The teen-age years end today for Matt Riley, who celebrates his 20th birthday on a day off for the Double-A Bowie Baysox.

Now, the climb to the majors turns even more serious for the Orioles' most prized pitching prospect.

Riley eschewed the Pan American Games and the Double-A All-Star Game and threw only one pitch in the Futures Game in Boston because he wants his minor-league education to continue unabated.

"I just didn't feel it was best to get caught up in all those things," Riley said. "I felt it was better to stay here and work with Schmitty [Baysox pitching coach Dave Schmidt]. With the Pan Am team, I'd have gotten two starts; here, I'll get four. At this point, the more work the better."

Riley, a left-hander with a monster curveball and a golden arm, is clearly on the fast track. He devours every tidbit he can about his craft and opposing hitters, and he has become a completely different pitcher from the one who tore through the Single-A South Atlantic League (1.19 ERA, 136 strikeouts in 83 innings, no home runs allowed) last season at Delmarva.

"He's learned a lot of things here," said Bowie manager Joe Ferguson. "Last year, he was basically a five-inning pitcher, and now he's getting into the eighth and ninth consistently. He's found out that you've got to be able to throw strikes and to try to get people out within three pitches. Now, he doesn't try to strike out anybody until he has two strikes on them.

"When Matt gets ahead of hitters and stays ahead, he is even that much more dominating than he was."

Riley said: "I've matured. I'm sacrificing strikeouts for outs. I know I have to do that to stay out there for the biggest part of the game."

Riley, who is 7-3 with a 2.65 ERA at Bowie, striking out 82 in 85 innings, has set 2000 as his goal for making the Orioles' rotation and said he is "delighted" with his progress in the organization. "Early this season [at Single-A Frederick], I kind of got knocked around a little, and maybe that was a help in disguise. I knew I had to get out and start competing. I said to myself, 'It's time to rebound, Matt.' "

In lower A ball, Riley said, he often just went "fastball, fastball, curve, OK, you're out." The changeup was unnecessary. Now, he does a lot more homework.

"Up here, the hitters are a lot more experienced, and you have to study them and look for weaknesses. I do a lot of scouting on my own, even when I'm not doing the pitching chart," he said.

Ferguson said: "The whole package has just gotten better. This kid wants to learn everything, and he's a tremendous competitor. He knows how to attack."

Triple-A Rochester

A Rochester club that has been somnambulant most of the season has suddenly come alive. The Red Wings lost a 19-7 game to Charlotte, which had 13 doubles and four home runs, then won five straight and moved out of last place in the Triple-A International League North for the first time since May 16. Since the exhibition game against the Orioles on June 28, the team is 19-8 and has more wins in July (18) than in May and June combined (16). The dream infield of Calvin Pickering, Jerry Hairston, Jesse Garcia and Ryan Minor played together at home for the first time in Game 105 and won. The Wings are 4-0 overall when all four start. Doug Linton has been on fire. In July, he was 4-0 with an 0.97 ERA in five starts and twice in a row was named league Pitcher of the Week. He had 38 strikeouts and walked only five in 37 innings. Former closer Rafael Pina also picked up the tempo, permitting only two runs and striking out nine with one walk over two starts. Terry Burrows rejoined the club after rehabilitating a partial tear of the rotator cuff in Florida and threw three scoreless innings. Scott Livingstone was released and signed by the Mets' organization. Injured outfielder Jose Herrera went home to the Dominican Republic, his season finished.

Double-A Bowie

During a critical stretch, playoff contending Bowie was missing leading hitter Rick Short, who was knocked out of six games with a shoulder injury suffered in a home plate collision. Short is batting .330, fourth in the Eastern League. After a slow start, Luis Matos has warmed up. He hit four homers in nine games, batting .385 during that stretch, and raised his overall average to .252. Matos already has seven steals, though he has been with the club for only a month. The Baysox's fate will probably be determined starting Aug. 16, when they play 14 of 17 games at home, including big series with Erie and Altoona, their leading division rivals. They recently came out of a three-game losing streak, their longest of the season. Catcher Jayson Werth may be out longer than first thought. A fracture is feared in his right wrist, which was struck by a thrown ball while he dived back into third base. Carlos Medina and Cesar Devarez are scheduled to rejoin the club this week after playing for the Dominican Republic in the Pan Am Games.

Single-A Frederick

Josh McNatt took Brandon Huntsman's spot in the Frederick rotation and won his first start back from rehabbing in Florida. McNatt notched his first victory, though he was the starter who went six innings when the Keys threw a no-hitter in April. Huntsman retired after being demoted to Delmarva. The Keys are challenging for the Northern Division title of the Carolina League's second half and face a critical four-game series this weekend against first-place Lynchburg. At Lynchburg, the Keys batted .378 in their four-game series. Pappy Ndungidi had a rough time at Delmarva and was moved to Frederick to be paired with manager Andy Etchebarren again. He has responded by moving his average into the .240 range. The Keys have won seven straight extra-inning games and 11 of their past 14 one-run decisions. Darnell McDonald had two or more hits in 15 of 35 games. Frederick is in a heated battle with Wilmington for the attendance title. Through Thursday, the Keys were averaging 4,466 to the Blue Rocks' 4,583.

Single-A Delmarva

Eleven 1999 draft picks are turning Delmarva into a respectable team after a 26-44 first half. The Shorebirds entered the weekend with nine wins in 15 games and only 3 1/2 games out of first place in the Northern Division. Delmarva continues to receive solid starting pitching (3.01 ERA in 43 games), with John Stephens leading the league in complete games and strikeouts. Juan Guzman has permitted three or fewer earned runs in 10 consecutive starts, and Steve Bechler has a 1.89 ERA in three outings. The effectiveness of the staff shows in the team's hitting figures. The Shorebirds are hitting .201 over 12 games with nine strikeouts a game, yet the team is 8-4 during that span. Among the slumpers are Tim Raines Jr. (4-for-32), Tom McGee (2-for-22), Mike Diaz (3-for-28) and Matt Purkiss (11-for-80). Pitcher Jancy Andrade was added to the roster from Rookie-level Bluefield when Sonny Garcia returned to the disabled list. The Shorebirds again pace the league by a wide margin with an average of 4,125.

Rookie level

In Rookie ball, Bluefield is struggling badly, but Gulf Coast is a contender, thanks in large measure to some surprises. Non-drafted outfielder Alex Gordon had a 13-game hitting streak (.480 with 18 RBIs) and is among the league leaders in home runs, RBIs, triples, extra-base hits and batting average, and pitcher David Tavarez, who was invited to "Early Bird" camp, went 13 innings without allowing an earned run. He is 6-0 with a 1.88 ERA and tops the league in wins. Rehabilitating Julio Moreno has not yielded a run in six innings, and 1999 draft choice Scott Rice went three scoreless innings in his first outing.