Sunday October 2 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 3-9
Streak: L3
Record: 54-107
Rank: 7th
GB: 34.5

The Orioles's 1988 season came to an end on an overcast and drizzly afternoon in windswept Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.  Curt Schilling made his fourth start of the season of his career and didn't last very long.

The Orioles played sloppy baseball in the first inning.  Tony Fernandez led off the game with a double and Nelson Liriano laid down a bunt in an attempt to sacrifice him to third.  Orioles catcher Carl Nichols decided to try to throw Fernandez out at third but his throw went down the left field line, allowing Fernandez to score and Liriano to reach second.  Rance Mulliniks lifted a fly ball to center field that Brady Anderson dropped, allowing Liriano to move to third and Mulliniks to pull into second.  A George Bell sacrifice fly brought Liriano with the second run of the inning.  With Ernie Whitt at the plate Schilling uncorked a wild pitch which moved Mulliniks up to third where he was able to score minutes later on Whitts' sacrifice fly.  A fly ball by Fred McGriff ended the inning but the Jays had scored 3 runs on one hit and two Oriole errors.

Toronto piled on further in the second.  With one out Rob Ducey singled and Alexis Infante drew a walk.  Fernandez brought both of them in to score by hitting a triple and then he scored when Liriano followed with another triple.  A sacrifice fly by Mullinks brought Liriano in with the fourth run of the inning and seventh run of the game.  Bell flew out to end the inning and Schilling's day.  Mark Williamson came in to pitch in the third inning.  Schilling had given up seven runs (although only five were earned) on four hits and a walk in two innings.  Every single baserunner he allowed on had scored.

Bell hit a two run home run off of Williamson in the fourth inning to make the score 9-0.  The Birds finally got on the board in the sixth inning on a two run home run by Larry Sheets, his tenth home run of the season.  They added another in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Craig Worthington to make the score 9-3.

This was the final Orioles game for several players.  Tom Niedenfuer pitched the fifth inning and Don Aase pitched the sixth and seventh innings.  Niedenfuer was granted free agency on November 4th but Aase was given his outright release on October 3rd.  Pete Stanicek went 0-4 in the game.  He suffered through two more injury plagued years in the Orioles minor league organization in 1989 and 1990 before retiring at age 27.

The big name making his Orioles farewell was Eddie Murray.  Murray went 0-2 in the game before being lifted for a pinch hitter (Rick Schu) in the sixth inning.  He was traded just over two months later to the Dodgers for Juan Bell, Brian Holton and Ken Howell.  He would return to the Orioles for the 1996 season.

It's a small sample size but the Orioles had a bad month in October - going 0-2 while being outscored 16 to 6.

Today's loss clinched the worst record in all of baseball for the Orioles.  The Atlanta Braves ended the season with a 54-106 record for a .338 winning percentage, three percentage points better than the Orioles .335.  The Braves were arguably just as bad as the Orioles that year but didn't have a sexy 21 game losing streak to start the season - theirs was only 10 games.

Saturday October 1 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 3-7
Streak: L3
Record: 54-106
Rank: 7th
GB: 34.5

For a little bit this afternoon it looked the Orioles might put up a fight against Toronto.  The Blue Jays got on the board first in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Rob Ducey but the Orioles tied it in the top of the third on an RBI ground out by Craig Worthington.  Toronto went ahead for good in the fourth on a two run home run by Jesse Barfield and an RBI single by Kelly Gruber but the Birds cut the lead to just one run on a two run shot by Jim Traber in the fifth.  But Toronto responded in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs to bury the Orioles.  A Fred McGriff solo home run followed later in the inning with an RBI double by Ducey and an RBI single by Nelson Liriano accounted for the runs.

