how far is the pitching mound from home plate

Jeremy Guthrie could have packed his belongings and returned to his Las Vegas home, his body aching and his pride a little bruised. The 2007 season brought enough personal achievements to satisfy most rookie pitchers, even as it threatened to end sooner than the schedule dictated. There wasn't much reason for Guthrie to keep pushing himself as the Orioles tried to avoid last place, except he wanted to take the ball one more time before letting go.

A strained oblique kept Guthrie off the mound for nearly three weeks, but he fought through the pain until the muscle healed, convinced manager Dave Trembley that he shouldn't be shut down and gave the Orioles five innings last night, along with some much-needed stability for their rotation, in an 8-5 victory over Toronto at Camden Yards.

Defensive lapses left Guthrie with another no-decision after he allowed three runs in the fifth, but shortstop Luis Hernandez made sure the night didn't end in defeat for the Orioles. One rookie trying to pick up another.



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Hernandez hit his first major league homer, a two-run shot off reliever Brian Tallet in the sixth inning that returned the lead to the Orioles, who won for only the 10th time in 36 games before an announced 15,817.

Hernandez's homer, which came after Tallet replaced Severna Park native Josh Banks, was his first at any level this season. He spent most of the year at Double-A Bowie.

"I just tried swinging and hit the ball hard so [Jay Payton] could score from second," Hernandez said. "It was awesome. I hit that ball very good, but I never think it's going to go that far."

Payton hit a two-run homer off Banks in the second and drove in a run with an infield hit in the third, as the Orioles took a 4-0 lead. But his misplay later fueled a Blue Jays rally.

They scored twice off reliever Jim Hoey (3-4) in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead, the tying run crossing the plate when Payton dropped John-Ford Griffin's liner after Aaron Hill's leadoff double. Griffin came around on a single, passed ball and wild pitch.

"It didn't hit the right part of the glove," Payton said. "I was coming pretty hard and it just didn't stick."

Guthrie has gone nine starts without a victory, though he has lost only twice in that stretch. He faced one batter more than the minimum through four innings last night and could have gone beyond the fifth if the Orioles (68-91) had made enough plays behind him. But at least he was pitching again.

"He earned a lot of respect tonight," Trembley said. "He's probably one of the more well-liked guys on this team. He's a rookie in the big leagues and he doesn't pitch like one. He doesn't act like one. He doesn't go about his business like one."

Said Payton: "He didn't have to show me anything. He showed me enough before today."

Guthrie already was cemented in next year's plans, some of which were discussed earlier this week. Trembley met with team president Andy MacPhail on Wednesday to dissect the roster, and they'll engage in more talks by the weekend.

The bullpen will be a priority over the winter, with the club seeking an experienced closer and setup man to replace Chris Ray and Danys Baez, who are expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2008 season.

The Orioles also will attempt to sign or acquire a veteran starting pitcher who can give them innings, and Trembley indicated that he would be content with someone he could put in the third slot in the rotation. Guthrie likely would be No. 2 behind Erik Bedard.

"I think Guthrie could be a two," Trembley said. "I don't think it really matters to him."

Four straight hits and an error on Hernandez, who left second base too soon on an attempted force play, produced three runs in the fifth before Guthrie recorded an out. The first run scored on Griffin's fly ball that eluded Payton's reach and was ruled a double.

"It was really satisfying to be out there," Guthrie said. "I enjoy pitching and it's nice to end the season pitching healthy versus having to walk off the field injured."

? Notes // J.R. House hit his second homer in the eighth after replacing backup catcher Paul Bako two innings earlier. ... The Orioles shut down Corey Patterson, who hasn't played in the past 21 games because of a sprained left ankle. He batted .269 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 37 stolen bases. "I want to make this clear: Corey wanted to play," Trembley said. "But I said to him, 'If this was during the regular season, I would have to send you out on a minor league rehab.' What were we going to do, fly him down to Sarasota for instructional league for two days and fly him back here to play the last game on Sunday?" Patterson is a free agent after the season.

Last night, a tie in the NL East formed after the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets suffered a 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Chicago Cubs managed to break away a bit from the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and currently have a two-game lead. And in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks possess only a one-game lead in the division. The San Diego Padres are next in line, and they also lead the NL Wild Card by one game over the Mets and Phillies.

Meanwhile, the American League already has its representatives set. Though the New York Yankees could technically still win the AL East, the Boston Red Sox' magic number is one and that should be enough to get them their first division title in 12 years. The Yankees clinched at least the AL Wild Card, though, so there will still be October baseball in the Bronx. The Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched the AL Central and the AL West, respectively, on Sept. 23.

Now, since the American League is pretty much set, I think we're looking at an Indians vs. Yankees series and Red Sox vs. Angels series.

The Yankees' benefit greatly from a series against the Indians in the ALDS. There's no way they could play the Red Sox in the first round since they play in the same division. So, New York would either have to play Cleveland or Los Angeles. And the Yankees don't have a lot of luck against the Angels.

I'm not trying to say the Indians are pushovers, though. There's little doubt that the Indians will compete and put up a fight against New York in the first round. The Indians have some of the best pitching in baseball right now. C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona give Cleveland a strong start at the top of the rotation for the opening games of the series. But with Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte slated to get the first two games for New York, the Yankees certainly have a shot. This is especially true considering the Yankees boast perhaps the best offense in the MLB right now. I'm going with the Yankees taking the series in four games and moving on to the ALCS.

