The future Hall of Famer has been asked so often why the Los Angeles Angles were underperforming, he could be forgiven if his answer seemed a bit scripted.

“We have to chase the clubs that are in front of us,” he said. “We still have a lot of games. We need to start sooner than later. We just have to get ourselves ready and try.

“That’s all we can do.”

Everyone seems to have a theory on why a club with a $128 million payroll and a host of big-time sluggers like Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Mike Trout is closer to last place in the American West than first.

Trout believes injuries are the chief culprit. Manager Mike Scioscia blames a lack of offense.

The Angels (27-37) have dropped eight of their last 10 games, making their eight-game winning streak last month nothing more than a footnote to what is rapidly becoming a season to forget.

On Monday, the Baltimore Orioles stopped the Angels 4-3 despite a home run and two runs batted in by Hamilton, a five-time All-Star who lifted his anemic batting average to .216.

“It’s a matter of playing better,” said Scioscia, the team’s skipper since the 2000 season. “Every team is going to be banged up. We had some guys banged up early but I don’t that’s the reason for us being in our predicament.

“Ours is really a function of some guys trying to get comfortable in the batter’s box, some pitchers trying to get comfortable in their game.”

Starter Jered Weaver, slowed by an elbow injury in April, is just 1-2. Closer Ryan Madson, recovering from Tommy John elbow ligament surgery, has not pitched this season. Pujols, who signed a 10-year, $240 million deal in 2011, has some nagging injuries.

HOPEFUL TROUT

As players return from the disabled list, Trout sees hope.

“This is the first time since Opening Day that we’ve had a full line-up, with injuries and stuff,” said Trout, last season’s Rookie of the Year who is batting .304 in 2013. “We’ve got to play our own game, can’t try to do too much.

“When one player tries to do too much, it puts a lot of pressure on themselves. We’ve all got to do our role. If we do that, and pitch well, we should do OK.”

Injuries aside, some players are just underperforming.

Hamilton, who inked a five-year, $125 million deal over the winter, has struck out 65 times this year. C.J. Wilson, signed as a free agent in late 2011 after a 16-7 campaign with the Texas Rangers, is 4-5 with a 4.02 earned run average.

The fourth-place Angels are 11.5 games behind front-running Texas in the A.L. West and Trout said “it’s definitely frustrating when you lose a lot.

“We’re just not getting that big hit, that big pitch. We’re not going to give up, obviously.”

(Editing by Julian Linden)

Orb had won five successive races, including a dominant performance in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, but the 3-5 favorite in the field of nine ran out of gas in the Preakness stretch and never mounted a challenge.

McGaughey denied the short layoff from Churchill Downs had anything to do with the colt’s failure to fire.

“I don’t think two weeks had anything to do with it,” said McGaughey, back at the Preakness for the first time since Easy Goer lost to Sunday Silence by a nose in 1989.

“Oxbow ran back in two weeks. Itsmyluckyday ran back in two weeks. Mylute ran back in two weeks. I just think he got himself in a position where he wasn’t comfortable.

“They really weren’t spread out a little bit more than maybe I’d hoped. That probably affected him more than anything else.”

Oxbow ran sixth at the Derby but cruised to a wire-to-wire victory on Saturday, with Mylute second and Itsmyluckyday third.

Orb, with Joel Rosario in the silks, opened from the rail and immediately fell back to sixth in the mile-and-three-16th race (1900m) and despite the urging from the 117,203 at Pimlico Race Course, never found another gear.

“He was in a good spot early in the race,” said Rosario.

“They were going slow up front and he was fine. When I got to the half-mile pole, he had a hard time keeping up.

“I used my stick to try to get him going. He usually takes you there. He always runs hard. But today he never took off. He just steadied.”

McGaughey suggested the slow pace may have hurt the colt’s chances.

“The pace was slower than I anticipated,” he said.

“I thought maybe they would speed it up a little bit but they didn’t. I still thought we would close into it but it just wasn’t his day.

“I’m disappointed. I’ll probably be way more disappointed tomorrow but I know the game. It’s highs and lows, probably more lows than highs.”

