Velocity

Brian Matusz got slapped around again on Saturday night, allowing nine hits, three homers and six earned runs before manager Buck Showalter had seen enough and removed the Orioles starter in the fifth inning. In his past three outings -- all Orioles losses -- the 24-year-old left-hander has a 15.58 ERA in 11 1/3 innings. Yikes. After the 10-5 loss to the Reds, Matusz said he “took a lot from this outing,” and he thought he threw good pitches and had a solid plan of attack throughout the game.

SARASOTA, Fla - If anything, there were only whispers. Nothing damning, nothing loud. No one within the Orioles organization wanted to show real concern, not in March, not with the blessed right arm of their future, 20-year-old Dylan Bundy. But after Bundy's performance Saturday against the Boston Red Sox - one in which the universally regarded top pitching prospect in baseball managed only 18 strikes in 35 pitches and consistently threw his mid-to-high 90s fastball at 91-to-93 mph - there was some quiet consternation.

Orioles right-hander Pat Neshek, a non-roster invitee who hasn't allowed as run in nine relief innings this spring, finally feels healthy again after having Tommy John surgery in 2008. This spring, he's shown he's regained his velocity, his control and his confidence. “I feel a lot better than last year,” Neshek said Saturday, a day after making his first back-to-back appearance of the spring, a perfect 2/3 inning againt the Tigers. “I kind of feel where I was before the surgery.

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- In the Orioles' attempt to remold right-hander Jair Jurrjens into his past All-Star form, progress comes in small phases. The Orioles have some time - and they're proving to have patience - especially considering spring training is longer this season. And while Jurrjens' final line in Tuesday afternoon's 6-6 tie with the Toronto Blue Jays wasn't pretty - he allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings - it was another step forward as he tries to build strength in his surgically repaired right knee.

Four spring training starts aren't a big enough sample size to declare Brian Matusz back on track in his quest to become the staff ace that the Orioles so desperately need, but fans have to like what they're seeing from the left-hander so far in 2012. Matusz gave up three runs and six hits in two innings during his 2012 spring training debut March 5 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he rebounded nicely with eight scoreless innings over his next two appearances -- against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 10 and the Detroit Tigers on March 15. The 25-year-old wasn't invincible during the Orioles' 4-1 loss Tuesday afternoon, but he still pitched effectively, holding the Phillies to one run and seven hits in five innings.

It's no secret that the Orioles are more than a little concerned with Brian Matusz 's declining velocity. Matusz insists that he's healthy, and that might be true, but the radar gun doesn't lie. A player who once regularly threw 94 mph fastballs now tops out in the high 80s, and opposing hitters have been teeing off on him in his past three starts. And while the Orioles, and their fans, are holding out hope that the 24-year-old will regain his old form, manager Buck Showalter said Sunday the reality is Matusz needs to figure out how to pitch with the stuff he's got because his velocity might not come back this year.

Bright towers of silence,stiff sculpted like aheap of marble flowers.-- Edward Shanks, "Clouds"VERY EARLY in life I came to learn that the speed of clouds is best measured from a position parallel to, and in firm contact with, the ground. This afternoon in a Homewood sculpture garden, my family assumed the cloud velocity detection position -- the bodies of two 30-somethings and a 4-year-old splayed beneath pieces of iron and sculpted stone bearing names like "Large Boxing Hare on Anvil."Overhead, above the swaying oval window made by the tops StephenVicchioof towering trees, white clouds, looking as intricate as a map of the Greek isles, slowly drifted east in the direction of an invisible Asia Minor.

Kent Mercker is going to the bullpen.Mercker was signed as a free agent in the off-season to solidify the Orioles' starting rotation but his dwindling velocity, a mere 80 mph in his three-inning, four-home run, six-run performance Tuesday, and inability to get hitters out prompted manager Davey Johnson to move him to relief.Rick Krivda, who started last night's rained-out second game, will replace Mercker in the rotation."Right now, obviously, I have no business being up here starting," said Mercker, who is 3-6 with a 7.43 ERA. "Going to the bullpen is probably the best thing for me and the team.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In their prime, Fernando Valenzuela and Bert Blyleven were considered franchise pitchers. One was C dazzling, left-handed trickster, the other an overpowering right-hander with a wicked curveball.Both took another step on the comeback trail yesterday, but only one went forward.Valenzuela, a former Los Angeles Dodger trying to return with a team about as far removed from his original as possible, pitched three more scoreless innings for the Orioles. Blyleven, whose career has made a circuit through both leagues, is trying to make it back where he started, with the Minnesota Twins.

Orioles pitching coach Pat Dobson has started calling pitches from the bench in some key situations.Almost all of the time catchers Chris Hoiles and Gregg Zaun call pitches from behind home plate, but they've looked to the bench for help about a half-dozen times the last two weeks.For example, Thursday night Jimmy Haynes was pitching with the bases loaded when Zaun looked to the dugout and Dobson called a pitch that resulted in a groundout. Other times, the catcher is signaled from the bench if he hasn't yet looked over.

