Playing Status of Davis Up in Air

Baltimore’s Eric Davis started in right field in Games 1 and 2 of the American League division series against Seattle, delivering a huge two-run single in the fifth inning of Game 1, but the inspirational outfielder is questionable for Game 3 in Camden Yards today.

Davis has been undergoing weekly chemotherapy treatments aimed at preventing a recurrence of the cancer that forced doctors to remove a third of his colon in June, and he went through another round of treatment Friday afternoon in Baltimore.

Davis, who returned to the team in September after a three-month absence, has played twice the day after chemotherapy, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts against Detroit on Sept. 20 and four for four with a home run against Milwaukee on Sept. 27.

But he’s concerned that Friday’s treatment, after the 5 1/2-hour flight from Seattle to Baltimore on Thursday night, may leave him too drained. Davis also has a slightly strained quadriceps, which forced him out of Thursday’s game in the fifth inning.

“I’ll just have to see how I feel [today],” said Davis, who came out of Game 1 in the sixth inning because he was tired.

Davis’ comeback has been one of baseball’s most moving stories this season, but he doesn’t see himself as being any more courageous than anyone else battling cancer.

“It just happens that I’m a professional athlete,” he said, “and you guys scrutinize it a little bit more.”

Did the diagnosis of cancer scare him?

“What’s there to be scared about?” Davis said. “Can’t fear something you don’t know about. Sure, cancer has knocked some people out. It’s the way of the world. We’re all going to leave here one day. It’s just a matter of when and where. If you’re born, you’re surely going to die.”

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It seems every time Seattle Manager Lou Piniella or one of his veteran players mentions the right-hander in the Mariners’ rotation, they refer to him as “Young Ken Cloude,” as if “Young” were a permanent part of his name.

But if the series goes to a Game 4 on Sunday, young Mr. Cloude may have to grow up in a hurry. With Jamie Moyer sidelined because of a strained left elbow and unavailable for a possible Game 5, Piniella said he’s leaning toward starting Cloude, 22, Sunday, saving ace Randy Johnson for a possible Game 5.

Cloude, a graduate of McDonough High School in Baltimore and a sixth-round pick in 1993, made the jump from double-A Memphis to Seattle in August and went 4-2 with a 5.12 earned-run average in nine starts.

Piniella, however, reserved the right to change his mind if the Mariners win today, meaning there’s still a chance Johnson could start Game 4.

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The Orioles dominated the Mariners in virtually every offensive category while winning Games 1 and 2 by 9-3 scores, but the bottom of their lineup has been particularly productive, the eighth and ninth batters combining to score seven runs.

No. 9 batter Mike Bordick, a defensive specialist who hit .236 this season, is four for six with four RBIs and four runs in the two games.

TODAY’S GAME

MARINERS’ JEFF FASSERO

(16-9, 3.65 ERA)

vs.

ORIOLES’ JIMMY KEY

(16-10, 3.43 ERA)

Camden Yards, 1:30 p.m. PDT

TV--Channel 11.

* Update--Key has developed a reputation as a big-game pitcher--the left-hander won two games for Toronto in the 1992 World Series against Atlanta and was the winning pitcher in the New York Yankees’ World Series-clinching Game 6 victory over Atlanta last season--but he struggled in August and September, going 3-4 with a 5.68 ERA. “There is nothing wrong with me except for being a little inconsistent over my last six or seven starts,” Key said. “But the postseason is what I’ve been eyeing all year.” Fassero, a left-hander who was on a strong Montreal team that appeared headed for the playoffs before the players’ strike in 1994, will make his first postseason appearance. “This means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s just great to come over from a team that had always been close but never was able to get over the hump to a team that is in the playoffs.”

Series at a Glance

(Orioles lead series, 2-0)

* Game 1: Baltimore 9, Seattle 3

* Game 2: Baltimore 9, Seattle 3

* Game 3: Today at Baltimore, 1:30 p.m.

* Game 4: Sunday at Baltimore, 1 p.m.*

* Game 5: Monday at Baltimore, 1 p.m.*

* If necessary