Put a lump of sugar under your tongue and try to sing your favorite song.

 

Difficult? Try ranking baseball prospects.

 

In its 2004 prospect handbook, Baseball America analyzed two starting pitchers in the New York Yankees’ system.

 

Right-hander Ramon Ramirez, a converted outfielder who features a power curveball and mid-90s fastball, was ranked No. 5 and was expected to be a fixture in the Clippers’ rotation.

 

Lefty Brad Halsey, with an average fastball but able slider and change-up, was rated 24 th and destined for double-A Trenton, according to the publication.

 

So what happened? Ramirez, 22, was 0-3 with an 8.50 ERA before being demoted to Trenton on May 2. Halsey, 23, led the Clippers to an 11-1 win over Ottawa yesterday and has been among the International League’s best pitchers in recent weeks.

 

"Halsey is not a baby anymore," Clippers manager Bucky Dent said. "He has quite a few starts under his belt, and he keeps getting better."

 

In his last five starts, Halsey (3-2) allowed seven earned runs in 34 1/3 innings (1.84 ERA). He improved to 2-2 during that stretch, which included little run support until yesterday.

 

The Clippers erupted for six runs in the second inning in winning their fifth consecutive game, and 10 th straight at home, before 2,187 in Cooper Stadium. John Rodriguez, hitting second in the batting order for the first time this season, hit a three-run homer and Andy Phillips followed with a bases-empty shot.

 

"I’m trying to stay with one stance," said Rodriguez, who homered for the third consecutive game. "My hitting coach, Kevin Long, helped me start this stance in the series with Indianapolis, but I didn’t get to play. This is my first series with a different stance, and he wasn’t even here to enjoy it."

 

Despite the absence of Long, who is attending a graduation in Arizona, the Clippers’ bats have been scorching. In a four-game series sweep of Ottawa, Columbus scored 31 runs and had 44 hits.

 

"Earlier in the season, we lost a lot of one-run games," Dent said. "Finally we turned that around and we started swinging the bats with men in scoring position."

 

Halsey scattered seven hits in six innings. The only run he allowed came on an infield single by Tim Raines Jr.

 

Halsey credits his recent success with the addition of a back-door slider and split-finger fastball to his repertoire.

 

"I’ve been throwing the splitter for the last five games," Halsey said. "I quit throwing it last year because I needed to develop a change-up. I always planned on bringing the splitter back — it was a matter of taking it away from myself to develop confidence in a change-up."