McGaughey, a Hall of Fame trainer, has never won the Preakness. Meanwhile, Oxbow’s trainer, 77-year-old D. Wayne Lukas, made his sixth trip to the winner’s circle.

“We had a great run two weeks ago,” offered McGaughey.

“My hat’s off to Wayne to win his sixth Preakness. That’s pretty remarkable.”

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

The D. Wayne Lukas-trained bay bolted to the lead under cloudy skies and chilly temperatures at Pimlico Race Course and never tired, finishing 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Itsmyluckyday.

Rosie Napravnik guided Mylute to a third-place finish, while Kentucky Derby champion Orb finished fourth, tiring in the stretch and never getting into contention under Joel Rosario.

The victory Lukas’s 14th in Triple Crown races, including his sixth trip to the Preakness winner’s circle. Stevens, who came out of retirement last year, won his third Preakness.

The triumph was the first wire-to-wire victory in the Preakness since Aloma’s Ruler in 1982.

Oxbow finished sixth in the Derby two weeks ago at Churchill Downs.

“He didn’t get a lot of respect even after his great performance in the Derby,” said Stevens. “We came back and breezed him on Monday and what you see now is exactly how he acted in his workout.

“When I hit the half-mile pole, I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Is this happening?’ The race was over at that point. I just walked the dog to the half-mile pole.”

Orb opened at the inside one post and immediately fell back to sixth in the nine-horse race.

His fourth-place finish ensures that a Triple Crown champion will have to wait another year. The last horse to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes was Affirmed in 1978.

The Belmont Stakes will be on June 8 at Belmont Park in New York.

Oxbow’s winning time for the mile-and-three-16th race was 1:57:54.

(Editing by Gene Cherry)

He knows it’s premature to be thinking like that. He just can’t help it.

“I try to block it out, but if you’re in this position, anybody would think about it,” he said. “Of course, you get reminded of it quite often.

“It’s a thrilling thought, but we’ve got to get by Saturday. If we get by Saturday, it’ll be quite an interesting three weeks.”

Orb needs to win the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday to have a chance at becoming just the 12th Triple Crown champion and first since Affirmed in 1978.

There are few doubters – even among rival trainers and jockeys – that Orb is the best horse in the nine-horse, $1 million race at time-worn Pimlico Race Course.

Orb is the morning line, even-money favorite following his 2 1/2 length, come-from-behind victory over a sloppy track in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. The Kentucky-bred bay, who will break from the inside post on Saturday, has won five straight races, including all four starts in 2013.

A victory on Saturday would put Orb in position to try and complete the Triple Crown at the grueling mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes in New York on June 8.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who is saddling Will Take Charge, Titletown Five, and Oxbow in the Preakness, conceded that Orb is the favorite because of his Derby run.

He said, however, it’s too early to pronounce the son of Malibu Moon a superhorse and believed Orb and his red-hot jockey Joel Rosario could be beaten.

“In racing we’re really quick to say there are bad horses and equally quick to anoint them as great horses and bronze them and put them in the infield,” Lukas, a five-time Preakness winner, told reporters at the Pimlico Stakes Barn.

“If it was that easy, you guys wouldn’t be here. You’d be betting on them and going home and getting a plane to the Bahamas. It’s not a mail-in deal.”

Mylute, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, is the 5-1 second choice in the morning line, followed by Illinois Derby winner Departing at 6-1, and Santa Anita Derby champion Goldencents at 8-1.

Napravnik, who will break from the five hole, cautioned against believing the Preakness is a one-horse race but admitted, “I’ll have my eye on Orb.”

“He’ll be inside of me, which I like,” she said. “His race in the Derby was extremely impressive. And I know that for sure because I watched him the whole way.

“We followed him right around there,” she added with a smile.

DISTANCE RUNNER

Should Orb win the Preakness, Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey believes the colt would have little problem with the length of the Belmont Stakes, a distance that has dashed many Triple Crown dreams.

