Bordick continues to chase record
BALTIMORE, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Veteran Baltimore shortstop Mike Bordick, who ran his streak of errorless games to 99 errorless games Tuesday, goes for the record Wednesday night against Toronto.
Bordick, who is now three games short of breaking the Major League record for consecutive errorless games by a shortstop, is expected to play. He already holds the team record which, until last Friday, was held by the legendary Cal Ripken, who had 96 errorless games.
Rey Ordonez of the New York Mets had 101 over the 1999-2000 seasons.
Bordick knows he is in the running to win a Gold Glove at his position. If so, the he will have impressive competition.
"I think there's been talk of [me winning the Gold Glove] before, but I've played shortstop 12 years along with (Cleveland's) Omar (Visquel)," Bordick said. "It's an honor to be talked about though. I've been playing the position so long and these days, there are so many good players. (Miguel) Tejada (of Oakland), (Derek) Jeter (of the New York Yankees), A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez of Texas)."
Bordick, 37, is set to break the record Friday against the Boston Red Sox. He has committed one error this season. That was April 10 on a grounder by Tampa Bay's Greg Vaughn.
Bordick has executed 493 consecutive errorless chances, perhaps turning in the best defensive season ever by a shortstop.
He has been a shining light in an otherwise dismal campaign for the Orioles, who take a mark of 67-83 into Wednesday night's contest against the Blue Jays.
QB Harrington to start for Lions
ALLEN PARK, Mich., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Quarterback Joey Harrington, the third overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft, will make his first pro start Sunday when the Detroit Lions host the Green Bay Packers in the first regular season game at Ford Field.
After last Sunday's 31-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Coach Marty Mornhinweg, who is just 2-16 in his one-plus seasons as the Lions' head man, said initially he would not make any changes at the position.
He had been forced to change his mind, saying announcing Wednesday that Harrington would replace second-year man Mike McMahon, who started Detroit's first two games, both blowout losses.
The struggling Lions opened with a 49-21 setback to the Miami Dolphins.
McMahon completed just 9-of-23 passes against the Panthers, lowering his career completion percentage to 45.8 and his rating to 53.6.
Despite his statistics, Mornhinweg indicated he felt it was time to make a change.
"We are going to handle our personnel a little differently," Mornhinweg told reporters Wednesday following the morning walk-through. "The quarterback is involved in that decision. For Mike McMahon, it is nothing that he did or didn't do. We did not give him much help at all. We played fairly well in that first game with the exception of one play. Quite honestly, no one gave him much help in the loss Sunday."
McMahon said the change did not come as a surprise.
"I think everyone was kind of expecting this, especially with our situation," McMahon said. "It is a business. A business decision was made and you have to live with it."
McMahon said he had every chance to produce and with the offense struggling, he understands that a move could have been made at any time.
"It wasn't an impossible situation," McMahon said. "If we were productive and we were winning games and doing the right things, then the whole thing would be a different question. Offensively, we didn't produce. That is what it came down to."
Harrington, a finalist for college football's Heisman Trophy at Oregon last season, played in Detroit's first two games but completed just 7-of-18 passes for 52 yards and has a dismal rating of 23.2.
Redskins QB cleared to play Sunday
ASHBURN, Va., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Washington Redskins starting quarterback Shane Matthews, who was injured in Monday night's drubbing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles, has been cleared to play this week and will start against San Francisco.
Matthews was named the team's No. 1 signal-caller just before their season-opening win over Arizona. In that contest, he passed for 326 yards and three touchdowns and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Things were vastly different against the Eagles.
He threw for just 62 yards on 10-of-22 passing, with one interception through two quarters, and suffered a bruised left shoulder. He was hurt late in the second quarter when hit by safety Brian Dawkins after a blitz and did not return, although he claimed he could have played if necessary.
Coach Steve Spurrier said Matthews will start against the 49ers, but may not be at full strength limited in practices this week.
"Shane Matthews kind of got a bruised shoulder," Spurrier said. "I don't think it's too bad. He may be a little limited in practice. We'll see how that goes this week."
Spurrier also said Patrick Ramsey, the team's No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft, will be given more practice time in the future as a stopgap. A couple of weeks ago, he said Ramsey, who was a contract holdout at training camp, would not learn the system quickly enough to play this season.
Spurrier indicated that the confidence of current No. 2 Danny Wuerffel isn't where it needs to be.
Depleted Falcons sign two free agents
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The Atlanta Falcons have signed cornerback Kevin Mathis and injury-plagued defensive end Reggie McGrew.
Mathis spent three years with the Dallas Cowboys and the last two with the New Orleans Saints, but was waived before training camp because of neck and back problems. He started 29 games over the last two seasons with the Saints.
The Falcons hope he will help offset the loss of starting cornerback Ray Buchanan, who will miss three more games because of a steroid-related suspension.
McGrew was a first-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in 1999. He played in 12 games last season, and made his first start in San Francisco's playoff loss at Green Bay.
McGrew missed all of his rookie season with a triceps tendon tear and played in 10 games in 2000 as a reserve.
The Falcons also signed returner-receiver Damon Gibson and waived cornerback Rodney Heath, defensive end Ronald Flemons and rookie receiver Kahlil Hill.
Gibson was waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars after he fumbled a punt return in their season-opening loss to Kansas City. He also played for Cincinnati and Cleveland.
Heath was signed by the Falcons last Wednesday after the Buchanan suspension was announced. He was waived by the Carolina Panthers in training camp after playing three seasons with Cincinnati.
Flemons, a seventh-round pick in 2001, played in just one game as a rookie and on a limited basis this season.
Hill was the Falcons' sixth-round pick in 2002, and was moved from the practice squad to the 53-man roster last Saturday in a move necessitated by a hamstring injury suffered by cornerback/kick-returner Allen Rossum.
Zednik re-signs with Montreal
MONTREAL, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The Montreal Canadiens and right wing Richard Zednik Wednesday agreed to terms on a two-year contract through the 2003-04 season.
Terms of the contract were not made public.
Zednik, 26, will enter his seventh season in the NHL and third with the Canadiens, who acquired him from the Washington Capitals on March 13, 2001. Last season, he scored 22 goals and totaled 44 points while playing in all 82 games.
The native of Slovakia also scored four goals in the first four games against Boston in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but was the victim of a cheap shot by Boston's Kyle McLaren in Game Four, suffering a concussion and a broken nose that sidelined him for the remainder of the postseason.
The eighth-seeded Canadiens upset the Bruins before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
Sabres ink former top draft pick
BUFFALO, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The Buffalo Sabres Wednesday announced they have signed center Jiri Novotny, their first-round pick in the 2001 draft, to a multi-year contract.
Terms were not made public.
Novotny, 19, was the 22nd overall pick in last year's draft, when he was rated 11th among European players available. The 6-4, 194-pounder from the Czech Republic finished second on his team in scoring at the 2001 Under-18 World Championships.
Novotny spent the last two seasons with HC Ceske Budejovice of the Czech Sr. League. In 41 games last season, he had eight goals and six assists.
"Jiri is a hard-working and very dependable player," said Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier. "He is a good skater with strong playmaking abilities. We are very excited to have him join our organization."