Orioles right-hander Pat Neshek, a non-roster invitee who hasn't allowed as run in nine relief innings this spring, finally feels healthy again after having Tommy John surgery in 2008. This spring, he's shown he's regained his velocity, his control and his confidence. “I feel a lot better than last year,” Neshek said Saturday, a day after making his first back-to-back appearance of the spring, a perfect 2/3 inning againt the Tigers. “I kind of feel where I was before the surgery.

World-class track athlete Tatyana McFadden is not a flashy person. Soft-spoken with a thin face, dark brown eyes and a deceptively muscular frame, she is not the type to speak of her accomplishments without some prompting. But when she does talk about her accolades, she lets people know that success hasn't come easy. “I've worked hard for it,” says the Clarksville resident, who is paraplegic. Just shy of her 23rd birthday, McFadden has an impressive résumé. A graduate of Atholton High School, she holds U.S. records in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and 1,500-meter races.

Four spring training starts aren't a big enough sample size to declare Brian Matusz back on track in his quest to become the staff ace that the Orioles so desperately need, but fans have to like what they're seeing from the left-hander so far in 2012. Matusz gave up three runs and six hits in two innings during his 2012 spring training debut March 5 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he rebounded nicely with eight scoreless innings over his next two appearances -- against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 10 and the Detroit Tigers on March 15. The 25-year-old wasn't invincible during the Orioles' 4-1 loss Tuesday afternoon, but he still pitched effectively, holding the Phillies to one run and seven hits in five innings.

Brian Matusz got slapped around again on Saturday night, allowing nine hits, three homers and six earned runs before manager Buck Showalter had seen enough and removed the Orioles starter in the fifth inning. In his past three outings -- all Orioles losses -- the 24-year-old left-hander has a 15.58 ERA in 11 1/3 innings. Yikes. After the 10-5 loss to the Reds, Matusz said he “took a lot from this outing,” and he thought he threw good pitches and had a solid plan of attack throughout the game.

It's no secret that the Orioles are more than a little concerned with Brian Matusz 's declining velocity. Matusz insists that he's healthy, and that might be true, but the radar gun doesn't lie. A player who once regularly threw 94 mph fastballs now tops out in the high 80s, and opposing hitters have been teeing off on him in his past three starts. And while the Orioles, and their fans, are holding out hope that the 24-year-old will regain his old form, manager Buck Showalter said Sunday the reality is Matusz needs to figure out how to pitch with the stuff he's got because his velocity might not come back this year.

The rear axle came from a Honda that gave its last gasp 30 years ago. The front once belonged to a go-cart. But with this vehicle, the story's in all the body — a standard, flushable toilet, complete with a transparent seat dotted with coins. "I've had that toilet seat for like 10 years, waiting for something to do with it," laughs Alex Tasi, who, on Saturday, finally found it. The 42-year-old installer of solar panels from Annapolis was part of a small field of competitors that made dubious Baltimore history by participating in the first Hampdenfest Toilet Races, in which folks could ride anything down the course — as long as it included a "human defecation device.

After one of the shortest starts of his 14-season career, Orioles right-hander Kevin Millwood was left searching for answers while club officials were mulling the possibility of placing their staff leader on the disabled list. Following the Orioles' 12-9 loss to the Detroit Tigers, interim manager Juan Samuel postponed his post-game interview with the media for about 20 minutes while attending a closed-door meeting with pitching coach Rick Kranitz, athletic trainer Richie Bancells and baseball operations director Matt Klentak.

Greg LaRoque, born in Baltimore and a resident in this area for all but eight of his 54 years, has been a top comic-book illustrator for a quarter-century. Name any DC or Marvel superheroes who've become movie or TV heroes and sure enough, he's drawn them: mega-stars like Batman, Spider-Man and The Flash, as well as Daredevil and Ghost Rider. Several popular revampings of beloved comic-book icons came from LaRoque's hand. He illustrated the first issue of Web of Spider-Man: It contained the plotline about the shape-shifting black suit (actually an alien)

After one of the shortest starts of his 14-season career, Orioles right-hander Kevin Millwood was left searching for answers while club officials were mulling the possibility of placing their staff leader on the disabled list. Following the Orioles' 12-9 loss to the Detroit Tigers, interim manager Juan Samuel postponed his post-game interview with the media for about 20 minutes while attending a closed-door meeting with pitching coach Rick Kranitz, athletic trainer Richie Bancells and baseball operations director Matt Klentak.

- New Orioles closer Mike Gonzalez wants to make one thing clear: No matter what the radar readings say, no matter how he has looked during his first two outings, his arm feels fine. Gonzalez was able to face only two hitters in a "B" game on Saturday against the Florida Marlins at Ed Smith Stadium. However, his abridged outing was a result of some soreness in his lower back and not anything related to his arm. "My arm feels great and everything else," Gonzalez said.