Inside The A.L. East

Who's HOT

Boston's Darren Lewis was batting .167 when he stepped in for CF Carl Everett, who was out with a hamstring injury, Over the next week, Lewis had four three-hit games, hit his first home run in 315 at-bats and raised his average to .352.

Who's NOT

Orioles LHP B.J. Ryan has been as bad as anyone in a faltering bullpen that has blown 11 saves. During a stretch of five appearances Ryan allowed 12 earned runs in three innings, Manager Mike Hargrove said Ryan was throwing his fastball too high.

CIRCLE THE CALENDAR

In the regular season, it doesn't get much better than Yankees vs. Red Sox. Beginning with three games this weekend in New York, the teams play 10 times in the next month. They're at Yankee Stadium June 12-14 before four games at Fenway June 19-22. Their final series is Sept. 8-10 in Boston.

Keep an eye on

Toronto RF Haul Mondesi continues to play hard for his new team. His aggressive play--he leads the team with t3 steals--led to a victory over Boston last week, If Mondesi can keep his focus, he could keep the Blue Jays in playoff contention.

High and inside

The more Yankees LF Ricky Ledee struggles, the more impatient his boss becomes. Ledee won't last much longer if he continues to hit around .200. One rumor has Orioles LF B.J. Surhoff going to New York.

TSN's Wired World

Devil Rays C John Flaherty usually is better on defense than offense. But he didn't throw out a basestealer in 13 attempts in one stretch and was hitting .611 against lefties. For more on the Devil Rays, visit: sportingnews.com/baseball/teams/devilrays

PROSPECT WATCH

Boston likes the potential of switch-hitting SS Aaron Capista, but he is struggling in his first season at Class AA. Capista was batting .165 with five RBIs after 103 at-bats for Trenton. One of the nation's top high school players when he was at Joliet (Ill.) Catholic, Capista was the 57th pick in the 1997 June draft.

Baltimore

17-24: 4th

Middle-of-the-pack defense? It's really not even that good

The porous defense is beginning to come under attack by the pitching staff. RHP Pat Rapp said he "almost lost it" during a start in Anaheim last week, when two defensive lapses led to a three-run first inning. The defense has made just 27 errors and is in the middle of the A.L. pack in fielding percentage. But countless makeable plays have gone unmade and been ruled hits by generous official scorers. The team has only three above-average fielders: LF B.J. Surhoff, SS Mike Bordick and C Charles Johnson.... The bullpen suffered its league-leading 11 th blown save Thursday, to go along with a league-worst bullpen ERA of 7.03. The Orioles already have lost six games in which they led after seven innings. Rookie LHP B.J. Ryan (7.02 ERA) would be a candidate for demotion, except the team has conceded it has no major-league-ready relievers at the highest minor-league levels.

SCOUTING REPORT: Johnson possesses one of the best arms in the major leagues, one reason why he has thrown out 42.4 percent of would-be basestealers in his career. However, this season, Johnson has thrown out three of 19. The problem can be partly attributed to the inability of the pitching staff to hold runners on. But Johnson also has been plagued by faulty footwork, which negates the power of his right arm. Johnson always has been a bit of a slow starter in terms of throwing out runners. Last season, he was throwing so well by September only one runner even attempted a steal off him in the final 16 games.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: One year after posting a career season that sent him to his first All-Star Game, Surhoff is locked in perhaps the worst slump of his career, batting .239 through Saturday. He has tried taking extra batting practice, but has since scaled back when it became dear it wasn't working. Part of Surhoff's problem has been poor swing decisions. He has been swinging at a disproportionate number of pitches outside the strike zone, resulting in 25 strikeouts in his first 163 at-bats.

--Dave Sheinin

HOT PROSPECT

Juan Guzman, RHP

Guzman, a converted catcher, is 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA in five starts at Class AA Bowie. He throws a mid-90s fastball and has good command, allowing just nine walks and striking out 16 in 28 1/3 innings.

ORIOLES

                AVG    G    AB    R    H   HR   RBI

Clark(+)       .338   23    65   18   22    0     3
DeShields(+)   .324   38   148   26   48    3    21
Bordick        .322   41   146   24   47    8    35
Conine         .308   35   117   16   36    4    15
Anderson(+)    .282   38   142   25   40    7    20
Belle          .279   41   154   23   43    5    24
Johnson        .262   35   122   24   32    6    21
Baines(+)      .252   31   111    9   28    3    12
Ripken Jr.     .246   33   126   19   31    7    25
Surhoff(+)     .239   41   163   20   39    4    17
Amaral         .214   21    42    5    9    0     3
Myers(+)       .190    7    21    3    4    1     2
Lewis          .174   11    23    2    4    0     2

                OBP    SLG   SB       K   BB   E

Clark(+)       .494   .431    3      14   19   3
DeShields(+)   .399   .493   15(a)   23   19   3
Bordick        .358   .562    4      27   11   5
Conine         .346   .479    0      13    7   3
Anderson(+)    .360   .493    5      19   16   1
Belle          .361   .474    0      18   19   1
Johnson        .318   .492    0      28   10   1
Baines(+)      .317   .378    0      18   11   0
Ripken Jr.     .295   .452    0      14   10   4
Surhoff(+)     .302   .374    2      25   14   1
Amaral         .267   .286    4       6    3   0
Myers(+)       .261   .333    0       9    2   0
Lewis          .240   .304    1       2    2   1

GRAND SLAMS: None

              ERA   W-L    G     IP       H       R

Groom(+)     4.05   2-1   19   20.0      15       9
Mussina      4.42   1-6   10   73.1(a)   80(a)   37
Johnson      4.66   0-2    5   29.0      27      15
Rapp         5.32   3-2    8   45.2      50      28
Timlin       5.40   0-1   13   11.2      16      10
Ponson       5.59   2-2    9   58.0      64      39
Reyes        6.43   1-0    6    7.0       6       5
(*)Ryan(+)   7.02   1-3   16   16.2      17      14
Trombley     7.04   2-2   19   15.1      17      13
Mercedes     7.30   2-2    8   24.2      41      21
McElroy(+)   8.53   0-0   10   12.2      15      13
Erickson     8.62   1-1    3   15.2      29      15

             ER   HR       K   BB   SV   Avg.

Groom(+)      9    1       8    8    2   .221
Mussina      36   15(a)   50   14    0   .278
Johnson      15    6      18   15    0   .245
Rapp         27    3      33   23    0   .281
Timlin        7    3      13    7    3   .333
Ponson       36    9      25   29    0   .276
Reyes         5    1       4    3    0   .240
(*)Ryan(+)   13    2      17   18    0   .254
Trombley     12    7      15    9    1   .293
Mercedes     20    2       8   14    0   .380
McElroy(+)   12    2       9    8    0   .294
Erickson     15    1       5    5    0   .397