Losing Streak

Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo had done more scoring than losing at every level of play until he reached the NBA. Last night, he used his ability to score to help the Grizzlies end a 12-game losing streak, matching his career high with 33 points in a 113-97 win over the host Washington Wizards. "We got the monkey off our back, definitely," Mayo said. "Twelve-game losing streak, I've never experienced anything like that before in my life." Rudy Gay (Archbishop Spalding) scored 23, and Marc Gasol added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (12-35)

What others around the sports world are saying about the Ravens' 22-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday: Edwin Pope Miami Herald columnist "Beating the Ravens wasn't that much. Baltimore has lost 10 games now and barely is a victim worth gloating over. But the Dolphins winning anything these days is worth at least a touch of celebration." Michael Silver YahooSports.com On Brian Billick's decision to kick a game-tying field goal on fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line with 12 seconds left in regulation: "Huh?

Just 10 days ago, it felt pretty good - for the first time in a long time - to be an Orioles fan or player. But in a sport that takes few breaks, that patch of sunshine now seems lost in a much longer run of dark days for the beloved Baltimore franchise. The very afternoon that manager Dave Trembley's hiring was announced last week, the Orioles became a national joke with a 30-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. That began a nine-game losing streak, replete with ugly errors and bullpen disasters.

1. Patriots Five games from history, the NFL's best team is coming to Baltimore. 2. Cowboys Win over Packers puts them in the NFC driver's seat. 3. Packers Brett Favre's injuries could put consecutive-games streak in doubt. 4. Colts Can all but lock up AFC South with home win over Jaguars. 5. Jaguars David Garrard hasn't been intercepted this season. 6. Steelers Will Heinz Field be ready for game vs. Bengals after Monday's mess? 7. Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck has thrown for 864 yards in three-game winning streak.

Between them, Hammond and Atholton have won five of 25 games this season.Hammond has lost three times by 30 or more points. Atholton has lost eight times by 30 or more points. The Raiders once lost by 60 and last month dropped consecutive games by 49, 40 and 50 points.The first time Hammond played Atholton, the Golden Bears won by 38. They met again last night at Atholton, and nothing much has changed. Hammond routed the Raiders, 62-35."At first, [losing] was pretty hard," said Atholton sophomore Sarah Costa, who scored six points against the Golden Bears.

Orioles manager Ray Miller could tell that Mike Mussina was focused yesterday just by the way he walked into the clubhouse. By the way he sat quietly at his locker amid the usual chatter. By the way he stood in the outfield during batting practice. And, most telling, by the way he blew away Toronto's hitters from the very first pitch."He was on a mission," Miller said.That's because the weight of a young season was on his shoulders.Intent on settling a shaky rotation and keeping the bullpen from stirring too soon, Mussina blanked the Blue Jays on four hits over seven innings and made a freakish run in the first hold up for a 1-0 victory before 43,700 at Camden Yards.

Thirty Naval Academy seniors will perform for the last time tomorrow on a Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium field that hasn't exactly been home, sweet home.And nobody -- not the head coach nor the players -- can pinpoint the reason the Midshipmen have not won in their own house since Oct. 17, 1998, when Division I-AA Colgate was a 42-35 victim, or beaten a Division I-A opponent since Sept. 19 of last year when Navy overcame a Kent team about to launch the nation's longest losing streak.Home cooking has left Navy starving for a win in Annapolis.

For anyone who might have forgotten that the Orioles were operating with a minuscule margin of error in the American League wild-card race, yesterday's loss to the Mariners was a harsh reminder.One grounder that failed to take one hop was all it took to push the Orioles 10 games behind the Red Sox in the loss column.Hello, reality. You aren't much fun, are you?Even with their run of success since the All-Star break, the Orioles still can't afford bad hops, bad luck, bad endings, even bad room service.

SEATTLE -- Despite his team's disastrous season pockmarked by widespread injuries, occasionally lethargic play and now a 10-game losing streak, Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos insists that Ray Miller will be back as manager for the 1999 season regardless of who succeeds Pat Gillick as general manager.Maintaining that Miller and his club have faced "a mountain of adversity," Angelos said circumstances have made any critical evaluation of Miller unfair. Miller is serving the first year of a two-year, $1.4 million contract that also includes an option for 2000.

Exactly how far down is rock bottom, anyway?Just when it appears the Orioles have hit it, they manage to claw a little deeper. And the hole above them is closing fast.Where once they walked into the Bronx with a swagger, the Orioles are all stagger these days as they head to New York, the latest dizzying turn a 6-3 loss last night to the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays before 45,033 at Camden Yards that completed a four-game sweep and gave them a share of last place in the American League East.

