Triple A Ottawa

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Hoping to have his contract situation settled one way or the other by the end of this week, Orioles third baseman Melvin Mora said that he will give the club a few more days before cutting off the talks. Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos is expected to return from Europe later this week, and Mora, who is entering the last year of his contract, expressed hope that his return could lead to getting a deal done. The All-Star third baseman has made it clear that he wants to stay in Baltimore, but would leave for free agency if he doesn't get what he feels is a fair deal.

Moves Baseball MLB: Suspended Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon one game, Pirates hitting coach Gerald Perry eight games and Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan four games and fined them undisclosed amounts for actions before Aug. 24 game. Reduced Indians P David Riske's suspension for hitting Mariners OF Ichiro Suzuki with pitch in July 29 game from four games to three. ASTROS: Recalled former Orioles P Travis Driskill from Triple-A Round Rock. ATHLETICS: Recalled P Juan Cruz and OF Matt Watson from Triple-A Sacramento.

Orioles interim manager Sam Perlozzo gave Sammy Sosa last night off, something that could become more common in the last two months of the season. "I told him that I'd be trying to get him a day," said Perlozzo, who used recent call-up Alejandro Freire at first base, David Newhan in right field and Jay Gibbons as designated hitter for last night's series finale against the Devil Rays. "I wanted to give him a day off in Texas in the heat and he insisted that he really wanted to play. After three days in the heat, I told him that I was going to give him today off."

If David Crouthers expects any perks after making the Double-A Eastern League's All-Star team, being chosen its Player of the Week and combining with two relievers on a no-hitter, he'll have to find them in the bullpen. When the Orioles send Crouthers to the Arizona Fall League, they want him pitching in relief to limit his innings and become accustomed to a possible change in roles. Though he could join Triple-A Ottawa's rotation next season, Crouthers is projected as a late-inning specialist.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - If Daniel Cabrera hit a wall in his rookie season, as evidenced by the severe drop-off in his performance over the past month, he seemed to bust through it last night. The Orioles just hope he stays on the other side for a while. Prone to high pitch counts and early deficits, Cabrera led from the start and reached the seventh inning for the first time in almost five weeks in an 8-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays that lacked the drama usually attached to Tropicana Field.

OAKLAND, Calif. - For all their flaws, the Orioles have shown a magic touch this season when it comes to picking starting pitchers from Triple-A Ottawa. First it was Daniel Cabrera, then it was Dave Borkowski, and last night it was Bruce Chen, pitching as if he'd been mastering big league hitters for years. The story with Chen is much more complicated, of course. The Orioles are his ninth organization, but he carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics, and left with the game still scoreless after the seventh.