“It’s not like you worry about him getting the mile-and-a-half,” he told Reuters. “I wouldn’t be worried of him being spent after the Preakness just because of the way Shug McGaughey brings them to races.

“He didn’t play his entire hand out just to make the Kentucky Derby. Only because the horse was doing so well in his last couple of races prior to that did he even consider going.

“So the horse could conceivably be on the way up.”

Bob Baffert, like Lukas a five-time Preakness winner, will send Sunland Derby winner Govenor Charlie, a 12-1 choice, to the post on Saturday.

He said only time will tell if Orb is Triple Crown worthy, especially since rivals jockeys will be stalking him through the mile-and-three-16th Preakness.

“They’re watching him,” he said. “They know he’s the horse to beat. You’re at the mercy of the other riders.

“But I’ll tell you what, Rosario he might come out and put that horse in the lead. You never know what he’s going to do.”

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

“If he’ll scratch, I’ll feel better about the whole race,” said Lukas, who will saddle three colts in the nine-horse race though none better than 12-1 odds in the morning line.

“That’s an exceptional horse, and in great hands. It’s going to be difficult to beat him. His work this week was great.”

Orb, an even-money favorite in the morning line ridden by Joel Rosario, has been unbeatable this year – literally – with four straight wins and is riding a five-race winning streak.

The son of Malibu Moon will break from the one hole but trainer Shug McGaughey saw no problems opening along the rail.

“The ’1′ is different here than it is at Churchill. The race starts at the three-sixteenths pole here and it’s a straight shot. We’ll be fine,” said McGaughey, who has not competed in the Preakness since 1989, when Easy Goer lost to Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence by a nose.

“If I got to pick it out, that wouldn’t have been what I picked, but I’m not worried about it.”

Orb came from off the pace at Churchill Downs on May 4 to win by 2 1/2 lengths, and should he win Saturday’s 138th running of the Preakness, he can become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 with a victory at the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

If the Kentucky-bred bay stumbles Saturday during his Triple Crown quest, it may be to Mylute, a gray colt who overcame a rough start to finish fifth at Louisville two weeks ago, or to well-rested Illinois Derby champion Departing.

‘CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL’

Todd Quast, general manager of GoldMark Farm, co-owner of Mylute, said the mile-and-three-16ths Preakness sets up perfectly for his colt, who will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik.

“He is the consummate professional horse,” said Quast. “His demeanor off the track is what you would want. He eats, sleeps and nothing bothers him. It’s a perfect type of situation.”

Napravnik would become the first female jockey to win the Preakness if she can guide Mylute to the winner’s circle at venerable Pimlico Race Course.

Departing, with Brian Hernandez in the silks, has not raced since winning the Grade III Illinois Derby on April 20. The bay gelding has won four of five career starts, the only blemish being a third-place finish in the Louisiana Derby in March.

Trainer Al Stall gave his horse a pass in the Louisiana Derby because it was his first big race. He compared it to the National Football League where most players need a little seasoning, except for Washington’s Robert Griffin III or Indianapolis’s Andrew Luck.

“He did not have a lot of trouble in the Louisiana Derby,” said Stall. “It’s like going from the college game to the pros, except for RGIII or Andrew Luck. Everything is a little faster and the holes were moving a little faster than he was.

“In the Illinois Derby, he took Brian where he needed to go. I think the extra ground (a sixteenth of a mile farther than the 1 1/8-mile Illinois Derby) will help him.

“There is plenty of gas in the tank.”

Among those also in the field are Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents, who finished 17th over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs, and Florida Derby runner-up Itsmyluckyday, a 15th-place finisher in Louisville.

The 77-year-old Lukas, a five-time Preakness winner, will start Will Take Charge, Oxbow and Titletown Five.

Orb is clearly the horse to beat but McGaughey remains cautiously optimistic.

“If he goes over and runs his race, I’m quietly confident that he’ll be tough to beat,” he said. “It’s just like I was at the Derby.

“I was quietly confident all week that he was going to run his race and if that was good enough, it would be good enough. I feel the same this time.”

