Strikeouts

Stephanie Speierman's 17 strikeouts led Hammond's softball team to a 2-1 win over visiting Long Reach yesterday. The victory puts the No. 5 Bears (17-1) into the Howard County championship game, in which they will host Glenelg tomorrow at 4 p.m. Speierman's 17 strikeouts give her a county-record 321 for the season. She broke her record of 283, which she set last season as a freshman. Boys lacrosse Carver 15, Douglass 1 -- Maurice Washington scored seven goals to lead the Bears (10-1)

I targeted two minor leaguers in the reserve portions of American League drafts this year. I figured Adam Lind's hitting excellence would force the Toronto Blue Jays to give him a job at some point and that he'd immediately be better than the fifth outfielders on my teams. And I thought the New York Yankees' pitching would be shabby enough that they'd have to recall phenom Phil Hughes by Memorial Day. Well, those bets turned out better than I could have imagined. Reed Johnson got hurt right away in Toronto, and Lind received his starting job on a platter.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Welcome to September baseball in the land that franchise relocation forgot. In a setting where fans throw their voices to hear the echo, Scott Erickson gave the Orioles another strong showing against his former club in a 5-0 win before 9,263 at the Metrodome. As long as the game "survives" in the Great White North, the Orioles will always have somewhere to get well.Only 45-68 against the rest of the American League, the Orioles improved to 6-1 against their small-market competition.

Mike Ziegler, an All-Metro pitcher at Old Mill in 1997 who is 12-1 at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, has orally committed to Florida State University, which has the nation's top-ranked college baseball team.Ziegler, a 6-foot-3, 229-pound right-hander, told veteran Seminoles' coach Mike Martin Monday that he would accept the school's scholarship offer. Ziegler chose FSU over a host of other Division I schools."I could not be getting a better opportunity," said Ziegler. "Being down here in Tallahassee [also FSU's location]

Even Bernie Walter, the quintessential perfectionist, had trouble finding something wrong with top-ranked Arundel's season opener in Gambrills yesterday.Returning All-Metro right-hander Andy Kostic spun a three-hitter with a career-high 12 strikeouts as the Wildcats opened with an 8-0 victory over Thomas Johnson of Frederick."The most [strikeouts] I had in a game last year was seven or eight," said Kostic. "I wasn't a strikeout pitcher last year, but maybe I will be this year because I have even better command of my three pitches [fastball, curve and change]

Braves: John Smoltz became the 53rd pitcher in major-league history to get 2,000 career strikeouts.Mets: Roger Cedeno was caught stealing for the fifth time.Phillies: Scott Rolen homered for the second straight day after not hitting one in 63 at-bats. Attendance of 37,180 -- including many Yankees fans -- was the largest since Opening Day and nearly double the Phillies' average of 18,881.Pirates: Jason Kendall extended his hitting streak to 16 games.

Long Reach's Kristen Schaper (12-6) threw a perfect five-inning game as the Lightning defeated visiting Oakland Mills, 12-0, yesterday. Schaper faced the minimum 15 batters and struck out seven, running her 18-game total to 157 strikeouts.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Two years ago, he entered his Double-A season ranked as one of the leading prospects in the Orioles' farm system. Then, it was farewell to arm.Now, lean right-hander Julio Moreno is in minor-league training camp exuding confidence about the upcoming season, when he is scheduled to be one of the bulwarks of the Rochester pitching staff.But there will be no more weightlifting to bulk up his slender upper body."They want me to pitch a lot of innings," said Moreno, who skipped 1998 entirely after straining his right shoulder while lifting in spring training.

Cubs: The back-to-back victories are the team's first since a five-game winning streak April 28-May 2. Attendance was a season-high 40,332.Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson has reached double digits in strikeouts five times this season and 107 times in his career.Expos: Catcher Chris Widger left the game after three innings with a strained lower back. In two starts against the Pirates this season, Carl Pavano has pitched four innings, allowing 17 hits with 15 runs, for an ERA of 33.75.Pirates: Pittsburgh's 17 hits were a season high.

