Sacrifice Bunt

Severna Park coach Jeff Shepherd had an idea early on how scarce runs would be at North County yesterday when he tried to move a runner from first to third on a sacrifice bunt.The aggressive play failed, and nothing else offensively worked, either, for the No. 3-ranked Falcons against senior pitcher Kellie Evans. Plus, the top-ranked Knights scratched across an unearned run in the fourth for a 1-0 win.All of Evans' pitches were working yesterday, especially a fastball with good location and an occasional slow change to keep Severna Park batters guessing.

The latest round of lineup shuffling by manager Ray Miller again had the deck stacked in the Orioles' favor yesterday.The tinkering began at the top, where he went with different leadoff and No. 2 hitters, and included some alterations in the lower portion of the batting order. He sat two of his marquee players, then watched his club complete a sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 6-3 victory before 40,967 at Camden Yards.The win was the Orioles' fifth straight after an Opening Day loss to Kansas City.

Highlights and lowlights from the Orioles' 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins yesterday in Fort Myers, Fla.Ups and downsUP: Jimmy Key. Five innings mark his longest outing since Sept. 16.UP: Jeff Reboulet. Lays down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning, leading to a run, raps a double in the fifth and singles in the seventh.EVEN: Jesus Tavarez. Whiffs on a fly ball to right field in the fifth inning, allowing Javier Valentin to reach second base, then leads off the sixth with a double to right and scores the go-ahead run.UP: Chris Hoiles.

CLEVELAND -- A year ago, it was a cocky Cleveland Indians team that entered the postseason, only to be embarrassed in getting eliminated by the Orioles. Last night, it was a more humbled Indians team that earned a shot at redemption.That Orioles-New York Yankees series that everyone had talked about? That matchup of the teams with the two best records in the American League was ruined by the Indians last night as Cleveland -- one night after a dramatic come-from-behind win in Game 4 -- defeated the Yankees, 4-3, to advance to the American League Championship Series.

SEATTLE -- The Orioles began their postseason experience last night with a test of memory. They passed without a mistake.Not only did the Orioles remember how to frustrate Seattle Mariners starter Randy Johnson, but they also revived the kind of feisty attack that allowed them to blow away the rest of their division in April and May.The result was something powerful: a 9-3 win over the Mariners in Game 1 of a Division Series that supposedly had found the...

On the field: Plate umpire Joe Brinkman has absorbed his share of foul shots this year, which could be why he positioned himself several feet behind the catchers to call balls and strikes. Brinkman was so far back that when he knelt down, his back foot was nearly at the edge of the circle around the batter's box.In the dugout: With Cal Ripken on first base, nobody out and the Orioles two runs down in the eighth inning, Jeffrey Hammonds bunted the ball back to Billy Taylor; Ripken advanced, and Hammonds was credited with a sacrifice bunt in what really wasn't a sacrifice situation.

As Franklin pitcher Kara Wingate's wild pitch skipped past catcher Jessie McGraw in the top of the first, Fallston's Lauren Heisey immediately broke from third base and raced toward the plate.McGraw quickly retrieved the ball and flipped it to Wingate, who blocked the plate and tagged out the sliding Heisey just in time.The play ended the inning and prevented Fallston from taking the lead. It also was the last time the Cougars would come close to scoring.Wingate allowed just one other runner past first and went on to pitch a two-hitter, as the No. 15 Indians edged visiting Fallston, 1-0, in a Class 3A North region semifinal.

Braves: Atlanta has scored just 18 runs in its 11 losses this season, as opposed to 84 runs in its 12 wins. . . . Fred McGriff, who struck out in the second for the Braves, has whiffed 22 times in 89 at-bats this season. . . . The Braves are 0-4 on Thursdays this season.Cardinals: Bernard Gilkey has 14 RBIs in his last 14 games and is 8-for-19 against the Cardinals, his former team, with three home runs and 11 RBIs.Dodgers: The team that owned the most dominant left-hander in baseball 30 years ago and has been managed for the last 20 years by a former lefty pitcher hasn't had a left-hander start for them in more than three years.

At the beginning of the season, Glenelg softball coach Chuck Struhar said his young team was a year away from being competitive.Atholton coach Dave Vitagliano didn't believe that then and he sure didn't believe it yesterday when unranked Glenelg, behind a three-hit performance from sophomore pitcher Marni Brown, rolled over the No. 4-ranked Raiders, 9-1."When I read that in the paper, I thought, 'Yeah, right. He's not going to be competitive,'" said Vitagliano. "They did a great job. Clearly, he doesn't have the big hitters he had last year, but for us, the big hitters didn't hit the ball.

NEW YORK -- The Yankees are hot and the Orioles are not, which is all you really need to know about the game here yesterday.Earlier in the week it was starting pitching that betrayed thOrioles, but in the past two days the offense has been on a leave of absence, producing a total of three runs.TC A two-run homer by Mike Devereaux provided a 2-0 lead in thfifth inning yesterday, but that was the extent of the Orioles' production. The Yankees got a two-run single from Don Mattingly in the fifth and run-scoring hits from Pat Kelly and Mike Gallego in the sixth for a 4-2 win that kept them in a first-place tie with the Toronto Blue Jays.