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

With just nine horses entered in the $1 million race at Pimlico, Orb’s trainer Shug McGaughey said he expected his three-year-old to get a smooth run under the guidance of his red-hot jockey Joel Rosario.

“He’ll get a clean break and he’ll be able to sit where he wants to sit,” said McGaughey.

“If he’s good enough, he’ll be able to make that run, and hopefully he gets there.”

A versatile runner, Orb came from well behind to win the Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4 after drawing 16th in a far more congested field.

“It’s a big difference than 19 or 20 horses, especially trying to get around that first turn at Churchill Downs,” McGaughey said.

“I think here they’ll probably spread themselves out with just nine and we’ll be fine.

Rosie Napravnik, looking to become the first female jockey to win the Preakness, will ride the second favorite, Mylute, a 5-1 morning line choice that will start from the fifth gate.

Illinois Derby winner Departing, a bay gelding who did not run at Churchill Downs, was listed as the third choice at 6-1 and will break from the four hole under Brian Hernandez.

Departing’s trainer Al Stall said he believed his horse, a winner in three of four starts this year, would be fresher after skipping the trip to Kentucky.

“In this day and age the modern thoroughbred seems to like a little time in-between races,” he said. “I don’t know why. So we’re fortunate enough to have 28 days between the Illinois Derby and now.

“It gave us time to improve and he really has improved. You can see it on a day-to-day basis when you train him.”

Other horses in the Preakness include Goldencents, the Santa Anita Derby winner who finished a disappointing 17th at Churchill Downs for trainer Doug O’Neill, and Florida Derby runner-up Itsmyluckyday.

O’Neill’s Kentucky-bred bay, an 8-1 early line choice, will break from the second post with Kevin Krigger in the silks, while Itsmyluckyday opens from the far outside at 10-1 odds.

Stall said the post positions would have little bearing on the race, to be run on dirt over a mile and three-sixteenths.

“The post doesn’t really matter in this type of race, this type of track with a nine-horse field,” he said. “It’s just a good party to come to.”

If Orb wins the Preakness, he will have the chance to complete the elusive Triple Crown, the greatest prize in U.S. thoroughbred horse racing.

It has been 35 years since the last horse, Affirmed, swept the three classic races, but a victory in the Preakness would give Orb his chance to join the sport’s elite if he can win the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 8.

His chances of winning the second leg were helped by the reduced entries for the Preakness, which will go off with the smallest field since 2007.

(Editing by Julian Linden)

The Washington Nationals catcher silently points to a tattoo on his muscular left forearm with the date he was rescued after a shootout between his captors and police.

He pauses a moment to gather his thoughts.

“That was a hard experience, terrible,” he said softly, staring at the floor in the team clubhouse. “I will never forget that. That thing will always be in my mind.

“I’m happy to be here, just to be able to concentrate on baseball.”

If the anguish of his two-day ordeal in the mountains was a test of his mental acumen, the 25-year-old Ramos was tormented physically last May in a game against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Venezuelan native retreated to field a passed ball and tore an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee when his spikes stuck in the grass.

He was lost for the season and forced to watch the Nationals amass Major League Baseball’s best record on television.

“I heard something pop,” Ramos told Reuters of the injury. “At that moment I thought I had lost everything. After the surgery, it was about working hard. All I could think about is, ‘I want to come back. I want to come back.’”

Ramos is back and although he shares the catching duties with Kurt Suzuki, manager Davey Johnson gave him the starting assignment on Opening Day because of his rehabilitation work.

“He’s as strong as a bull and with the hard work he did to get back as quickly as he did, he realizes what it feels like to be in a little better shape,” said Johnson.

“From day one, he’s been bouncing around as good as any of them.”

Ramos has dropped nearly 20 pounds (9kg)from his 6-foot (1.8m) frame and is now about 235 pounds. He has also changed his batting stance, crouching just a bit more than a year ago.

Although he has only 17 at-bats heading into Friday night’s key series against Atlanta, Ramos, a career .271 hitter in his fourth big-league season, is batting.353 with an on-base percentage of .450.

