-minute rain delay on Tuesday night might have cost the Orioles their late-inning lead, but it did nothing to their grit. Soon after the storms over Camden Yards faded, so did a two-run seventh-inning cushion. But that only set the stage for more late-inning heroics. Catcher Matt Wieters drove in three runs, including an eighth-inning RBI double that proved to be the difference in a 4-3 win over the upstart Kansas City Royals, rewarding those among the announced 12,921 who remained until the final out. “This team grinds it out,” said winning pitcher Tommy Hunter, who threw 1 1/3 perfect relief innings in a tied game.

Dark clouds and a bit of rain was not enough to stop fans from packing the stands for the fourth and final day of the Pantech Beach Championships in Ocean City, but it was enough to delay the skate bowl final twice due to the rain-slicked surface of the bowl. The skate bowl final was delayed the first time after the first heat. Bucky Lasek took command in the first heat by throwing huge 540s and Mctwists to the delight of the packed stands. Zero Skateboards rider Ben Hatchell of Manassas, Va., was nipping at Lasek's heels using a more technical array of grind tricks.

Wei-Yin Chen probably would have completed seven innings on Tuesday night if it hadn't been for a 48-minute rain delay that ended his night with one out (and one on) in the seventh. He pitched well enough to get a win - nine  hits, no walks two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings - but Alex Gordon's two-run homer against Brian Matusz tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh. Perhaps more important than the personal 'W' is that Chen (3.40 ERA) bounced back from a rough outing on Wednesday in Seattle in which he gave up five earned runs in four innings.

It wasn't exactly how Matt Wieters envisioned the first game-ending home run of his big league career. With barely 100 people in the stands after a long late-game rain delay, Wieters launched the first pitch he saw from Russ Springer into the left-field seats. His two-run, ninth-inning homer pushed the Orioles to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays before what remained of an announced 10,548 at wet Camden Yards. When the game finally ended, there were seemingly as many Orioles at home plate to greet and pound on Wieters as there were fans in the crowd.

After 15 years of waiting for playoff baseball at Camden Yards, Orioles fans had to endure an extra 21/2 hours as chilly rain pushed back the start of Sunday's division series opener against the hated New York Yankees. A mighty roar shook the stadium when the grounds crew peeled away the protective tarp at 8 p.m., conveying just how badly Baltimore fans wanted their October moment. The crowd didn't grow quiet until the Yankees scored five runs in the ninth inning on their way to a 7-2 victory.

PHILADELPHIA -- Normally, it's no big deal when a baseball game begins at 1:30.Unless, of course, it's 1:30 a.m.Until real early yesterday morning, you see, no major-league team in anyone's memory had started a baseball game at that late (early) hour.But then along came those history-making 1993 Phillies.According to the Elias Sports Bureau, when the Phillies and Padres started the second game of their long night's doubleheader journey into dawn at 1:28 a.m. yesterday, they almost certainly set a record for the latest a major-league game had started.

It's a fact The Pirates did not have a rain delay last Sunday for the first time in their five Sunday home dates. Milestone Rafael Palmeiro of the Rangers became the 39th major-leaguer with 1,500 RBIs. The number 1,002: Games the Yankees have won all time against the White Sox.

Rays@Orioles 7 P.M. [MASN] Final game of the opening series of the season with veteran Steve Trachsel scheduled to pitch for the O's in his second go-around here. The good thing about watching a game pitched by Trachsel (known as the Human Rain Delay) is that you have plenty of time between pitches to grab a snack. Or do your laundry. Or catch up on your reading -- even if what you're reading is War and Peace.

Wei-Yin Chen probably would have completed seven innings on Tuesday night if it hadn't been for a 48-minute rain delay that ended his night with one out (and one on) in the seventh. He pitched well enough to get a win - nine  hits, no walks two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings - but Alex Gordon's two-run homer against Brian Matusz tied the game at 3-3 in the seventh. Perhaps more important than the personal 'W' is that Chen (3.40 ERA) bounced back from a rough outing on Wednesday in Seattle in which he gave up five earned runs in four innings.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Wednesday's 43-minute rain delay was too long to allow starter Jake Arrieta to continue his outing when the game resumed in the sixth inning. Instead, he went to right-hander Tommy Hunter, who struck out the first two batters he faced, then gave up back-to-back solo homers to Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. “It would have been around 50 minutes before he threw his first pitch,” Showalter said of Arrieta. “I think that was a little too much, especially with the weather and the time of the year.

