(PA) –The Baltimore Orioles have lost 18 straight games, and somehow that doesn’t do their slippage justice.
What’s surprising is how sparingly they got close to the end of the slide.
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Baltimore’s losing streak is the longest in the major leagues since Kansas City’s 19 players in 2005. The Orioles were outscored in their 102-point slide, averaging 5.7 per game. Only one of their losses was by a point, and two more by two. They’ve lost seven or more points seven times during that nightmarish streak.
Baltimore’s best chance of victory came early in the streak. The Orioles led the Yankees 3-0 in the fourth inning on August 4 before losing 10-3. They were leading 5-2 in the sixth of the next game, but Tampa Bay hit back for a 10-6 victory.
On August 8, in Game 5 of the slide, Baltimore led the Rays 5-2 in the seventh. But Tampa Bay scored six points in the eighth and won 9-6. The Orioles had a 93.8 percent chance of winning in the seventh inning of this game, according to Baseball Savant. This is the highest reached during this skid.
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Since that loss to the Rays, Baltimore has never led after the fourth inning, and the Orioles have only had a multi-point lead once. It was then that they scored two runs in the opening of the first at Tampa Bay on August 18. The Rays immediately tied in the lower half to claim the victory 8-4.
The Orioles are 38 games away from first place in LA East – and 26 1/2 games from fourth. All the other teams in the division have at least six games over 0.500, which underlines the difficult task Baltimore will have in the years to come. But help may be on the way.
According to MLB Pipeline, the Orioles have the No. 1 prospect in baseball with AAA wide receiver Adley Rutschman, the first pick in the 2019 Draft. Baltimore also has the best prospecting prospect, Double-A right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.
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And then there’s next year’s draft. Thanks to this slide, the Orioles have a good chance of retaking the No.1.