RAMOS ‘EXCITED’

Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg, who had Tommy John ligament surgery on his right arm in 2010, is delighted to see his batterymate back on the field.

“He’s a great catcher,” said Strasburg. “Defensively he sees the ball really well. And having his bat back in the line-up is huge. Hey, he’s a great guy.

“And obviously, I can relate to having him come back from a serious injury.”

Strasburg could not, however, relate to Ramos’s kidnapping calamity.

“When you talk about stuff like that, playing well doesn’t even matter,” he said. “The fact that he and his family are safe and that he’s able to go out there and have fun and playing the game, that’s the big thing.”

Ramos agrees, saying he is “excited” to play and is looking forward to helping the Nationals reach the World Series.

“It’s been a long time that I’ve waited for this,” he said. “It was a hard surgery and then there was rehab. But I feel better now than before I got hurt.”

(Editing by Frank Pingue)

The 27-year-old, six-year major league veteran clubbed an opposite-field grand slam in the eighth inning to lead the Orioles to a come-from-behind 9-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday.

Davis joins Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998) and Nelson Cruz (2011) as the only players to have hit home runs in the first four games of the season.

“It’s nothing magical,” Davis softly told a throng of reporters huddled around his locker. “I feel comfortable and I feel like I’m being patient.”

Davis drilled the first pitch from reliever Tyler Robertson about 10 rows into the left-field stands, triggering a wild celebration by the crowd of more than 46,000 at the Orioles’ home opener.

Davis has hit .600 with a staggering 16 runs batted in, shattering the only big-league record of 12 after the first four games of the season.

While Davis was not trumpeting his numbers, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter gladly picked up the slack.

“His contact to damage ratio is real good right now,” he said. “I’m glad he’s on our side … Chris is not taking anything for granted. I’m as proud of the way he’s handling his success as I am with the success he’s having.”

Davis clubbed a career-high 33 homers a year ago when the once-proud franchise ended a 14-year playoff drought. The Orioles are 3-1 this year and Davis is the toast of Baltimore.

He had five runs batted in on Friday, and has 11 homers in his last 11 games, dating back to last year.

Davis jumped on Robertson’s offering on the outside part of the plate and before the ball landed, the Camden Yards party had started. The blast capped a five-run eighth inning for the Orioles.

“It was actually a really good pitch,” said Davis, who has at least three RBI’s in each of the Orioles games this year. “The ball just kept carrying. And obviously it went out of the yard.”

Minnesota (2-2) led 4-2 in the fourth and 5-4 in the eighth before the roof fell in.

“There are a lot of good hitters up there and we made some mistakes,” said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. “Before you know it, Davis comes up, he gets a fastball and deposits it. And there you have it.”

(Editing by Ian Ransom)

Harper belted two home runs off starter Ricky Nolasco to lift the Nationals to a 2-0 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday in the season opener for both teams.

The 20-year-old Harper lined a 1-0 offering from the Miami right-hander into the right-centerfield stands to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

A capacity crowd of 45,274 roared its delight for Harper, who hit over .400 in spring training and carried the momentum over into the regular season.

“The first one was very cool,” the 20-year-old Harper told reporters. “Being able to share that with these fans, my family, this organization, this team was a great moment.

Harper’s second shot, on a 3-2 pitch, opened the fourth inning. Both home-run pitches were off-speed deliveries from Nolasco, a 30-year-old, seven-year veteran and gave Washington flamethrower Stephen Strasburg all the support he needed.

“I just tried to react to something I could hit,” said Harper, who made the National League All-Star team a year ago as a teenager. “Nolasco is a great pitcher.

“He carved me all up last year. Being able to get two knocks off of him was good for me.”

After the first homer, Harper gave manager Davey Johnson an exuberant high-five. The 70-year-old skipper was delighted Harper delivered a less emphatic one following his second blast.

“I’m glad he cut it down on the second one,” Johnson said with a laugh. “My hand was still stinging from the first one.”

Nolasco pitched six solid innings, giving up just three hits while walking two and striking out five, but those hanging pitches to Harper helped spoil the opener of the Marlins’ 20th anniversary season.

