The All-Star Break finds the Birds in first place by 51/2 games over the surging Jays. As the second half opens, Frank Robinson is still worried about the pitching corps. Jay Tibbs has gone down for the season, and Jeff Ballard has had some arm miseries, as well. Ben McDonald, the team's number one draft pick, is an alternative, but he has yet to even sign with the team, so seeing him before September seems unlikely.

To make matters worse, the team with the best record in baseball, the California Angels, are the first team the Orioles face after the break. The Orioles are crushed in Game One, losing 13-5, and the naysayers cluck their tongues in agreement...the Orioles aren't for real.

On Friday night, though, 45,921 show up at Memorial Stadium to seemingly will the young Birds to a victory. The Orioles strike for three runs in the second inning, but the best is yet to come. Mike Devereaux strolls to the plate in the third with the bases full of Birds but two outs. Kirk McKaskill has gotten the first two batters on a strikeout and a popup, and now only Devo remains between the Halos and a scoreless inning. Devereuax doesn't offer much statistically; he's currently 1 for 23. But he smacks a base hit up the middle, and two more runs score, making the score 5-1. The Angels roar back, and Gregg Olson is called on once more to quench the fire. Instead, he feeds it. After throwing seven straight balls in the eighth, Olson loads the bases with one out.

Robinson trudges to the mound, lifts his cap, and says, "look at the gray hairs you've given me," turns on his heel, and trots back to the dugout. Olson pops up Devon White and strikes out Wally Joyner looking at a by-now patented third strike curveball. Olson goes on to finish his 15th save in 15 attempts as the O's win, 6-4.

Saturday night, the O's find themselves in the thick of a heated battle as the Angels are struggling to remain ahead of the A's in the West. They blast Dave Schmidt for five runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Orioles struggle to get back in it, but the Angels pull ahead again and again, finally establishing a 7-3 lead in the seventh. In their half, though, the O's strike back on a Steve Finley single and a two run triple by Joltin' Joe Orsulak. Still, they trail 7-6 and the Angels score again in the eighth frame and gain in the ninth. When the O's come up for their last gasp, they still trail by 2. But with one out, Mickey Tettleton and Randy Milligan both draw walks. Both advance on a wild pitch. Larry Sheets, who has not had a successful pinch hit opportunity all season, unbelievably picks now to deliver a two run single, tying the contest. The bedlam has barely subsided when Mike Devereuax steps to the plate again and delivers a blast down the left field line. Its curving, curving, curving...HOME RUN !!! In a game they never led until the last pitch, the O's pull out another improbable victory. While the crowd cheers, Angels manager Doug Rader and coach Marcel Lacheman go berserk at third at the call of umpire Jim Joyce. After looking at the replays ten times, no one can be sure if it was fair, or foul. But it counted.

On Sunday, Rader is ejected in the home plate exchange as he and Ken Kaiser get into it over the previous night's call. Bob Milacki feeds off the energy from the crowd and trails 1-0 after seven innings in his match with Mike Witt. In the seventh, Tettleton, Sheets, Devereuax, and Traber all single, plating two runs. Olson enters the game, but for the first time all season, does not get the save. A broken bat single, stolen base, and a dying quail plate the tying run for the Halos. In the top of the 11th, the Angels load the bases with two outs, but struggling pitcher "Texas" Mike Smith (think: Chad Paronto) gets a groundout and the stalemate continues. In their hald, Cal walks, bringing the Froot Loops Kid to the dish. Tettleton hits a screamer down the first base line for a double that scores Ripken, and the Orioles take three out of four despite being outhit in every game.

Seattle comes in next, and the O's take the opener, 8-4, behind Pete Harnisch, who posts his first ML victory with a 8 1/3 inning outing. The next night, Froot Loops and The Moose hit homers, and Craig Worthington adds a two run shot as the Birds win again, 4-3. The O's now lead the Yankees by 7 1/2 games.

On the last night of the set, the O's lose 7-0 as Brian Holton is rocked for five runs in two innings. The O's now hit the road for a 14 game road trip, their longest in several seasons. It begins in Oakland, where the injured Jose Canseco has just joined the A's.

Next Time: Westward Ho