maine decided to forgo his senior season at charlotte and was drafted by the baltimore orioles in the sixth round of the 2002 major league baseball draft. in , he emerged as one of the top prospects in the minor leagues when he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts with 185. he made his debut with the orioles on july 23, . after spending the latter half of 2004 and most of shuffling between baltimore and triple-a ottawa, maine recorded his first major league win on august 13, 2005, at camden yards with a 1–0 shutout victory over the toronto blue jays in which he started and pitched five innings.