“Two bad pitches there for home runs and that was the difference in the game or otherwise we would still be playing,” Miami manager Mike Redmond said. “We had some opportunities to score.”

One of those chances was erased when Harper’s laser throw to the plate after a Rob Brantly fly-out to left in the seventh helped trigger a rundown that ultimately had Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton nailed at the plate.

Nationals manager Johnson, who labeled this season a “World Series or bust” campaign, could not have set up his team’s victory any better.

Strasburg tossed seven innings of three-hit ball before yielding to set-up reliever Tyler Clippard. Rafael Soriano, who had 42 saves for the New York Yankees a year ago, pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the win.

Harper, who hit 22 home runs for the Nationals last season after he was promoted from the minor leagues in late April, said he could conjure an even better time for his star performance.

“The perfect formula would be a World Series win,” he said. “That would be really cool. If that was Game Seven and we did that and won the ball game, that would be the perfect thing.

“But having Strasburg be able to throw seven, Clip come in for the eighth and Soriano for the ninth, that’s pretty unbelievable.”

(Editing by Larry Fine)

With their top scorer and go-to guy now wearing a Toronto Raptors uniform, the surging Grizzlies (47-23) have moved to within six games of front-running San Antonio in the West.

“Let me give credit to our management for seeing the vision before we did,” Grizzlies guard Tony Allen told Reuters with a chuckle.

When Gay was jettisoned to the Raptors in a three-team trade on January 31 it was widely believed the Grizzlies were throwing in the towel on the once-promising season.

But Memphis has gone 18-8 since acquiring Tayshaun Prince and 6-foot-11 (2.1m) forward Austin Daye from Detroit, along with Raptors forward Ed Davis, a developing third-year NBA forward, in the trade for Gay.

Allen said Prince, who won the 2004 NBA title with Detroit, and Daye, a four-year pro out of Gonzaga University, have blended beautifully with the Grizzlies.

“We traded for a champion and an upcoming big,” said Allen. “We pretty much had a core group already. When you have guys like that come in with high basketball IQs, you ain’t going to miss no beat.

“Rudy is a volume shooter, a volume scorer. He needs a lot of attempts, a lot of possessions. With this group, it’s more continuity, ball movement, a lot of pick and roll action.

“We switch up our weapons more with this team.”

Gay has a career 18.0-point scoring average but zero All-Star appearances during his six years in the league, and Memphis was reluctant to spend $54 million to keep him for three more seasons.

Memphis coach Lionel Hollins was initially upset over the trade but understood the economics of the game.

“It wasn’t that I was angry but people were asking me if I’d do it and I said, ‘No,’” Hollins said on Monday with his team in Washington for a game against the Wizards. “But if I were in management’s position, I don’t know that I wouldn’t have.

“As a front-office person, running the show and writing the checks, I may have done it as well.”

PRINCE SHINES

Hollins said the 33-year-old Prince, a small forward who is averaging just over nine points for the Grizzlies, has fit in well.

“Tayshaun Prince has been a very valuable addition,” he said. “He’s a very efficient player. He doesn’t score like Rudy but he does a lot of other things that Rudy did.

“Ed Davis has come in and given us a little bit of a lift backing up the power forward spot, Austin Daye has had his moments.”

Without Gay, Memphis is built around All-Star forward Zach Randolph and center Marc Gasol, currently sidelined with an abdominal tear.

Hollins said “the key to winning is being a good team that plays together and relies on a lot of people.”

“People forget that in sports,” he said. “You look at San Francisco and the Ravens in the NFL. You look at them individually, people thought the Ravens were too old, too slow.

“Oh, this (San Francisco) quarterback (Colin Kaepernick) is going to run all over them and throw for 800 yards. Ravens win the Super Bowl. It’s about being a good team.”

The Grizzlies have already clinched a playoff spot with the fifth-best record in the West.

“We’re doing it together, collectively,” said Allen. “The one thing that stands out on each individual is that everyone wants to win. I’m definitely all in.”

(Editing by Frank Pingue)