Friday September 30 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 0-4
Streak: L2
Record: 54-105
Rank: 7th
GB: 34.5

The Orioles suffered any number of indignities during the 1988 season but one thing they managed to avoid was getting no-hit.  Tonight was the closest all season they came to succumbing to that fate - Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays held them hitless until two outs in the ninth inning when pinch hitter Jim Traber lined a single.  It was the second straight start that Stieb had lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth (he had done it against Cleveland on September 24th) and his third consecutive complete game shutout.  Stieb would end up losing three no-hitters in the ninth inning in his career which is the record.  He did eventually throw a no-hitter in 1990 - it was the first and so far only no-hitter in Toronto Blue Jays history.

With the Orioles not hitting (and they only drew one walk) the game went very quickly, clocking in at one hour and 52 minutes, the second shortest game by time for the Birds all season (behind the September 3rd game against the Mariners).

Toronto got a run in the bottom of the first when Tony Fernandez led off with a triple and Kelly Gruder followed with a single.  Those two knocked in three more runs in the fifth inning when Fernandez singled with two on to knock in one run and Gruber tripled to knock in the other two.

From May through August the Orioles had pretty much just been mediocre.  They'd held steady from May through July and actually were almost a .500 team in August.  September though was a disaster.  With today's loss the Orioles had gone 8-19 this month, allowing 118 runs while only scoring 75.

Sunday September 11 vs the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: W
Score: 4-2
Streak: W2
Record: 51-90
Rank: 7th
GB: 27.5

For the third game in a row Toronto got on the board in the top of the first inning.  Today Lloyd Moseby had a solo home run and Ernie Whitt had an RBI single to put the Jays up 2-0.  But that would be all the runs that Toronto would get this afternoon.  

Toronto's lead was short-lived.  An Eddie Murray double in the bottom of the first brought Cal Ripken in with the Birds' first run of the game and the O's scored two more in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Rick Schu and an RBI ground out with the bases loaded by Bill Ripken.  The Birds extended their lead to 4-2 on a Joe Orsulak pinch hit RBI single in the 7th.

Meanwhile the Orioles pitching was shutting down the Blue Jays.  After giving up four hits in the first inning, Baltimore starter Dave Schmidt and reliever Mark Thurmond only gave up four more hits the rest of the game and didn't issue any walks.

This was the last time the Orioles would win consecutive games in the 1988 season.

Saturday September 10 vs the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: W
Score: 7-4
Streak: W1
Record: 50-90
Rank: 7th
GB: 28.5

Toronto got things going this evening early.  For the second consecutive game George Bell got an RBI in the top of the first - tonight it was an RBI single rather than a two run home run.  And for the second consecutive evening the Orioles got a run in the bottom of the first - this time it was an RBI single by Eddie Murray.  The score was tied 1-1 after one.

Toronto went ahead 2-1 in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout by Tony Fernandez but the Orioles came back big time in the bottom of the inning.  Jim Traber led off the frame with a double and Rick Schu followed with a single.  Pete Stanicek then knocked in Traber with the tying run with a single.  With Bill Ripken at the plate the O's pulled a double steal with both Schu and Stanicek moving up a base.  Ripken then hit a ground ball to third baseman Kelly Gruber who made an error on his throw to first that allowed Ripken to make it all the way to second.  Schu scored on the play to give the O's the lead although Stanicek only made it to third.  Cal Ripken was intentionally walked to load the bases and Eddie Murray lofted a sacrifice fly that was deep enough to not only score Stanicek from third but also allowed both Ripkens to move up a base.  Toronto starter Jeff Musselman's last act in the game was then to intentionally walk Mickey Tettleton to re-load the bases.  Musselman was then replaced by Frank Willis who was greeted with a double by pinch hitter Joe Orsulak that scored both Ripkens and sent Tettleton to third.  A sacrifice fly from Ken Gerhart plated Tettleton with the O's sixth run of the evening before Traber ended the inning he had started with a double with a line out.  Baltimore now lead 7-2.

