A.L. East

Sporting News, The, August 9, 1999

Teams are listed alphabetically

Martinez could be ace in wild-card race

When the Red Sox arrived in Toronto last week, they were reeling and the Blue Jays were rising. The Jays had won nine of their last 10 games to take the wild-card lead. The Red Sox had lost four of five and were waiting for pitcher Pedro Martinez to retrain from the D.L.

Within two days, fans saw why this race is far from over. The Red Sox won two games in Toronto and left feeling confident.

Therein lies the secret to the Red Sox: They play their best against good teams. Through last Saturday, the Red Sox were 4-4 against the Yankees and 5-1 against the Indians.

And against the Jays, they were 8-1 and had won six in a row. Because they hang their success on pitching and defense, they can compete with any team.

But who has the advantage in the wildcard race? The Red Sox and Blue Jays have one series left--three games from September 21-23 at Fenway Park. The fact they have only three games seems to favor the Jays, because they can't beat the Red Sox. But considering how late in the season those games are, it could favor the Red Sox if the race is tight.

Their schedules are comparable.

As for stretch-run moves, each team turned to the Mariners for offensive help: the Jays added David Segui and the Red Sox got Butch Huskey. The Jays will rely on rookie Billy Koch to close games down the stretch, while the Red Sox will hand the ball to knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in the late innings with usual closer Tom Gordon ailing. Neither Koch or Wakefield has dosed games in a pennant race.

Advantage? Much will depend on health. If Martinez returns from his sore shoulder and regains his unbeatable form, the Red Sox have a legitimate ace-a huge advantage in the quest for the playoff berth.

--Paul Doyle

Baltimore

46-57: 4th

Guzman trade does not signal drastic changes

The Orioles finally made the difficult decision to focus on the future rather than the present when they traded veteran P Juan Guzman to the Reds for a couple of pitching prospects, but that doesn't mean you'll be seeing a much different team during the final two months of the season. The dub still is locked into veterans at every defensive position and almost certainly will continue to field a largely veteran team through the 2000 season. The only position players who do not have guaranteed contracts through next season are SS Mike Bordick and C Charles Johnson, both of whom are virtually certain to return anyway. The club has, however, gotten younger on the mound with the acquisition of two prospects for Guzman. Look for owner Peter Angelos to approve the offseason signing of a quality free-agent starter to bolster the rotation, perhaps someone such as Angels lefthander Chuck Finley.

KEEPING ERICKSON: It was no great surprise that the Orioles pulled RHP Scott Erickson off the market about a week before the trading deadline. Erickson has rebounded from a horrible 1-8 start to post six straight victories and close in on .500, and he's still got a chance to finish the season with 13 or 14 victories if he continues to pitch well. He could have brought the team several decent prospects in a midseason trade, but figures too prominently in next year's starting rotation to justify such a deal.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: Cal Ripken has been a different player since he returned in mid-May from his first-ever stay on the disabled list. In fact, if you extrapolated his numbers from that 10-week period over a full season, he'd be on pace to set career highs in batting average, doubles, home runs and RBIs. "These past two months are the best I've seen him swing in a long, long time," manager Ray Miller says. "For whatever reason, getting in a more comfortable stance, he's back to using his hands. He's believing in his hands and the ball is jumping off his bat." --Peter Schmuck

GRADING OUT

OFFENSE B

Temporary loss of Brady Anderson seemed to take wind Out of a hot team.

PITCHING C

The departure of Juan Guzman leaves a large hole in the rotation.

DEFENSE B

Original infield alignment is finally back in place. It should stay this way for a long time.

ORIOLES

                  AVG    G     AB    R     H     HR     RBI

Baines( )        .335    84   266    45    89    21      67
Ripken Jr.       .335    69   269    44    90    15      47
Surhoff( )       .333   103   436    66   145    21      80
Clark( )         .303    66   221    36    67    10      27
Conine           .297    86   256    35    76     8      39
Anderson( )      .282    98   354    72   100    14      54
Amaral           .282    61   103    14    29     0      10
Belle            .277   102   386    68   107    25      71
Bordick          .275   102   404    56   111     6      41
DeShields( )     .264    63   220    33    58     4      19
Johnson          .254    87   276    41    70    13      44
(*)Figga         .200    18    35     4     7     0       1
Reboulet         .176    62   119    20    21     0       4

                  OBP    SLG     SB    K     BB     E

Baines( )        .403   .620     1     30    31     0
Ripken Jr.       .358   .591     0     23     8    12
Surhoff( )       .364   .539     4     52    24     0
Clark( )         .379   .498     1     36    28     2
Conine           .344   .480     0     28    20     5
Anderson( )      .421   .477    22     62    74     0
Amaral           .345   .359     5     16    10     0
Belle            .391   .505    12     53    71     4
Bordick          .331   .379     8     65    35     5
DeShields( )     .344   .355    10     24    26     6
Johnson          .353   .449     0     67    41     3
(*)Figga         .222   .257     0     10     1     2
Reboulet         .305   .202     1     25    21     2

GRAND SLAMS: Anderson, Baines, Surhoff (1)

ORIOLES

                 ERA    W-L     G      IP     H      R

Reyes           2.08    0-0      3     4.1     1      1
Mussina         3.69   13-5     22   148.2   154     69
Ponson          4.18    9-7     21   140.0   140     72
Johns( )        4.54    2-1     19    33.2    32     17
Timlin          4.61    3-8     38    41.0    37     22
Erickson        5.52    7-8     22   140.1   162     88
Johnson         5.58    2-5     12    59.2    66     39
Bones           5.86    0-2     26    35.1    49     23
Rhodes( )       6.44    3-4     36    43.1    38     36
Kamieniecki     6.75    1-3     18    28.0    26     22
Orosco( )       6.85    0-2     41    22.1    22     19

                  ER     HR      K     BB     SV   Avg.

Reyes              1      0      5      3     0    .091
Mussina           61     13    114     41     0    .272
Ponson            65     23     75     49     0    .268
Johns( )          17      4     17      9     0    .252
Timlin            21      7     35     14    12    .242
Erickson          86     16     67     64     0    .295
Johnson           37      5     36     30     0    .282
Bones             23      5     20     15     0    .329
Rhodes( )         31      9     51     34     3    .235
Kamieniecki       21      3     20     18     2    .245
Orosco( )         17      5     23     17     0    .256

SHUTOUTS: Erickson, Guzman (1)

COMPLETE GAMES: Ponson (5), Mussina (3), Erickson (2), Guzman (1)