Strike Zone

CLEVELAND -- Another game, another loss and another lesson passed last night in the development of Sidney Ponson. Too confident or too inexperienced, the Orioles' prodigy was administered a strong lesson by the Cleveland Indians in what ended as an 11-6 beating but should have been something better.Ponson threw 75 pitches -- 53 for strikes and two for home runs. When faced with 0-2 counts, the ultimate pitcher's count, Ponson buckled.Ponson surrendered home runs to first baseman Richie Sexson and designated hitter David Justice as the Indians recovered from an early 2-0 deficit for a six-run fourth inning.

CLEVELAND -- While Orioles starting pitching has improved significantly the last 10 days, it showed again last night that problems remain. Sidney Ponson had no problem throwing strikes. But against the game's most prolific offensive club, his strength became a weakness in the Cleveland Indians' 11-6 win before 40,587 at Jacobs Field.Ponson surrendered home runs to Richie Sexson and David Justice, both of whom had homered the night before, as the Indians recovered from an early 2-0 deficit for a six-run fourth inning.

Quote: "I've been around long enough to know that you don't throw an inside fastball in that situation. I kind of left it out over the plate."-- Reds starter Steve Avery on Stan Javier's homer in the eighth that started the Giants' rally.It's a fact: The Mets' Rickey Henderson, who hit two homers yesterday, has 2,019 runs scored in his career, sixth best all-time.Who's hot: The Giants scored 26 runs on 33 hits with five homers in the three-game series with the Reds.Who's not: The Pirates' Pete Schourek, who had a 9.23 spring ERA,lost the strike zone after retiring the first eight Expos and quickly gave up two runs on four straight hits.

It's not baseball, it's bashball. It's painful to watch. And it's bad for the game.Major-league attendance might be up 2 percent, but check out the empty seats at the end of these slugfests. Do fans really want to see all these runs? All these lame relievers? All these nightly marathons?If the goal of Bud Selig and Co. was to create more offense -- a charge the commissioner denies -- they've succeeded only in numbing the senses. The question is not simply one of entertainment value. At stake is the game's legacy.

Usually, young pitchers have to be taught control, how to find and use the strike zone and how to put a harness on their zealousness.Not Josh Towers. The Orioles organization, get this, is trying to teach him to throw fewer strikes."

In a baseball world where years of double-digit inflation have pushed salaries and franchise values to amazing heights, perhaps it was only a matter of time before the game itself began to bulge at the seams.How's this for double-digit inflation? Cincinnati Reds 24, Colorado Rockies 12.It wasn't so long ago that a double-figure run total was considered unusual. Now, it is so common that on one night recently, the winning team in every American League game scored at least 10 runs. The Cleveland Indians alone have 14 double-digit games this season.

Though Orioles manager Ray Miller still hasn't announced Doug Linton as his starter for Sunday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the veteran right-hander remains the favorite to take Scott Kamieniecki's turn in the rotation.Miller said it's "probably 99 percent right now" that Linton will get the call when the Orioles need a fifth starter. For that reason, Linton is in Baltimore even though he's not part of the 25-man roster. He has a locker along the back wall of the clubhouse and took part in yesterday's workout at Camden Yards.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Mike Mussina became the first Orioles pitcher to go five innings in yesterday's 3-3 tie with the St. Louis Cardinals, the only run against him coming on a third-inning, opposite-field home run by Mark McGwire. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out five.Mussina's only serious trouble came in the first inning, when the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs. But Mussina, whose error started the inning, struck out Brian Jordan and Willie McGee and retired Brian Hunter on a liner to left.

Mike Mussina never has been kind to the Detroit Tigers. Indeed, for Christmas, Mussina always asks for another turn at Tiger Stadium. But last night the Tigers found the combination of Mussina and plate umpire John Hirschbeck absolutely intolerable.With Mussina tempting perfection before a sellout crowd atCamden Yards, Hirschbeck's "liberal" strike zone pushed the Tigers into a frenzy.The Tigers ended up with a 4-0 loss and more ejections (three) than hits (two) against Mussina. They were only four outs away from being on the wrong end of a perfect game when designated hitter Frank Catalanotto drove a double into right field.

