Road Games

The 1st Mariner Arena isn't Wrigley Field, but it certainly has been the friendly confines for the Blast this season. When the team plays at home tonight for the first time in nearly a month, it will be seeking to protect an unblemished (4-0) record here that has served as a counterpoint to the opposite results on the road. The disparity has the Blast (4-5) floating in the middle of the Major Indoor Soccer League standings, so protecting its turf is essential until there is a turnaround in games elsewhere.

In a year when anything goes, the best division race to watch is in the AFC East, where even the last-place New York Jets suddenly have designs on a postseason berth.After a 17-7 Week 11 win over the Buffalo Bills, Jets coach Bill Parcells didn't rule out a playoff run by his team. Don't count on it, though. The Jets have the hardest path to the postseason of any team in the division. They must play four of their last six on the road, and their remaining opponents have a combined record of 42-18 (.700)

Blast coach Kevin Healey is paying about as much attention to Cleveland's 2-4 record as he is his team's own 5-2 record. Hardly any.Healey said the defending National Professional Soccer League champion Crunch has not played close to its capabilities this season, and he is not caught up in the Blast's second-best record in the league.In the preseason, Healey said his team could be measured by how it does against Cleveland and Milwaukee. The Blast is 1-0 against Milwaukee and will face Cleveland for the first time this season tonight.

NEW YORK -- In a season with no end in sight, the Orioles at least reached a fitting conclusion to their disastrous first half yesterday at Yankee Stadium.Flogged again after a standout performance, starting pitcher Scott Erickson compared the weekend to the movie "The Truman Show." Looking drawn by the experience, manager Ray Miller likened it to nothing he has ever seen before. Competing against history, the Yankees danced away with a 1-0 win behind David Cone (12-2), who helped feed the Orioles their first shutout in 130 games against an American League team.

Yankees: Chad Curtis, making his 23rd start in center field for New York in place of the injured Bernie Williams, batted cleanup for the first time because he began the night with a .406 career average against Wilson Alvarez. He went 0-for-3 against the Devil Rays starter.Devil Rays: The inside-the-park homer by Dave Martinez was the first against the Yankees since Aug. 8, 1996, when Minnesota's Roberto Kelly hit one off Dwight Gooden at the Metrodome.Twins: Otis Nixon has 575 career steals and needs five to tie Ozzie Smith for 19th place on the career list.

By now, the outrage -- if not the indignation -- has worn off for the Green Bay Packers. The 1997 schedule says they must play the first three weeks of December on the road, and they will. Reluctantly, perhaps, but they will.It's no secret they'd prefer to play at cold-as-a-meat-locker Lambeau Field, where they have an imposing home-field advantage and a stifling, 25-game winning streak.But when the schedule came out last spring, the NFL ensured the defending champions would take their act on the road once the stretch run arrived.

Middle linebacker Ray Lewis provided an unusual sight at yesterday's practice. One day after spraining his left ankle, Lewis missed his first workout of the regular season.Although rookie Tyrus McCloud replaced him yesterday, the veteran left no doubt about his availability for tomorrow's game against the Washington Redskins."It will be all right," said Lewis, who leads the team with 89 tackles. "The only thing that would hold me back is if this thing was broken. Even then, I'd just put a cast on it and get out there."

Based on the schedule released yesterday by the NFL, it will be imperative for the Ravens to have a strong beginning as well as finish in the 1997 season.Three of the Ravens' first four games are against AFC Central rivals and the team closes the campaign with the Houston Oilers and Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens first two games are at Memorial Stadium against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Bengals."With three of the first four games coming in the division, we have to be sharp early," Ravens coach Ted Marchibroda said.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The last time the Ravens' franchise won a game on the road, the team was in Cleveland, Eric Zeier was the starting quarterback and owner Art Modell had yet to announce his plans to move to Baltimore.The date was Oct. 29, 1995, and the Cleveland Browns defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 29-26, in overtime, with Zeier having replaced a benched Vinny Testaverde. One week later, Modell announced the club was moving to Baltimore.The franchise is 0-12 in road games since then, and the Ravens (1-1)

