At Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Day ....... Time ... TV ... Starters

Tonight ... 7: 35 .. HTS .. Pat Rapp (10-11, 5.21)

................ .......... vs. Sidney Ponson (7-7, 5.51)

Tomorrow .. 7: 05 .. 13, 50 Brian Barber (1-1, 10.13)

........................... vs. Mike Mussina (12-7, 3.53)

Sunday .... 1: 35 .. 13, 50 Chris Haney (5-6, 7.17)

................ .......... vs. Juan Guzman (8-13, 4.49)

Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM)

Royals update

The for-sale Royals are entering the final leg of a three-city, 10-game road trip. At 61-73, they can't be described as a good team. But in the AL Central, they are most definitely a second-place team. They are 5-2 on the trip, and had a staff ERA of 2.67 before last night's 11-1 drubbing by Toronto. The Royals have eight players on the disabled list, making their recent run even more remarkable. First baseman Jeff King went on the DL on Aug. 19 and Shane Mack on Aug. 7 with a bulging disk. Left-hander Glendon Rusch (6-15) also is unavailable, meaning the left-hander won't have a shot at a 20-loss season. Third baseman Dean Palmer has hit .357 (15-for-42) in his last 11 games, and has 47 RBIs in his last 40 games. The Orioles are 5-3 against the Royals this season. Warning: the Royals will run without hesitation. They hung a club-record eight stolen bases on the O's on Aug. 1. The Royals are 3-18 against the New York and Boston -- the league's two best team -- and 58-55 against the remainder of their opponents.

Pub Date: 8/28/98