The futility of the Baltimore Orioles hit a new low Tuesday night. The O's dropped their series opener to the Tigers at Camden Yards, extending not only their losing streak to six games, but also their streak of allowing at least nine runs. Starter Keegan Akin was tagged for six runs in three innings in the loss (box score).
Baltimore has allowed 13, 10, 10, 12, 9, and 9 runs in its past six games and been outscored 63-23 in those six games. They're the first team since the 2002 Royals to allow at least nine runs in six consecutive games and only the 10th team in history to do it. Here are the 10 teams:
- 2000 Seattle Mariners: 7 games (Aug. 13-20)
- 1901 New York Giants: 7 games (Sept. 3-6)
- 2021 Baltimore Orioles: 6 games and counting (Aug. 3 to present)
- 2002 Kansas City Royals: 6 games (Sept. 4-10)
- 1993 Montreal Expos: 6 games (April 8-14)
- 1949 St. Louis Browns: 6 games (Aug. 3-7)
- 1935 Philadelphia Phillies: 6 games (Aug. 21-25)
- 1934 Boston Braves: 6 games (July 4-7)
- 1930 Philadelphia Phillies: 6 games (July 23-27)
- 1929 Philadelphia Phillies: 6 games (June 19-22)
The last team prior to the Orioles to allow at least nine runs in five straight games was the 2008 Mariners. Overall, the Orioles have allowed 633 runs this season, and no, that is not the most in baseball. The Diamondbacks went into Tuesday's game against the Giants having allowed 642 runs this year.
The Orioles and Tigers will continue their series Wednesday night. Matt Harvey, who has allowed only two runs in 22 1/3 innings in four starts since the All-Star break, will be tasked with setting up Baltimore to allow fewer than nine runs to end the streak.
