A strange and frustrating summer for Josh Towers has taken him from the Orioles' rotation to Triple-A Rochester's pitching staff to the disabled list.

Now look where he has gone.

Towers was moved to the Red Wings' bullpen last week, and recurring pain in his right elbow made him uncertain about pitching again this year. Towers conceded on Saturday there's a "small chance" he'll be shut down, which would end the worst season of his professional career.

Last week's relief appearance left him 0-8 with a 7.62 ERA in 14 games. Opponents had banged out 104 hits, including 15 home runs, in 65 innings.

Once included among the Orioles' brightest pitching prospects because of his impeccable control and knack for winning at every level, Towers still is waiting to emerge from the darkness of the 2002 season.

"I can't even explain how hard this has been," he said.

Red Wings manager Andy Etchebarren scratched Towers from his last start because of a sore elbow, which had forced him on the disabled list earlier this year. But this time, a swimming accident was the blame.

Towers said he was treading water in a community pool last weekend when another male jumped off a board and inadvertently landed on him.

"I was in the middle of the pool," Towers said, "and he came down feet-first on top of me. It was somebody I didn't know. His left leg hit me right on the elbow. That was fitting."

Etchebarren put Towers in the bullpen and he allowed one earned run and three hits in 2 2/3 innings in his only appearance. The run came on a homer by Ottawa's Ron Calloway.

The plan was for Towers, who would have pitched today if he were healthy, to stay in a relief role while increasing his pitch count, but he woke up Friday with a sore arm. "Now we're just going day-to-day," he said. "I didn't realize how severe it was, but the next morning after I pitched, I couldn't move my arm."

Heading into the weekend, Towers had surrendered a homer in nine of his 12 starts, the same problem that contributed to his demotion by the Orioles. Opponents were batting .355 against him overall, including .375 with runners in scoring position and two outs. Left-handers were batting .383 on the season.

In Towers' other relief appearance before last week's injury, he held Scranton to one hit over five scoreless innings on July 13 after coming off the DL. His record suffered as the losses mounted for Rochester, but Towers said his physical condition had improved for his last start.

"I felt good before this freak injury," he said. "My arm has been constantly sore, but I finally had gotten to the point where, for the first time, I didn't have to go to the trainer's room before a start. I just went out there, took the ball and pitched. My velocity was back up around 90. My slider and changeup were good. I was all the way back."

But along came a reckless diver and perhaps an ending Towers never anticipated.

"This happens," he said, "and I was like, 'Are you kidding me?' "

At least Towers recorded a victory off the field. His girlfriend, Kendall Dean, accepted his marriage proposal earlier this summer.

Triple-A Rochester

Rochester had lost 20 of its past 23 games going into Saturday before Darnell McDonald's five hits sparked a 9-5 victory over Syracuse. ... Only one Red Wing has reached double figures in home runs: Ryan McGuire with 12. He went into the weekend having hit safely in 13 of his past 14 games, batting .351 with six doubles, a triple and three homers. ... Infielder Mike Moriarty took a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend. He was batting .400 during that span. ... Howie Clark was batting .233 in eight games since returning to Rochester. ... Jay Spurgeon, who appeared in seven games with the Orioles in 2000, is 0-6 with a 5.31 ERA in his past eight starts. He leads the International League with 13 losses, the most by a Rochester pitcher since Joe Kucharski in 1984 and 1985. ... Catcher Izzy Molina hit his first home run as a Red Wing last Monday. The 7-6 win over Syracuse ended Rochester's road losing streak at 11 games.

Double-A Bowie

The Baysox won back-to-back, 11-inning games last week against Erie. Tim Raines Jr. tied a club record with five hits in Thursday's 5-4 victory, and the Baysox followed with an 8-7 win on Friday. ... Doug Gredvig and Josh Hoffpauir extended their hitting streaks to nine games on Saturday. ... Napoleon Calzado was 10-for-15 in a three-game stretch. ... Going into the weekend, left-hander Eric DuBose hadn't allowed an earned run in his past 11 games covering 16 2/3 innings. ... Aaron Rakers picked up a win and a save in 4 2/3 scoreless innings last week.

Single-A Frederick

Frederick clinched the worst record in franchise history after losing to Potomac on Tuesday. The 1991 team went 58-82. ... The Keys were outscored 33-15 in two losses to Kinston. They committed six errors in Thursday's 18-7 loss, when Richard Bartlett surrendered nine runs (seven earned) and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Bartlett has lost seven of his past eight decisions. ... Matt Schwager set the franchise record by allowing 12 runs (seven earned) in three-plus innings of Friday's 15-8 loss. Schwager had shared the old record of 10. ... Eddy Rodriguez went into the weekend with a 0.96 ERA in his past 15 games covering 18 2/3 innings. Opponents were batting .194 against him. ... Papy Ndungidi batted .364 during a six-game road trip. ... Mamon Tucker was hitting .421 with five doubles, 10 RBIs and 12 runs in 13 games this month. He was named the Carolina League's Player of the Week for Aug. 1-7 after batting .393 (11-for-28) with three doubles and a home run.

Single-A Delmarva

John Maine, the Orioles' sixth-round pick in the June draft, allowed one unearned run and two hits in six innings of Wednesday's 4-3 win over Macon. He struck out seven and retired the last 11 batters he faced. Maine hasn't given up an earned run in 16 innings with the Shorebirds. ... Heading into the weekend, left-hander Rommie Lewis hadn't allowed a run in his past 17 appearances covering 20 2/3 innings. He ranked third in the South Atlantic League with 17 saves and was tied for second with 47 appearances. ... Ben Knapp hadn't allowed an earned run over his past 12 innings and struck out 13. ... Left-hander Jayme Sperring had two wins and a save in his past four outings.

Short season

The Aberdeen IronBirds were 20-37 going into the weekend and had been shut out 10 times ... Walter Majewski's 12-game hitting streak ended last weekend. He batted .356 with four doubles, two triples, a home run and 10 RBIs. ... Bluefield was 36-20 and leading the Eastern Division of the Appalachian League. ... Luis Jimenez hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to seal Tuesday's 9-4 win over Princeton. ... Dustin Yount, son of Hall of Famer Robin Yount, ranked fourth in the league with 10 homers and fifth with 39 RBIs going into the weekend.