"21" was not lucky for the Baltimore Orioles
After the first weekend of the 2012 MLB season, five teams stand at 0-3: Yankees; Giants; Red Sox; Braves; and Twins (listed in order of BBRT surprise at the slow starts). All five are the maximum 3 games behind the leaders.
Still, they all have a long way to go to match the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the worst start in baseball history. That year the Orioles lost their first 21 games, capturing their initial win of the season (9-0 over the White Sox) on April 29. The O’s gave indications something momentous could be on the horizon, being outscored 30-2 over their first four games. They went on to be outscored 129-44 in their record- setting, season-opening losing streak. The streak included only 4 one-run losses (three in a row April 14-16, losses 9-11). Eight of the 21 losses were at home, sparing the Baltimore fans, particularly since losses 13-21 were on the road. The O’s finished the year 54-107, 34 ½ games off the pace.
Back to 2012, our five winless teams, as might be expected, are finding lots of different ways to drop games. Consider Sunday’s losses, the third for each team.
Baltimore’s Jason Hammel took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, as the Orioles topped the Twins 3-1.
Boston blew a 10-7 ninth-inning lead, before losing to Detroit 13-12 in eleven innings.
San Francisco led 6-0 after three innings, but lost 7-6 to Arizona in a game that featured 8 errors, but no unearned runs.
Jeremy Hellickson came within one out of a complete game shutout as the Rays beat the Yankees 3-0 in an errorless game.
The Braves lost in a more traditional/predictable manner, trailing the Mets 7-0 after six innings (but coming back to make the final score 7-5).
