MLB » Rays at Orioles, Wednesday, 1:35 p.m., MASN
Nationals at Phillies, Thursday, 3:05 p.m., MASN
Two early season tests for the local teams. For the O’s, they must be able to compete with the Rays if they want to improve. For Washington, they can’t continue to let the Phillies dominate them.

NBA » Pacers at Wizards, Wednesday, 8 p.m., ESPN
It is the final game of a very long and rough 2009-10 season and it might be nice for the fans to check out the last game of the “Pollin era.” — Jim Williams

BOLD PREDICTIONS

1. Celtics one and done » The Boston Celtics will get the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but it won’t matter because they’ll lose in the first round. With Cleveland running away with the best record in the NBA, the final weeks of the regular season have seen the rest of the Eastern Conference turn into a battle to avoid the Cavaliers in the second round of the postseason. Thanks to a friendly run-in and an Atlanta team that has lost some of its bite, the Celtics are poised to edge the Hawks for the seemingly all-important third seed. The problem is, (1) sooner or later the road to the NBA Finals goes through Quicken Loans Arena; and (2) Boston’s potential first round opponent cannot be overlooked. Miami is the hottest team in the NBA, and Charlotte, though more unlikely, will be the most dangerous lower seed in the East. One of them will end the Three Amigos dynasty. — Craig Stouffer

2. Jimmy Clausen will fall in the NFL draft » The Notre Dame quarterback is not disliked by many in the NFL. Nor is he loved. And therein lies the problem. Outside of Mel Kiper — and ex-Redskins VP Vinny Cerrato, who has helped Clausen — there aren’t many who think he’s worthy of a top-10 pick. Maybe down the road he’ll develop into a special player. But too many people say there’s nothing that overwhelms them when watching Clausen on film. He’s good; not great. And quarterbacks must have more than a hint of something special to be picked in the top 10. Clausen hasn’t left many in the NFL thinking he is worthy of a high choice. The wild card teams are Buffalo and Oakland and no one ever knows what Al Davis will do.  But we’re guessing they’ll pass and Clausen will drop into the 20s of the first round. It’s where he belongs. — John Keim

PLAYER TO WATCH

Vladimir Guerrero, Texas Rangers DH
Yeah, he’s washed up … or at the very least he’s on the decline — that was the thought of many during this past offseason. The Angels, apparently, shared this sentiment as they let him depart to the Rangers. Sure his numbers were down last year, but high caliber sluggers start to have off years occasionally late in their careers. Perhaps the real indicator to his drop off in 2009 was that he had fewer than 400 at-bats for only the second time in his career since his rookie season (1997). His 100 games played were also his lowest since ’97. In the first series of the year, Guerrero tore up the Blue Jays’ pitching to the tune of 7-for-11 with a homer and only one strikeout. True, he won’t keep that up, but it looks like the dry Texas air is fitting the 35-year-old slugger just fine … so far. — Leon Saffelle