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The formerly city-owned Barclay Recreation Center will make its debut as a privately run community center May 18, serving the Charles Village area, including the Abell, Oakenshawe, Harwood and Old Goucher communities. A grand opening celebration, possibly with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in attendance, is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, 2900 Barclay St., in the Charles Village area. The Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks last year turned over the underutilized, 7,300-square-foot facility to the city public school next door, Barclay Elementary/Middle, to operate as a social and education center in a public-private partnership with the nonprofit Greater Homewood Community Corp.

MINNEAPOLIS - Dating back to last season, the Orioles often have struggled offensively when they can't hit the longball. On Friday, in a 9-6, 10-inning victory over the Minnesota Twins, they flourished despite not going quite deep enough. That's what happens when you get a season-high 18 hits and seven of your nine batters have at least two hits apiece, the first time the Orioles have done that since exactly two years ago -- May 10, 2011 against Seattle. Instead of homering on Friday, the Orioles smacked a season-high seven doubles, including four in a three-run sixth and two more in a three-run seventh to wipe out a 6-0 deficit.

As he stood in front of hundreds of kids last year at his football clinic at Calvert Hall, Ray Rice made a promise to those in the crowd. “When I make promises, I like to keep them,” the Ravens running back said today. “I made a special promise. We said that we were going to bring a Super Bowl back to Baltimore.” The comment was met with loud cheers by those who attended the second annual Ray Rice Day in Baltimore. “Being involved in the community is just something that, winning the Super Bowl or not, I know I'd be out here doing Ray Rice Day again and I'd be telling the kids the same message every day,” Rice said.

As Orb charged to the wire at Churchill Downs last weekend, he established his clear superiority to the other 18 thoroughbreds on horse racing's biggest stage, the Kentucky Derby. But compared to Derby champions of the past, Orb's time is less impressive - his 2:02.89 run doesn't rank among the top 10 in the race's history. It is slower than the times of many winners from the 1950s and 1960s, and well behind Secretariat's 1973 record. Blame the muddy track? Fair enough, but none of the past decade's Derby winners recorded a top 10 time either.

Kate Joyce detests running. She has since she was in high school. But the prospect of trotting through vibrant clouds of yellow, blue, orange and pink has prompted her to make an exception this weekend. Joyce will be among 25,000 people participating in Saturday's inaugural Baltimore Color Run, a 5K race - in the loosest possible sense of the noun - that's non-competitive and all about having a blast as runners are smothered in colored cornstarch. Many won't break into anything more than a brisk saunter over the entire course, surrounding Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium.

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.

While Johns Hopkins' streak of 41 straight appearances in the NCAA tournament came to an end Sunday night, Salisbury maintained its Division III-leading streak of 25 consecutive showings in the postseason. The team will play host to Susquehanna (12-6) this Wednesday at Sea Gull Stadium in Salisbury. Unlike Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala who downplayed the end of his program's streak, Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman said his team's streak is meaningful to the players and coaches. “It was definitely something that we've been very proud of here to have that long of a streak and to play at such a high for a long period of time,” said Berkman, who has guided Salisbury to 10 national championships including the last two. “I don't know how else to explain other than to say that we always take pride in playing what we call the real season now. To have that opportunity again for the 25th year is special.” But the Sea Gulls (14-5)

The devil may have taken Skylar Marion away, his father says, but God had to figure out how to spread him around. Skylar, a 15-year-old Chesapeake High School freshman who loved to tinker with bicycles and spend time outdoors, was killed in a hit-and-run just a quarter-mile from his home in Pasadena in April. The driver of the vehicle that hit him has yet to be found. But in a turn of events that surprised two families in the tight-knit Pasadena community, part of Skylar will continue to live on. His heart, transplanted into the body of an ailing friend, will bind two families together for the rest of their lives.

Pimlico Race Course Too Clever by Half wins fifth consecutive race Too Clever by Half won for the fifth consecutive time, taking the $52,000 feature at Pimlico Race Course . The 5-year-old mare was one of three turf winners on the card for jockey Sheldon Russell . Too Clever by Half dueled with Nistletoe for the lead in the five-furlong test on the grass and then opened up a clear lead in midstretch and dug under strong handling to...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Mine That Bird spent the week tucked away in the Kentucky Derby Museum, not far from the track at Churchill Downs and the throngs wondering who will win the 139th run for the roses. The 2009 Derby winner seems to enjoy when fans stop in for a visit. A gelding who retired from racing in 2010, he appears at ease. And even as rail birds and once-a-year track goers alike fall for impressive looking favorites, Mine That Bird reminds them that their hunch is actually a guess.