October 01, 2009|By Jeff Zrebiec | Jeff Zrebiec,jeff.zrebiec@baltsun.com
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.
At least the Orioles' latest loss didn't include a bullpen implosion or a slew of missed opportunities to lament. The Orioles fell behind 4-0 by the bottom of the third inning and 5-0 by the fifth.
In his last start of the season, David Hernandez was pummeled for five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, ending his rookie campaign with a 4-10 record and a 5.42 ERA. The big blow came off the bat of Ben Zobrist, who hammered a poorly located 1-1 fastball just inside the right-field foul pole for a three-run third-inning homer.
Hernandez allowed another homer, a solo shot by Carl Crawford in the fifth, before he was removed from the game. It was the sixth time in his past 12 starts that he left before five complete innings.
Overall, the 24-year-old went 2-8 with a 6.10 ERA in 14 starts after the All-Star break compared with 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA in six appearances (five starts) before it. He allowed at least one homer in each of his final 12 starts and in 16 of his final 17.
"It's tough to go out like this," said Hernandez, who called his first season a great learning experience. "I felt like I was just fighting my mechanics through the first four innings. I just never really got comfortable out there. I made a couple of mistakes and paid for it."
Trailing 5-0, the Orioles looked as if they would be victimized by another shutout - this one by Rays starter James Shields, who had held them to just three singles - until they rallied in the eighth inning. Mora hit a leadoff single, and Michael Aubrey doubled. Chad Moeller ended Shields' shutout bid with a sacrifice fly, and Ty Wigginton followed with a two-run pinch-hit homer to cut the Rays' lead to 5-3.
Matt Wieters hit a two-out single in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but Russ Springer fanned Mora on a high fastball. Game over, losing streak continues.
"We're human. We want to succeed," said outfielder Luke Scott, who was removed from the game in the seventh with a strained muscle in his left foot, which he doesn't think is serious. "It doesn't matter what aspect of life you're in. You're going to go through adversity and you're going to go through difficult times, some more than others. You can either allow it to break you down or you can allow it to build character."
Longest losing streaks in the majors this year
Team Streak When
Orioles 13 Sept. 17-now
Rays 11 Sept. 3-13
Indians 11 Sept. 13-24
Royals 10 July 10-24
Blue Jays 9 May 19-27
Astros 9 Sept. 13-22
Pirates 9 Aug. 28-Sept. 5
Orioles' longest losing streaks
Games Year Dates
21 1988 April 4-28
14 1954 Aug. 11-25
13 2009 Sept.17-now
12 2004 Aug. 16-28
12 2002 Sept. 18-29
Box score
for Wednesday's game PG 4
ORIOLES @RAYS
Tonight, 7:08
TV: MASN HD
Radio: 105.7 FM
Inside: Bergesen remains hobbled PG 5