The Red Sox vs. Angels series seems pretty fun at first thought. But the Red Sox really outmatch the Angles pretty heavily both in hitting and pitching.

The Angels and Red Sox are both tremendous teams for contact hitting � No. 4 and 5 in the league, respectively. However, the Red Sox have a lot more power to offer at the plate than the Angels. Boston has 42 more team home runs than Los Angeles, and they also have 47 more team RBIs.

The Red Sox are also one of the best teams when it comes to pitching in the Majors. If it weren't for the Padres, they'd probably be the best pitching team in the MLB.

Josh Beckett is not only Boston's ace, but he's also pretty heavily in the running for the AL Cy Young Award. In fact, I'll go as far to say he's my selection for the award.

But Beckett is far from it in Boston pitching.

There's also Curt Schilling, who has playoff experience. There's Daisuke Matsuzaka, who doesn't quite have that same experience but is a 14-game winner in his rookie year and does have some knowledge of how to play in big games. Tim Wakefield can be a dependable arm when the playoffs roll around. And while the Red Sox don't exactly have a sure-fire No. 5 to send out to the mound, that's not entirely necessary in the postseason.

Los Angeles does have the talent to put up a fight, though. John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar are 18- and 17-game winners, respectively. They can more than carry their own. Jered Weaver comes in as a decent third arm, though he's not as clutch as he was last season. But past him, nobody has been all that reliable this season. So, while the Red Sox have at least four starters capable of putting on good performances in the playoffs, the Angels have two or potentially three.

And as long as the Red Sox limit Eric Gagné's game action, I'd venture that Boston also has a better bullpen.

So, with hitting and pitching both favorable for Boston, the Red Sox move on to the ALCS in four games to play the Yankees, in my opinion.

The National League is a bit trickier to figure out since all of its divisions are still up in the air.

For the life of me, I never figured Philadelphia would pull out a realistic possibility of making the playoffs.

The Mets could have avoided this situation by not dropping their last four games to the likes of the Washington Nationals (who swept the Mets) and the Cardinals. While they lost those games, the Phillies managed to take two of three from the Atlanta Braves and three of four from the Nationals. Now, Phillies fans are pretty much growing crazy because one weekend can turn Philadelphia into a city of absolute insanity.

Maybe it's the pessimist in me, but I'm still not buying the Phillies' hype. I believe the Phillies are still the Phillies and will get as close as humanly possible without actually getting there. In other words, I still see no playoffs in Philadelphia.

But hey, this is as close as they've come in quite some time. There really is no strength in schedule between the Mets and Phillies. New York closes out in a three-game set against the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia plays three against Washington. And if any team has the momentum to get some wins, it's the Phillies, who have played better baseball lately.

So it's just going to be a wait-and-see process at this point. Every game matters. And if the Phillies can pull this out, just making the playoffs will be cause of celebration for the team's fans. And the uproar in New York over the Mets will be pretty intense and I'm sure we'll see many calls for Willie Randolph to be fired.

In the NL Central, a two-game lead would seem to be enough of a cushion for the Cubs to make the playoffs this year. With a season-ending series of three games against the Cincinnati Reds, it's not as if it's a very tall order either to end the season with some wins. And with the Brewers playing their final three games against the Padres, I'd say the Cubs have the strength in schedule, bar none. Anything can happen in this final weekend of games, but I'd be willing to bet Chicago has the NL Central wrapped up.

The NL West is a bit more open. It's not exactly the first place tie the NL East has, but Arizona has only one win in its last four games. Meanwhile, the Padres have won three of their last four. So, the Padres have a little bit more momentum, and are only one game back. The Padres close out the season against the Brewers, so that's going to be a tight series with two teams that have an agenda. But the Padres seem to have a strong shot at winning the series, which they are already one-game up in. The Diamondbacks, on the other hand, have to play the Colorado Rockies, which I think is a tougher opponent than Milwaukee.
BALTIMORE - The last time Josh Banks pitched at Oriole Park, he earned Player of the Game honors while representing Severna Park High School in the 2000 Senior All-Star Classic. The competition was a little bit different last night but there was one similarity.
Banks made his first major league start for the Toronto Blue Jays. He was shakier during the second and third innings than he was in that 2000 effort, but Banks was sharp enough to pitch into the sixth inning.


WASHINGTON ― With his New York Mets teammates in the midst of a five-game losing streak and feeling the breath of the charging Philadelphia Phillies on their necks, Pedro Martinez strolls from the dugout to the left-field corner at RFK Stadium before a game with the Nationals last week. Adoring fans yell, "Pedro! Pedro!" as he makes his way toward the bullpen entrance and places his cleats on the outfield grass.
If Pedro is feeling the heat, he's masking it well. In Martinez's case, that might be the Yoda mask he threatens to pull from his locker for yuks.

Martinez strums along with Bryan Adams' Summer of '69, high-steppin' it along the way, then finishes his impromptu karaoke act with a make-believe pitch delivery.

By the time he bounces to the bullpen mound he's run his sprints, played long toss, dodged a batting practice fly ball into the pen and is ready for a 40-pitch side session.

If ever a team could use an ace in the hole, it's