Opponent: Carolina MonarchsSite: Greensboro (N.C.) ColiseumTime: 7:30Radio: WITH (1230 AM), WAMD (970 AM)Outlook: After taking weeks to overtake the Monarchs for third place in the Southern Division, the Bandits now have to hold them off through a pair of road games before the AHL All-Star Game break next week. That's OK because away games don't scare Baltimore anymore. The team has won eight of its past nine on the road while going just 2-5-1 at home. Carolina, which holds a 4-1-1 series lead over the Bandits, is 4-4-2 over its past 10 games.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -Melvin Mora was on the Orioles' 2004 team that, before last night, had recorded the longest stretch of defeats during the organization's 12 consecutive years of losing. That stretch, he thought, was rock bottom. But in likely his last week as an Oriole, Mora is experiencing something even more demoralizing. The veteran third baseman had two hits and was robbed of a third by a leaping Evan Longoria, but he struck out to end the Orioles' 13th consecutive loss, a 5-3 defeat by the Tampa Bay Rays before an announced 10,554 Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

HOUSTON - Their reputation hasn't exactly been a secret. The Ravens are a team known NFL-wide for enjoying a celebration or two. In fact, some days you would think they had Kool & the Gang piped right into their helmets. Which is why the mood in the locker room after yesterday's 41-13 win over the Houston Texans was both refreshing and promising. There was no gloating, no chest-thumping, no back-slapping. No one pulled a karaoke machine from his locker and started bellowing, "We are the Champions."

A day after a questionable penalty factored in their 13-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the Ravens can look ahead to their next challenge, which also comes compliments of the NFL. The Ravens (2-2) are about to begin the toughest road stretch in the team's 13-year history when they travel for five of their next six games. This daunting test is the result of the league's moving the Ravens' Week 2 game at Houston to their Nov. 9 bye because of Hurricane Ike. While coach John Harbaugh knows what lies ahead, he doesn't plan to address the situation with his players.

Long slate of road games doesn't bother Harbaugh Ravens coach John Harbaugh said his team is ready to tackle one of the NFL's toughest roads ahead. Because of the rescheduling caused by Hurricane Ike, the Ravens' Week 10 bye was taken away and they will have to play five road games in a span of 35 days. "To be honest, we're looking forward to it," Harbaugh said. "It's going to be an opportunity, and it's going to be a challenge. That'll be something we take on with relish and attack it with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind."

The postponement forced by Hurricane Ike has turned the Ravens' schedule into perhaps the most demanding in the NFL. There are 15 straight games without a break. There are five road games in six weeks. And there are three road games in a row against teams that were a combined 16-8 at home last season. But there were few complaints by the Ravens when likening their challenges to those faced by the citizens of Houston. "The schedule is unfortunate, but we understand," Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said.

The 1st Mariner Arena isn't Wrigley Field, but it certainly has been the friendly confines for the Blast this season. When the team plays at home tonight for the first time in nearly a month, it will be seeking to protect an unblemished (4-0) record here that has served as a counterpoint to the opposite results on the road. The disparity has the Blast (4-5) floating in the middle of the Major Indoor Soccer League standings, so protecting its turf is essential until there is a turnaround in games elsewhere.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Maryland men's soccer team won't have to leave its home state for a long time - and after another poor start on the road last night, it's probably a good thing for the Terrapins. For the fourth straight road game the No. 2 Terps let their opponent score first - this time No. 6 Virginia went up early. After their first-half goal, the Cavaliers scored twice more and beat the Terps, 3-0, before 3,618 at Klock- ner Stadium. "We've played five games on the road in front of an average of 4,500 people," Terps coach Sasho Cirovski said.

The road is long, the surroundings are unfamiliar and the people can be a tad unfriendly. For the Washington Redskins, the path through the postseason - and perhaps a shot at the NFC championship and an appearance in the Super Bowl - has bypassed FedEx Field in Landover. After beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida a week ago, Washington (10-6) traveled more than 2,300 miles to meet the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks (13-3) at Qwest Field at 4:30 p.m. today. Because they are the conference's lowest seed, a win today would send them to either Chicago or Carolina to take aim at their first NFC title since the 1991 season.

BATTING LINE OF THE DAY Paul Konerko, White Sox 1B AB R H RBI HR 5 2 3 4 1 PITCHING LINE OF THE DAY C.C. Sabathia, Indians IP H R BB SO 4 2/3 9 9 0 5 WHO'S HOT The Red Sox have scored six or more runs in nine of their past 10 games. WHO'S NOT The Devil Rays are 2-1 at Yankee Stadium this year and 4-27 in all other road games.

Over the past four days, Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams has criticized the Terrapins' intensity level and admitted that his team hasn't progressed from last season as much as he had hoped. He has benched the team's leading scorer and pondered whether the Terps are capable of playing the up-tempo style that he advocates. And after Maryland was outscored 190-141 in two Atlantic Coast Conference road games against No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 Wake Forest, ample evidence that the Terps have a ways to go this season before they are considered among the ACC's elite, Williams also made it clear that his team's shooting and defense need to get better -- and preferably fast.