Toronto made it a little interesting in the ninth.  Orioles closer Tom Neidenfuer came in to pitch despite it not being a save situation.   Fred McGriff and Gruber hit back-to-back solo home runs to start the inning and after Tony Fernandez singled following a Manny Lee strikeout, Orioles manager Frank Robinson decided to replace Neidenfuer with Mark Thurmond who got Lloyd Moseby to groundout and move Fernandez to second.  Robinson again went to the bullpen and brought in Mark Williamson to get the final out - a line out from pinch hitter Rick Leach.

I was at this game - I spent the weekend in Delaware and Sabra and I came down to Baltimore for the game.  I don't have any newspaper clippings for this game for some reason - I'm guessing I came back home too late on Sunday to get that day's Sun paper.

Friday September 9 vs the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 1-8
Streak: L1
Record: 49-90
Rank: 7th
GB: 28.5

Not a lot to say about this game - the O's really took it on the chin.  George Bell had a two run home run in the top of the first to put the Jays up 2-0 and despite Joe Orsulak leading off the bottom of the first with a home run of his own, it pretty much was downhill for the Birds after that.  Toronto scored single runs in the second and third off RBI singles by Kelly Gruber and Ernie Whitt respectively before blowing the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.  The loss was Baltimore's 90th of the season - this was the first time since the team's first two seasons in Maryland (1954-55) that they had lost 90 games in two consecutive seasons.

Wednesday June 29 vs the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 2-4
Streak: L1
Record: 22-55
Rank: 7th
GB: 25

For the second time this season the Orioles had a chance to sweep an opponent in a three game series and for the second time this season they failed to get it done.  Things looked promising for a little while - the Birds took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on a Pete Stanicek RBI double and Orioles starter Jose Bautista kept the Blue Jays scoreless until the sixth.  But a leadoff double in the sixth by Fred McGriff followed by a single by Kelly Gruber chased Bautista from the game and while relief pitcher Dave Schmidt got Ernie Whitt to ground into a double play, McGriff scored the tying run.

The Jays took the lead in the seventh.  Manny Lee and Tony Fernandez hit back to back singles to start the frame and after Lloyd Moseby flew out Rance Mulliniks singled, bringing in Lee and moving Fernandez to third.  Mulliniks stole second during McGriff's at bat but Schmidt struck out the slugging first baseman for the second out.  It looked like the O's would get out of the inning without further damage when Gruber hit a ground ball to Bill Ripken at second but Ripken threw the ball away, allowing both Fernandez and Mulliniks to score.  Gruber then got thrown out trying to steal second and the inning was mercifully over but the Jays now had a 4-1 lead.

Those two unearned runs would loom large as the Orioles rallied in the bottom of the ninth.  With one out Rick Schu singled and two batters later Larry Sheets also singled, bringing the tying run to the plate in the person of Joe Orsulak.  The Jays brought closer Tom Henke in and Orsulak greeted him with a single bringing Schu in with the Birds' second run.  Cal Ripken now represented the winning run at the plate but Henke got him to ground out to end the game.

Tuesday June 28 vs the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: W
Score: 7-0
Streak: W2
Record: 22-54
Rank: 7th
GB: 25

This game was maybe a little tighter than the final score would lead you to believe.  The Orioles got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the third on a Fred Lynn solo home run and a Larry Sheets sacrifice fly.  But for a while that was all the runs they had.  Meanwhile Jay Tibbs was pitching for the Orioles and he was doing OK until he loaded the bases with two out in the top of the sixth with two walks and single.  Mark Thurmond came on in relief to get the third out of the inning and end Toronto's most serious threat of the evening.

The Orioles blew the game open in the seventh.  With one out Bill Ripken doubled and Pete Stanicek walked.  Toronto manager Jimy Williams went to the bullpen and brought in David Wells to replace starter Jim Clancy.  Lynn then doubled to clear the bases.  Wells intentionally walked Cal Ripken to set up a force play on Eddie Murray.  But Murray made Toronto pay by launching a three run home run, his eleventh homer of the year.  That made the score 7-0 and that's how it ended.

This was only the second shutout victory the Orioles had had this season and the first one since their opening losing streak busting win against the White Sox almost two months to the day earlier.

