Tim Belcher

Ewing Kauffman Stadium, Kansas CityDay .. .. .. .. .Time .. ..TV .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..StartersToday .. .. .. ..2: 05 .. .HTS .. .. .. ...Jimmy Key (1-0, 0.00).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ...vs. Kevin Appier (0-0, 3.60)Wednesday .. .. .8: 05 ....HTS .. .Scott Kamieniecki (0-0, 7.72).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ....vs. Jose Rosado (0-0, 1.50)Thursday .. .. ..8: 05 ...13, 50 .. ..Scott Erickson (1-0, 6.00).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .vs. Tim Belcher (1-0, 1.17)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles limped around the clubhouse before yesterday's game, a sizable blue bruise on the top of his left foot. Hoiles was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning of Friday night's game, and the contusion will keep him out of the next two games, at least."I don't even know how I got through the whole game," said Hoiles. "What hurt most was squatting, because the flap [on his shinguard] hit right on the bruise."Hoiles got treatment on his foot for three hours Friday night, and X-rays revealed no broken bones.

Oh, how the 1995 baseball season proved that time does fly. It seemed much shorter than seasons past -- except 1981 and 1994, of course -- and it went by in such a blur that nearly 20 percent of the sport's loyal fans never got around to attending a game.The games got shorter, too, after far-sighted baseball ownership concluded that the decline in fan interest was the result of too much baseball rather than too little, and tiptoed around the possibility that two truncated seasons and more than two years of bitter labor strife might have destroyed the credibility of a once-beloved industry.

Even Mike Mussina -- 9-1 with a 3.28 ERA in 13 starts at Camden Yards -- couldn't solve the Orioles' home-field disadvantage.Mussina pitched a complete game and walked none last night but continued to receive meager run support, as the Orioles fell to the Seattle Mariners, 4-3, before 43,447, their sixth straight loss at Camden Yards.The Orioles have lost eight of their past nine games there and have won only three of their past 14 at home. Their latest loss -- on the heels of a 7-3 West Coast trip -- put them six games behind Kansas City and Seattle in the wild-card race.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay, Time, TV, StartersTonight, 8:05, 11, 4, Tim Belcher (8-9, 4.49) vs. Mike Mussina (15-7, 3.52)Tomorrow night, 7:05, 13, 50, Chris Bosio (9-6, 4.93) vs. Kevin Brown (6-8, 4.02)Sunday, 1:35, HTS, Andy Benes (3-1, 6.61) vs. Rick Krivda (2-2, 3.24)Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)Mariners updateSeattle is in the midst of a 10-game road trip, and moved into a three-way tie with Kansas City and Texas for the wild-card lead last night after bashing Boston, 11-2.

Another Orioles loss. Another Mussina start. Another losing streak ends.That's the Orioles' working formula for ending skids this season. Mike Mussina is 5-0 in six starts after an Orioles loss and has solidified his role as the stopper of the staff.On the heels of the Orioles' two-game slide, Mussina (7-2, 2.58 ERA) starts tonight against Detroit's Tim Belcher (2-8, 7.14) at 7:30 at Camden Yards.The Orioles have lost four straight games at home, which is the longest current streak in the American League.

DETROIT -- Too many times during his Hall of Fame career with the Orioles, Cal Ripken has been left to shoulder the responsibility by himself.If he looks like a man who has had a burden lifted, perhaps he is.Ripken had the biggest hit for the Orioles in yesterday's 7-4 victory over Detroit in the Tigers' home opener witnessed by 50,314 paying customers.But the Orioles could have won it even without Ripken's two-run triple in the four-run third inning, a two-out whistler that shot past center fielder Eric Davis.

For their openers on the road, the Orioles (3-2) drew the Detroit Tigers (2-4) in their first home series of the year.This afternoon's game was to feature a pitching matchup between Ben McDonald (1-0, 2.84) and Tim Belcher (0-1, 13.50) -- and a professional debut in his hometown for Orioles third baseman Chris Sabo.Sabo grew up in the Detroit area, where his teenage idol was Baltimorean Al Kaline, the Hall of Famer who patrolled right field for the Tigers for two decades. His toughest assignment was getting Opening Day tickets for relatives, friends and former teammates.