By Ian Browne
SportsLine Staff Writer

The mad scramble is already starting for pitching.

There's good reason. There isn't any. At least not enough to go around.

So all the contenders are justified in their worries that they don't have enough arms.

Perhaps instead of searching for that ace that isn't there -- or can't be had -- Major League GMs should be finding a good place-kicker to nail home that key extra point. These two and three touchdown games used to be a novelty. A bright on a slow summer day.

Now, there seems to be one a week.

Most recently, the Orioles battered the Braves 22-1 on Sunday Night Football, er, Baseball. It was the fifth time in this young season a team had surrendered 20 runs or more. For perspective, there was only one such instance all of last season.

The Braves were supposed to be above such a ludicrous outcome. Especially on a night John Smoltz started.

For the past decade, Atlanta is one team that had never been at a loss for arms. But this year -- a year in which perennial aces such as Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine are struggling -- no team can say it has enough pitching.

THE AVERAGE RUN TOTAL PER GAME this season is 10.34. The season average in 1998 was 9.59. And just think, the hot summer nights of July and August are still to come.

"The pitching is thin," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "The strike zone is moving. Ballparks are small, the new ones anyway. The baseball is tight. We're never safe."

Pitchers have become an endangered species as the game has gone on the offensive like never before.

There are many theories going around. Expansion. The increased bulk on hitters' biceps. The tighter wound ball.

And there is credence to all of them. So it isn't just that pitchers stink now days, though many of them do. It has more to do with the direction the game is taking.

Look no further than the great home run chase of 1998. That stuff sells. And baseball knows it.

Fans -- at least ones who aren't baseball purists -- get turned on by the longball. So pitchers are being forced to take the hit for the good of the game.

"There are just all kinds of things," said Rangers so-called ace Rick Helling, who is struggling at 5-6 after coming out of nowhere to win 20 last year. "It started a long time ago (1969) when they lowered the mound. They did that because the pitchers were dominating too much (in 1968). Now it's lower and there's too much offense so maybe they'll raise the mound back up."

Don't hold your breath. As long as the likes of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa keep filling ballparks because of their propensity for hitting the cheap seats, the game is going to keep going in this direction.

Mark McGwire and his longball buddies have stolen the thunder from pitching.(AP)

"WHERE IS THE MOST MONEY made in this game? Sluggers," said Rangers manager Johnny Oates. "It's an offensive game. The game is built around hitters now. All the new ballparks are being built for offense. Short fences. Very little foul territory. So if you're a young kid and you aspire to be in the Major Leagues, are you going to learn to pitch or learn to hit?"

All you need to answer Oates' question is a quick look at the stat sheet. Only three teams in the American League have ERAs in the 4's, led by Boston's 4.18.

Even worse, the Mariners are an embarrassing 6.11, and somehow are still in contention for both the AL West and the wild card at 31-31.

It isn't quite as bad in the National League, where there is no DH and still some of those cookie-cutter parks from the '70s that aren't conducive to power. There are two teams (Arizona and Houston) below 4, and the Braves at a respectable 4.11.

"This is one of those years that there are so many high-scoring games and if you have an ERA of 4.50 or below, you're doing pretty good," said Helling. "You say that 10 or 15 years ago, and you'd be one of the worst pitchers in the league."

Now, you are seeing why the Red Sox spent $75 million on Pedro (11-2) Martinez. And why Rupert Murdoch emptied his vault and made Kevin Brown a Dodger at $105 million (gulp).

The dominant pitcher is becoming as scarce as an epic pitchers duel. So of course an ace will cost a fortune.

"The hitters, because of weight training and nutrition, have so much strength and are able to generate so much bat speed ," Oates said. "Pitchers don't have the same advantage of weight training and diet. If you have an 88 m.p.h fastball, that's all you can throw. You don't have but a half a dozen power pitchers in the game right now, and power pitchers are usually the ones who stay away from the longball."

THEN THERE IS AN ASPIRING POWER PITCHER such as Jaret Wright, who can't throw his heat with any confidence because he's afraid he's going to set off World War III if the ball gets away from him. Almost comical earlier this season was when Wright actually touched off a brawl against the Red Sox by hitting Darren Lewis with a breaking ball.

They are awfully sensitive, these spoiled hitters of the '90s. Bob Gibson used to make a living brushing hitters back. And if a hitter didn't like it? Too bad.

Now baseball does everything it can to protect hitters, the latest of which was Wright being called into the principal's office -- i.e. AL president Gene Budig -- to explain why he needs to pitch inside to make his living.

Said Torre: "A lot of times, with all of the concern about throwing inside, you're just making it more and more comfortable for the hitters."

Oh, the hitters are cozy all right. It's the pitchers who are running for cover.

Valentine's Day coming soon in New York?