RochesterLeague: Triple-A InternationalManager: Dave MachemerFinal record: 61-83Finish: Fifth in six-team divisionHome attendance: 481,037Top hitters hitter: Julio Vinas (.312, 83 RBIs), Ryan Minor (21 HRs)Top starter: Calvin Maduro (11-11, 3.99 ERA, 149 strikeouts, 169 IP)Top reliever: Gabe Molina (2-2, 3.14 ERA, 18 saves)Best prospects: IF Jerry Hairston, 3B Minor, 1B Calvin Pickering, IF Jesse Garcia, Maduro, Molina, P Radhames DykhoffBowieLeague: Double-A EasternManager: Joe FergusonFinal record: 70-71Finish: Fourth in six-team divisionHome attendance: 412,398 (69 dates)

Oakland swept the Orioles at home the first weekend of June, but the A's have made significant changes since then. They traded star outfielder Matt Holliday to the St. Louis Cardinals and then jettisoned veteran shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Minnesota Twins. Oakland also released slumping slugger Jason Giambi, who was unable to jump-start an offense that is last in the American League in home runs, batting average, slugging percentage and extra-base hits. Entering Sunday's series finale at the Kansas City Royals, rookie closer Andrew Bailey had converted 10 straight save opportunities and ranked second among major league relievers with 71 strikeouts.

He's a hit, too Rich Hill put the Orioles into an early hole by surrendering two runs in the first. However, the pitcher helped the team dig out of it. After Matt Wieters tied the game with a two-run double in the second inning, Hill drove in his catcher with a single to left-center field. The RBI gave the visitors a 3-2 lead and was the first by an Orioles pitcher since Garrett Olson had one June 28 of last season against the Washington Nationals. Jones, Roberts in funk The Orioles' teamwide offensive slump is pretty much over, but several of their top hitters continue to have their problems.

Blue Jays update Toronto swept the Orioles in a three-game series at Rogers Centre two weeks ago. The Blue Jays beat the Rays yesterday, 9-4, to move a half game ahead of the Orioles for fourth place in the American League East. They are 21-30 on the road, compared with 27-20 at home. Heading into yesterday, Matt Stairs was batting .202 with three homers and 36 strikeouts in 38 games since May 20. Halladay was unbeaten in his past five starts before losing to Tampa Bay on Saturday. Alex Rios is 10-for-31 against the Orioles this season with 11 RBIs and three stolen bases.

A recap of the Orioles' 3-2 loss to the Brewers last night: MCCLUNG GETS IT DONE The Orioles had seen plenty of Seth McClung from his days with the Tampa Bay Rays, but he bore no resemblance to that guy last night. McClung didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning and didn't surrender a run until Oscar Salazar's pinch-hit, two-run homer with two outs in the seventh. McClung walked five, but he surrendered only three hits and the two runs over 6 2/3 innings. In six starts this season, the converted reliever has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of them.

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."

SEATTLE -- Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis knew he had struck out quite a few times in recent games, he just didn't know how bad it had gotten. "How many do I have now, 30?" Markakis asked before last night's game. Markakis, who who hit the game-winning home run in the eighth inning last night, actually has 21 strikeouts, including seven in the past three games. During one stretch that ended Tuesday, Markakis struck out in five straight at-bats. He has also struck out in nine of the past ten games.

The top-ranked Broadneck softball team has found a successful formula for bringing home wins recently: a big hit early from outfielder Corie Seitler, strong pitching from Kourtney Salvarola and sound defense. Yesterday at No. 8 Arundel, Seitler hit a two-run, first-inning homer over the left-field fence and Salvarola tossed a four-hitter with some timely defense to lift the Bruins to a 3-0 win over the upstart Wildcats. Broadneck improved to 10-2 overall and remains undefeated in Anne Arundel with an 8-0 mark.

Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera did it again Sunday. He gave Orioles fans a glimpse of the pitcher he's capable of being when he throws strikes. In the first five innings of a televised game against the Washington Nationals, he pitched shutout baseball with one walk and five strikeouts - and here's the best part - on just 44 pitches. The sixth inning unraveled for him a little, but it is mid-March. When Cabrera throws as he did Sunday, he reminds me of Los Angeles Dodgers great Don Newcombe.

Pitchers are the most volatile commodities in fantasy sports. They get hurt in droves. Their records slide for reasons having nothing to do with how well they throw. They're arbitrarily moved into and out of the precious closer role. It's all enough to drive us nuts. That said, I enjoy researching pitchers more than any other aspect of fantasy preparation. It's fun precisely because there are so many ways in which a pitcher's won-lost record and ERA do not reflect his performance. This leaves plenty of room to predict shocking comebacks and jarring collapses.

David Hernandez has established himself as a strikeout pitcher in only three professional seasons in the Orioles' organization. Now it's time for Hernandez to establish himself as a winner. Hernandez is 5-9 with a 5.20 ERA in 22 games at Single-A Frederick, all but one of them starts. He has one victory since June 7. His season appears to be a dud until you consider that he leads the Carolina League with 123 strikeouts in 110 2/3 innings. He's walked 37. "He's got very good stuff, a very good fastball and slider, and that's how he gets his strikeouts," said David Stockstill, director of minor league operations.