ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -For about 15 seconds, Orioles manager Dave Trembley felt as if time were standing still. It had been far too long since he last experienced the feeling; there had been far too much heartache since he last witnessed his players gather for the handshake line.
It didn't come easily, but nothing ever does for Trembley and the Orioles. When struggling closer Jim Johnson gloved Akinori Iwamura's comebacker and threw to first baseman Michael Aubrey for the game's final out, the Orioles had a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, and a 13-game losing streak and the most trying stretch of Trembley's career had mercifully ended.
"Oh my, I can't explain it to you. We've got the music on in the clubhouse and I'm drinking something other than a diet soda," Trembley said. "I can tell you that right now. It's unbelievable. I'm just glad this thing is over. I can't think of anything [else] that has been as challenging."
The 13-game skid, which demoralized the club and brought more attention to Trembley's tenuous job security, was the longest in the major leagues this season and the third-longest in franchise history. It ended one game shy of the 14-game losing streak that the organization suffered through Aug. 11-25, 1954, and eight games behind the 21 consecutive contests the 1988 team lost to begin that year.
With the victory in their road finale this season, the Orioles escaped the first winless road trip of seven games or more in franchise history and kept alive their chances of avoiding another dubious distinction accomplished by the 1988 squad.
The Orioles (61-98) will now have to win two of three against the Toronto Blue Jays, who have won six straight games, over the final weekend of the season at Camden Yards to narrowly miss becoming the third team in franchise history and the first since 1988 to hit 100 losses.
"You don't want to get the 100 losses on our record," said the Orioles' veteran third baseman, Melvin Mora. "That's our reputation. It doesn't matter who's who. It's our name, it's the Orioles. You don't want to lose 100 games because that's my reputation, too."
Mora acknowledged that it was a nerve-racking bottom of the ninth as Johnson allowed a run to cut the Orioles' advantage to one, and still had runners on the corners with two outs. "I know Iwamura is a lefty, but I was saying, 'Hit it to me. I'm going to make the last out,' " Mora said.