Who put the oomph into baseball this season? Balls fly out of big-league parks at a near-record pace, and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa swing as if they are hitting Flubber.Both McGwire, the Bunyanesque first baseman for St. Louis, and Sosa, the Chicago Cubs outfielder, smashed the single-season record of 61 home runs set by Roger Maris in 1961. With two days to go, both have 66.Seattle's Ken Griffey has 55 home runs, and eight other players have clubbed 40 or more.Fans and pundits offer the standard skinny for the power surge, from second-rate pitching to smaller stadiums.

The NFL fined Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis a total of $25,000 for two separate incidents in the fourth quarter of last week's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, believed to be the biggest fine in the league this season. Lewis not only delivered a vicious hit that knocked Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco's helmet off, but he also was punished for kicking at another player in the fourth quarter. ESPN reported that Lewis will appeal the fine, but the 14-year veteran wouldn't take any questions in the locker room Friday.

NEW YORK -- Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis acknowledges that he goes through a couple of stretches a season in which he picks up strikeouts in bunches. Those stretches are just lasting a little longer than usual this season. "I've been going in and out of those streaks all year," Markakis said. "I just have to make adjustments and figure it out. I'm still trying to adjust to off-speed pitches, and whenever I do get that fastball to hit, I'm missing it usually. I need to be able to do something with it."

Rays@Orioles 7 P.M. [MASN2] We're not going to make the Orioles our TV pick of the day every game, but at this point in the season, when hope springs eternal, why not? The O's try to avenge an Opening Day loss to the Rays behind Daniel Cabrera. Will it be the good Cabrera, who can dominate an opponent, or the bad Cabrera, for whom the strike zone is merely a suggestion of where to throw the ball?

Batting: What impresses me is his selectivity at the plate. He knows the strike zone. He is patient. He is willing to take a walk. He has good power, will go the other way and use the other field. And don't make a mistake or he'll hit it out of that ballpark. Other abilities: He runs well, steals bases. He has a good, accurate arm. There's nothing he can't do; he just needs playing experience. The five-tool kid that was drafted No. 1 [overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999] is starting to emerge.

On Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera While he'll probably never be another Randy [Johnson] ... he has outstanding stuff and great potential. Now let's see him duplicate the effort all year long when the season starts. It looks like he is definitely being aggressive in the strike zone and continuing to get good results.

Orioles officials treated Daniel Cabrera's last start, in which he shut out the Toronto Blue Jays, with cautious optimism. After all, they had seen such a dominating performance from their enigmatic right-hander before. What they haven't witnessed many times is Cabrera following such an outing with a similar performance. He did that Friday night, pitching seven shutout innings in the Orioles' 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 25,510 at Camden Yards. "We talk about how we are trying to get our young kids finishing strong, and he's really done a good job since he's been back [from the minors]

Orioles officials treated Daniel Cabrera's last start, in which he shut out the Toronto Blue Jays, with cautious optimism. After all, they had seen such a dominating performance from their enigmatic right-hander before. What they haven't witnessed many times is Cabrera following up such an outing with a similar performance. He did that last night, pitching seven shutout innings in the Orioles' 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 25,510 at Camden Yards. "We talk about how we are trying to get our young kids finishing strong and he's really done a good job since he's been back [from the minors]

TORONTO -- He threw strikes, spotting his fastball and his curveball with pinpoint precision. He was frequently dominating yet never wild. And yes, Daniel Cabrera could have even been described as economical last night. His first appearance after a 3M-=-week demotion to the minor league, Cabrera was the pitcher that the Orioles hoped that he would grow into all season. He contained the Toronto Blue Jays for seven strong innings, long enough for the Orioles' offense to awake from its recent slumber.

It all became too much to bear -- the stifling heat, the boatload of missed opportunities and what several Orioles felt was an inconsistent strike zone. Even the most mild-mannered Oriole was overcome by frustration on an afternoon where the on-field temperature was well over 100 degrees. Fed up by being called out twice on strikes by home plate umpire Mark Wegner, Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts received his first career ejection after yelling at Wegner from the dugout. Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo picked up where Roberts left off in an animated face-to-face conversation, and also was tossed from the game.

WASHINGTON - Forget about a soft mound and a loose infield. Eight innings of scoreless and nearly hitless baseball shone an intense light on a new problem at renovated RFK Stadium yesterday. Glaring sunshine in the outfield and hovering shadows around home plate made it nearly impossible to see the ball in the late afternoon yesterday - posing a bit of an occupational hazard for those trying to hit and catch for a living. "You can't even see the ball. You see like a black dot coming at you," said Nationals third baseman Vinny Castilla, who was hitless in four at-bats in Washington's 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.