The day GM Steve Phillips fired three Mets coaches -- who happened to be Valentines' three best friends on the team -- Valentine set a self-imposed window on himself.

"If we don't improve over the next 55 games, I shouldn't be the manager," Valentine said.

As if he didn't have enough pressure from his bosses, now he has to deal with the heat he has put on himself.

The next day, he told reporters that Bobby Bonilla, the overpaid, overweight and oft-injured right fielder, wouldn't be part of the outfield rotation for six days. Valentine claimed he had discussed this with Bonilla before going public with it.

Turns out Bobby Bo found out about it in the newspapers on Tuesday, and then refused to pinch hit that night.

If that wasn't bad enough, Valentine started a tiff with long-time Newsday Mets beat reporter Marty Noble by calling him a liar on a WFAN radio talk show. Of course, Noble wasn't around to defend himself. So when Noble got wind of it and confronted the Mets skipper during a pregame media session, a heated argument ensued with Valentine creating a scene.

Then, there was the bizarre capper. After being thrown out of Wednesday's game with the Blue Jays, Valentine would later return to the dugout wearing a bogus disguise. Eye black turned into a mustache, along with sun glasses and a black cap with no Mets logo on it. Turns out the cameras caught him and his secret was there for all the world to see.

VALENTINE'S EXPLANATION WAS THAT he was trying to loosen the atmosphere on what has been a very tense bench of late.

His intentions were good, as they often are. But as usual, his tact was all wrong.

After learning he was being suspended for two games, Valentine decided once again it was time to stretch the truth. He claimed he was only standing in the tunnel, and he even took the media on a tour to the dugout to show exactly where he was. The only problem is that the camera shots -- seen nation-wide -- clearly showed him sitting on the bench.

In case you missed it amid this bizarre circus, the Mets have won six of their last eight.

Ripken revival cause for retraction

On Sunday night -- on the bright lights of national TV -- Ripken had one of the most storied games of his prodigious career. He went 6-for-6 and hit two home runs as the Orioles belted the Braves 22-1 at Atlanta's Turner Field.

"In hindsight, there was a lot of benefit of being on the disabled list. It was a good break for me mentally and a necessary break physically," Ripken said.

"I think you learn the most from some of your not-so-nice experiences. The obstacles that were in the way, I've been able to step over them and step around them."

At the same time, he's been stomping all over opposing pitchers. Since returning from the DL, he's hitting a crisp .367. Even more impressive, his overall average has climbed from .179 to .333.

Not too bad for a guy who was said to be washed up in this very space two months ago.

Red Sox hoping not to knuckle under

Thus, their worst fears are being realized with the latter of that star-studded trio going on the DL with elbow soreness for the second time this season.

Gordon -- who has blown two save opportunities after reeling off a streak of 54 in a row -- told manager Jimy Williams and GM Dan Duquette he couldn't go anymore after Mike Piazza slammed a titanic home run off him in the bottom of the 9th at Shea Stadium Friday night.

INSTEAD OF SCURRYING AROUND FOR AN emergency stopgap, the Red Sox have opted for the unconventional route and will use knuckleballer Tim Wakefield indefinitely as the closer until Gordon returns.

With enough depth in their starting rotation, the Red Sox can afford to let Wakefield switch roles. Besides, he was nearly flawless in relief when Gordon was on the DL in May, saving two games.

There is no rule that says a knuckleballer can't be reliable in relief. Who could forget Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm, who saved 227 games in a 21-year career for nine different teams.

There was also Wilbur Wood, who reeled off 21 saves for the White Sox in 1970 before posting four 20-victory seasons in succession.

As scary as it might seem, the 35-27 Red Sox -- 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East -- might just be able to hang in there with Wakefield's floaters.

At any rate, Red Sox followers -- and catchers -- would be wise to buckle up.

Dodgers stuck in LA-LA land

Davey Johnson's high-priced team is slumbering through the first half, and might have reached a low point being swept at Oakland over the weekend.

Of the pitchers, only Kevin Brown has done what's been expected. Behind the plate, Todd Hundley has been an utter bust.

And not even Johnson -- who has won everywhere he's been -- can find any answers.

Instead of snapping out of their funk, the Dodgers are managing to get even worse. They've lost seven of their last 10 to slip three games below .500 at 29-32.

"It's a drain right now, and it's a lot tougher than anyone wants it to be or expected," left fielder Gary Sheffield told the L.A. Times. "From a mental standpoint, it can get you down, but you don't have any choice but to keep battling. I don't know (what to do about the Dodgers' poor play), I'll let (General Manager Kevin) Malone figure that out. From a player standpoint, the only thing you do is keep trying. That's all you can do."

Unfortunately, that hasn't been nearly enough for a team whose GM pegged it for the World Series before a single pitch was thrown this season.