When quarterback Keith Randall completed a 7-yard touchdown pass Friday to Jordan Bledsoe in the second quarter, Owings Mills was on its way to breaking a 53-game losing streak in football that dates five years. "We led 6-0 at the half, and our kids could really feel the win," Owings Mills coach Steve Lurz said. "We knew we had to keep our composure in the second half." Abe Tadros added a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and the host Eagles (1-3) went on to beat Loch Raven, 12-0.

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.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -Dave Trembley was asked essentially the same question the previous night and the day before that, only it was far more difficult for him to answer Tuesday night. So, the Orioles manager took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts and while staring at the wall in front of him, tried to sum up the misery of his team's 12-game losing streak, secured by a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. "I can't give you an answer. I've run out of things to say. I think I've been cordial, direct, upfront, dealt with it as best as we possibly can, but I really have no explanation, no excuse," said Trembley whose team now owns the longest losing streak in baseball this season and needs to win three of its final five games to avoid the third 100-loss season in franchise history.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -They led by three runs and had only nine outs to get to end a 10-game losing streak that added even more heartache to a season that had already been miserable enough. The Orioles received a quality start from Mark Hendrickson, a two-run homer from Brian Roberts and two rare two-out RBI hits. With the way things have been going, it was probably far too much to ask for the bullpen to protect a lead. Continuing the one-bullpen-implosion-per-night theme of the road trip, Matt Albers served up a game-tying three-run homer to pinch hitter Willy Aybar with two outs in the seventh inning, one of four Tampa Bay Rays' home runs.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- All the losses and the uncertainty eat at Dave Trembley, keeping him up late into the night and pulling him awake in the early hours of the morning. Each day seems to bring another agonizing defeat and more speculation that he is nearing the end of his tenure as Orioles manager. Trembley's fate will be decided by president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail in the next seven to 10 days, and until then, the embattled manager says he'll do what he has always done: stay positive, work hard and try to help his team win a few more.

CLEVELAND - -What was initially thought to be a scheduling quirk - the Orioles' making their first and only trip to Progressive Field on the penultimate weekend of the season - suddenly looked like a scheduling gift. In the Cleveland Indians, the Orioles found an opponent that was actually playing worse than them. But even what appeared to be a favorable matchup wasn't enough to break the Orioles out of a funk that has them spiraling dangerously close to the third 100-loss season in franchise history.

The Yankees got started early, instead of waiting for their final swing. Mark Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate, combining with Alex Rodriguez for back-to-back drives in a six-run first inning against Glen Perkins, and New York beat the visiting Minnesota Twins, 7-6, on a chilly Monday night to complete a four-game sweep. After stringing together three straight walk-off wins for the first time since 1972, the Yankees overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit and hung on to extend their winning streak to a season-high six. Blue Jays 3, White Sox 2: : Alex Rios hit a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning and host Toronto defeated Chicago to complete a four-game sweep.

Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo had done more scoring than losing at every level of play until he reached the NBA. Last night, he used his ability to score to help the Grizzlies end a 12-game losing streak, matching his career high with 33 points in a 113-97 win over the host Washington Wizards. "We got the monkey off our back, definitely," Mayo said. "Twelve-game losing streak, I've never experienced anything like that before in my life." Rudy Gay (Archbishop Spalding) scored 23, and Marc Gasol added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (12-35)

Barbaro's brother finishes 10th in debut horse racing Nicanor's debut wasn't one to remember. Hurting himself on his first stride, the 3-year-old full brother of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro finished 10th of 12 horses in a one-mile maiden race at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., yesterday, hardly an encouraging step toward what his connections hoped would be a journey into this year's Triple Crown races. Under jockey Edgar Prado, who was aboard ill-fated Barbaro three years ago, Nicanor made a move near the half-mile mark but never got close to the lead and eventually slowed to little more than a gallop, beaten by 25 lengths by 30-1 shot Warrior's Reward.

Ray Allen was on a roll, so the Boston Celtics kept going to him. Allen scored a season-high 36 points, including eight three-pointers, and the visiting Celtics (30-9) withstood a late rally to beat the Toronto Raptors (16-22), 94-88, yesterday, ending a four-game losing streak. "When Ray gets it going, that's our focus," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "Feed the pig, that's what we always say. He was the hot guy, so we want to keep feeding him." Allen wasn't sure what to make of Rivers' barnyard metaphor.