BOSTON - Crazy things happen when the Orioles come to Boston. This wasn't a 17-inning game. No position players had to pitch. But the comeback the Orioles staged Wednesday night was one they needed to salvage this three-game series at Fenway Park. Trailing by two runs, the Orioles rallied for a five-run ninth inning against Boston closer Joel Hanrahan, capped by Manny Machado's three-run homer over the Green Monster in left field that gave them a dramatic 8-5 win. “It was a huge win for us,” Machado said.

For the second consecutive night, Orioles fans streamed into Camden Yards wearing their orange, twirling their “BUCKle Up” towels and surviving a first-pitch rain delay in hopes their Orioles could beat the bullies of the American League East. It wasn't easy; they had to overcome fielding and baserunning errors, a solid performance by Oriole-killer Andy Pettitte and a wild play at the plate in the first inning. But, if nothing else, these surprising Orioles have shown resilience all season.

After 15 years of waiting for playoff baseball at Camden Yards, Orioles fans had to endure an extra 21/2 hours as chilly rain pushed back the start of Sunday's division series opener against the hated New York Yankees. A mighty roar shook the stadium when the grounds crew peeled away the protective tarp at 8 p.m., conveying just how badly Baltimore fans wanted their October moment. The crowd didn't grow quiet until the Yankees scored five runs in the ninth inning on their way to a 7-2 victory.

From the Sun's archives: This time last year remnants of Tropical Storm Lee were playing havoc with the Orioles and Yankees. Both teams were getting water logged. The Orioles had started a three-game series at Yankee stadium on a steamy Sept. 5, losing 11-10. On Sept. 6, Yankees won 5-3 after a 4-hour rain delay. Sept. 7, the Orioles triumphed 5-4 after playing 11 innings on a soggy day in the Bronx. They returned to Camden Yards on Sept. 8 to play the Yankees in a make-up game from Aug. 27 that was canceled by Hurricane Irene.

Dark clouds and a bit of rain was not enough to stop fans from packing the stands for the fourth and final day of the Pantech Beach Championships in Ocean City, but it was enough to delay the skate bowl final twice due to the rain-slicked surface of the bowl. The skate bowl final was delayed the first time after the first heat. Bucky Lasek took command in the first heat by throwing huge 540s and Mctwists to the delight of the packed stands. Zero Skateboards rider Ben Hatchell of Manassas, Va., was nipping at Lasek's heels using a more technical array of grind tricks.

BOSTON - Crazy things happen when the Orioles come to Boston. This wasn't a 17-inning game. No position players had to pitch. But the comeback the Orioles staged Wednesday night was one they needed to salvage this three-game series at Fenway Park. Trailing by two runs, the Orioles rallied for a five-run ninth inning against Boston closer Joel Hanrahan, capped by Manny Machado's three-run homer over the Green Monster in left field that gave them a dramatic 8-5 win. “It was a huge win for us,” Machado said.

Slow greens and a half-hour rain delay hindered the participants in yesterday's final round of the Maryland Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Mount Pleasant Golf Course, but Buddy Peoples was able to shoot a 4-under-par 67 to win the title and set a tournament record .Peoples (Crofton Country Club), who won the title in 1992, finished with a three-day total of 210 -- the first below-par combined score in the history of the tournament.What is shocking is that he accomplished that score under some tough conditions.

Joie Chitwood is a weather guy this time of year, constantly checking for updates online. Will it rain? Will there be lightning? Will bad weather steal the thunder from his nighttime spectacle Saturday night? "Those are the elements that you have to deal with," Chitwood, president of Daytona International Speedway, said Tuesday. "You can come up with every plan you want to, but the weather is the wild card. It's very frustrating. As I start looking at weather updates 10 days out, all it does is create more concern, but hopefully we'll get lucky.

There were myriad plays or even bounces that could have gone just a bit differently in the Orioles' 6-3 loss Sunday, resulting in a satisfying victory over the New York Yankees to take into a day off that will instead be filled with lament. What if Brian Roberts' game-tying double off Mariano Rivera with two outs in the ninth inning had bounced around in the right corner, allowing Robert Andino to score the winning run rather than be tagged out at home plate on a play almost too close to call?