Run

The four-run lead that Orioles right-hander Freddy Garcia took into the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday seemed safe enough, especially given the relative ease in which Garcia had held the Angels hitless through the game's first six frames. “We were on cruise control,” first baseman Steve Pearce said. “And then, boom.” The calm suddenly turned chaotic as the Orioles blew their lead and lost momentum until Pearce - who was 3-for-4 starting at first base in place of the injured Chris Davis - slapped a game-winning single with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Orioles a 5-4 win over the Angels in front of an announced crowd of 32,136 at Angel Stadium.

First things first: Grantland has a terrific look-back at Hunter S. Thompson's "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved. " I always start the Derby primer with a link to this story -- and by always, I mean I also did it last year -- and this adds even more context to how the story came about. A very popular question I receive from fellow Baltimoreans upon my return to our fair city by the bay is: How does the Derby compare to Preakness? The answer I ended up giving usually went something like this: The Preakness debauchery seems to be compressed into one day and in one spot, the infield, where once upon a time people ran across the portable toilets for sport.

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.

William Seiferth hit four two-run homers Wednesday to power visiting Glenelg Country School past Baltimore Lutheran, 13-4. The Dragons (15-2, 12-2 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference), who lost their first two games, haven't lost since March 22. Seiferth went 4-for-4 with four home runs, eight RBIs and an intentional walk. Jack Dougherty also hit a home run for Glenelg Country. The Quakers fell to 5-10 and 3-9. River Hill 5, No. 2 Oakland Mills 3: Shortly after No. 9 Atholton (11-2)

Todd Pletcher knew there were rumors. When you're one of the winningest trainers in the game who just happens to condition a fifth of the Kentucky Derby field, there are going to be rumors about your horses. He hadn't heard specifics, like the one about Verrazano, the 4-1 second choice on the morning line, not eating this week. But he refuted it Thursday during a measured session with reporters outside of his barn. "All my horses are fine," he said. "People saw them train.

Six military veterans from Maryland pleaded guilty to fraud charges this week in a scheme to obtain federal military benefits and state tax breaks with faked documentation claiming they were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. The veterans allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to David Clark, the former deputy chief of veterans claims in the state Department of Veterans Affairs Office, in exchange for $1.4 million in fraudulent benefits and tax breaks, prosecutors said.

When No. 10 Washington College and No. 2 Dickinson meet in Wednesday night's Centennial Conference tournament semifinal, it will be a rematch of the April 13 regular-season meeting in which the Shoremen suffered a 15-10 setback in Chestertown. If Washington (12-3) harbors any hope of pulling off the upset and tagging the Red Devils (15-0) with their first loss of the season, the Shoremen must avoid surrendering runs that plagued them in the first contest. Dickinson scored all five goals of the second quarter to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 7-3 advantage, embarked on a 4-0 spurt in a span of 1 minute, 46 seconds of the third period to take a 12-6 lead, and then scored three unanswered goals in 2:03 of the fourth quarter to assume a 15-9 advantage.

Winning last year's Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament was a breakthrough for Loyola. This spring, the program was just an overtime loss to Denver on April 13 away from completing an undefeated season in the league and earning the top seed in this week's conference tournament. The No. 5 Greyhounds (11-3) will face No. 8 Ohio State (10-3) in one semifinal Thursday night at Hobart in Geneva, N.Y. No. 3 Denver (11-3) and No. 19 Fairfield (8-6) will tangle in the other semifinal.

A Northeast Baltimore community leader said Wednesday he plans to step down from the city's Board of Elections to run for a state delegate seat. Cory McCray, 30, who lives in Overlea, said he plans to run for the 45th District legislative seat formerly held by Del. Hattie Harrison. In February, Nina R. Harper, 60, was sworn in to succeed Harrison, a Democrat who died Jan. 28 at 84 after nearly 40 years in office. Harper, the executive director of the Oliver Economic Development Corp., was chosen as Harrison's replacement by Baltimore's Democratic State Central Committee and was automatically appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley under the state Constitution.

UPDATE: O'Malley's spokeswoman, Raquel Guillory, said late Wednesday that the governor had a meeting with the mayor and discussed "the history of the case and the formation of the task force. " O'Malley thanked Rawlings-Blake for the city's participation on the Maryland Prison Task Force, which "made the case with state and federal partners," Guillory said. She added that the governor asked for the city's "continued  participation as we work to expand this beach-head and follow this case as far and high as it goes.