ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -Melvin Mora was on the Orioles' 2004 team that, before last night, had recorded the longest stretch of defeats during the organization's 12 consecutive years of losing.
That stretch, he thought, was rock bottom. But in likely his last week as an Oriole, Mora is experiencing something even more demoralizing. The veteran third baseman had two hits and was robbed of a third by a leaping Evan Longoria, but he struck out to end the Orioles' 13th consecutive loss, a 5-3 defeat by the Tampa Bay Rays before an announced 10,554 Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
"For me, it's frustrating," said Mora, who is not expected back next year for a 10th season with the Orioles. "I don't know how everybody else feels. When you've been part of an organization for a long time, it's kind of like part of my family. If anybody else doesn't feel it, I feel it."
As Mora pointed out, the indignity doesn't end with the losing streak. The Orioles lost their 98th game, clinching a tie with the 2001 club for their most defeats since the 1988 team lost 107 games. The present-day Orioles will now need to go 3-1 in their final four games to avoid becoming the third team in franchise history and the first since 1988 to hit the 100-loss mark.
"That's bad for my record. That's the only thing I can say," Mora said. "You don't want a feeling like that. You don't want the feeling of losing 100 games."
The Orioles are one game shy of tying their second-longest losing streak in franchise history, a 14-game freefall in August 1954. The current stretch is also the longest skid in major league baseball since the 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates dropped 13 straight from June 15 to June 28, 2006. The last time any team had a losing streak longer than 13 was July 2004, when the Arizona Diamondbacks were beaten 14 straight times.
Left-hander Chris Waters, who will make his first big league start this season in tonight's series finale, will have plenty on his shoulders. At stake in the Orioles' 2009 road finale is a possible 0-10 road trip, which would be the worst in franchise history. The last time the Orioles lost 10 straight road games was Aug. 24-Sept.13, 2003, but that was spread among multiple trips.
"I think [the] guys, like everybody else, are pretty sick and tired of" the streak, said Orioles manager Dave Trembley, whose team is 20-50 since the All-Star break and 6-29 in road games against American League East teams.