Monday June 27 vs the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: W
Score: 6-2
Streak: W1
Record: 21-54
Rank: 7th
GB: 25

The Orioles returned home on this day after a week on the road for a quick three game set against Toronto before heading back on the road to Texas and Chicago.  For some reason this was not a "Three Buck Night" - it was the only Monday home game other than Opening Day and Labor Day that was not.

The Orioles had scored in the first inning of their previous five games but that streak came to end tonight.  They did score early and somewhat often however.  Jim Traber had a solo home run in the bottom of the second to kick off the scoring and Cal Ripken had a two RBI single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third to put the Birds up 3-0.  Another solo home run - this time by Rick Schu in the bottom of the fourth - made it 4-0.

Toronto finally got to Orioles starter Jeff Ballard in the seventh inning.  With one out a single by Pat Borders and a walk to Fred McGriff set up an RBI single by Manny Lee.  But the one run was all they got.

The Orioles got that run back along with one more in the bottom of the inning.  With one out Bill Ripken doubled and Blue Jays pitcher Todd Stottlemeyer intentionally walked Cal Ripken to set up the force.  David Wells then came in to pitch to Eddie Murray who hit a ground ball to first baseman Fred McGriff who couldn't handle the ball.  Murray was safe on McGriff's error and Bill Ripken came in to score.  Cal moved to third on the play and was able to score on Mickey Tettleton's sacrifice fly.  The score was now 6-1.

A Kelly Gruber solo home run in the eighth cut the Bird's lead to 6-2 but Toronto couldn't get it any closer.

Thursday June 23 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 2-5
Streak: L2
Record: 19-52
Rank: 7th
GB: 25

For the second night in a row the Orioles got most of their offense done early.  Unfortunately for them the Blue Jays got most of theirs late.

Also for the second night in a row the first batter for the Orioles homered.  This time it was Ken Gerhart doing the honors.  Fred Lynn followed with another home run - his eleventh of the season - and two batters into the game the Birds had a 2-0 lead.  Unfortunately they only got four hits and walk the entire rest of the game.

Toronto was slow in coming back.  They cut the lead in half when Tony Fernandez hit a triple to knock Manny Lee in in the bottom of the third.  They took the lead for good in the sixth.  Fernandez got on base on a error by Gerhart in left field and scored when Lloyd Moseby doubled.  Moseby moved to third on a flyball by Rance Mulliniks and scored on a sacrifice fly by George Bell.  The Jays were now up 3-2.

Toronto put up a couple insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when Fernandez knocked in Ernie Whitt with a double and Moseby's sacrifice fly scored Lee.  Final score: 5-2.

In other baseball news, the Yankees fired Billy Martin today and replaced him with Lou Piniella.  It was the end of Martin's fifth and final stint as Yankees manager.  Martin had kept the Yankees in first for much of the season until they were swept by the Tigers in three games in Detroit the first part of this week.  The Yankees lost all three games in excruciating fashion - two of them they lost in ten innings and in the other one they blew a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth - the big blow coming on a walk-off grand slam by Alan Trammell.  Martin had been involved in a bar fight in Dallas in early May and had been suspended for three games due to an altercation with an umpire at the end of the month so there were factors beyond the team's performance that played into the decision.  Martin would never manage another team - he died in a drunk driving related car accident a year and a half later on Christmas Day 1989 at the age of 61.

One interesting note on Martin's firing - it was predicted by Steve Wulf in Sports Illustrated's Baseball Preview issue in April.  Wulf had done a "20 Questions" article for baseball and question six was "Will Billy Martin last the season in his fifth stint as Yankee manager?"  Wulf answered "No. He will be fired on June 9 and replaced by general manager Lou Piniella. George Steinbrenner has become that predictable."  Wulf was only off by two weeks.

