OAKLAND, Calif. -- Melvin Mora left for his first All-Star Game yesterday without the mantle he has been carrying for the past six weeks as the American League's leading hitter.
Mora went 0-for-4 in the Orioles' 1-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics, dropping his average to .349.
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki passed Mora for the lead, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to .352.
The Orioles haven't had a batting leader at the All-Star break since Cal Ripken was batting .348 in 1991. The best mark for an Oriole at the break was Roberto Alomar at .352 in 1996.
It was a rough day all around for Mora, who made the third out to end an inning four times against Oakland All-Star Barry Zito and had a near miss on the defensive end in the ninth.
Two of Mora's at-bats came with runners in scoring position. With a runner on second in the sixth inning, Zito jammed him, and Mora hit a little flare to A's second baseman Mark Ellis. Then, with runners on first and second in the eighth inning, Mora grounded out to shortstop Miguel Tejada.
Mora has been a standout defensively for the Orioles this year, but he couldn't come up with the ball when Ellis hit his one-out triple in the ninth. The effort was certainly there, as Mora made a running attempt, but the ball bounced off his glove just before he crashed into the outfield wall.
After missing five games with a bruised right hand last month, Mora aggravated the injury on the play. After the game, the hand was wrapped in ice.
But Mora said it won't keep him from playing in the All-Star Game tomorrow night in Chicago.
"I'll be fine," he said. "It's just a bruise. It doesn't bother me."
Starting rotation plans
After the All-Star break, the Orioles starting rotation will be Rodrigo Lopez, Rick Helling, Sidney Ponson, Jason Johnson and Pat Hentgen. Lopez missed six weeks with a strained oblique muscle, limiting him to 12 starts before the break. He'll return Thursday against the Anaheim Angels on five days' rest.
Manager Mike Hargrove said one of the goals was splitting Helling's and Hentgen's turns in the rotation, interspersing the harder-throwing Lopez, Ponson and Johnson to give opponents different looks.
Doctor's magic
Orioles reliever Hector Carrasco said his surgically repaired right shoulder feels better than ever, allowing him to pitch every day if the Orioles need him. It's a little strange because that's not something he could say a few years ago before he injured his right rotator cuff.