Wednesday June 22 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 2-4
Streak: L1
Record: 19-51
Rank: 7th
GB: 24.5

If you got to the ballpark late tonight you missed everything.  Pete Stanicek hit John Cerutti's first pitch of the evening over the fence for his first home run of the season and gave the Orioles an early 1-0 lead.  It wouldn't hold long however as the Blue Jays got an RBI single from George Bell to tie up the game in the bottom of the first.  It could have been worse as the Jays left the bases loaded when Jeff Ballard got Jesse Barfield to fly out to end the inning.

Rene Gonzales got the Birds back on top with an RBI double in the top of the second but again the lead was short lived.  Cecil Fielder hit a two out double that brought in Tony Fernandez and Lloyd Moseby and gave Toronto their first lead of the night.  They would tack on a fourth run in the bottom of the third when Manny Lee singled to knock in Barfield.

And that was pretty much the end of the offense this night for both teams.  After the third inning both teams combined for only five hits (3 by the Orioles including two by Mickey Tettleton) - all singles - and no runs.  Only one runner got beyond first - Fernandez made it all the way to third in the bottom of the sixth.

Tuesday June 21 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: W
Score: 4-2
Streak: W1
Record: 19-50
Rank: 7th
GB: 23.5

The Orioles were taking on an old friend tonight.  Mike Flanagan had spent over a decade in the Orioles rotation before being traded to Toronto in late 1987 for Oswaldo Peraza and Jose Mesa.  His best season was 1979 when he went 23-9 and won the AL Cy Young Award while helping to pitch the Birds to the World Series.  Coincidentally Peraza was the O's starter this evening.

Things looked good for Toronto early.  Fred McGriff homered to lead off the bottom of the second to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.  The Orioles didn't get on the board until the sixth inning when Cal Ripken doubled in Rene Gonzales to tie the game up.  But Tony Fernandez knocked in Jesse Barfield with an RBI double of his own in the bottom of the seventh to put Toronto on top again with a score of 2-1.

Flanagan ran into trouble in the top of the eighth however.  Rick Schu lead off the inning with a single and then both Gonzales and Pete Stanicek hit ground balls that resulted in the previous batter being forced at second.  But when Bill Ripken singled, Toronto manager Jimy Williams decided to go to his bullpen and bring in Jose Nunez to replace Flanagan on the mound.  Cal Ripken greeted the new pitcher with a bases clearing triple to put the Orioles up 3-2.  That would be the only hitter Nunez faced as Williams brought in David Wells then who got Eddie Murray to pop up to end the inning.  Wells would give up a run in the top of the ninth though when Ken Gerhart hit a solo home run to bring the score to 4-2.

Peraza ended up with the win and Flanagan got the loss so at least for one night that trade looked good.

Monday June 20 at the Blue Jays

Opponent: Toronto Blue Jays
Outcome: L
Score: 2-5
Streak: L2
Record: 18-50
Rank: 7th

GB: 23.5

The Birds arrived in Toronto for a four game series against the Blue Jays, the only team that they hadn't played yet this season.  The Blue Jays had won 96 games and finished second to Detroit in the AL East the previous year (with the season coming down to a showdown between the Tigers and Blue Jays the last weekend of the season) but coming into this evening's game they were in sixth place, 9 games behind the first place Yankees, with a record of 33-36.

But they looked pretty good tonight as they got on the board early against Mike Boddicker.  In the bottom of the first.  Lloyd Moseby singled with one out and came into score on Rance Mulliniks' double.  Mulliniks then scored on George Bell's single.  Fred McGriff followed with a double and Bell scored on Kelly Gruber's ground out.

Cal Ripken almost single handedly got the Orioles close.  He hit his 11th home run of the season (a solo shot) in the third and had an RBI double in the fifth, knocking in his brother with the Birds' second run.  (I'm scratching my head looking at Baseball Reference's Play-By-Play account of that inning.  Bill Ripken and Joe Orsulak were on third and second respectively when Cal hit the double - why didn't Orsulak score from second?)  But McGriff hit a two run homer in the bottom of the seventh to put the Blue Jays up by three again.