Robinson Rips Into Orioles After 16th Loss

Just when it couldn’t get any worse for the Baltimore Orioles, it got grotesque.

The Orioles lost their 16th straight game to start the season, their trouble turning to travesty Friday night when the Kansas City Royals scored nine runs in the first inning and romped, 13-1.

“It is embarrassing. It looks like we’re starting to accept losing,” fumed Baltimore Manager Frank Robinson, who unleashed an obscenity-filled tirade at his team in a closed-door meeting after the game.

“Tonight was not a professional baseball game as far as the Baltimore Orioles were concerned,” Robinson raged. “We played like losers. They’re starting to expect to lose.”

The Orioles’ woes reached new proportions as they extended the major league record for season-opening losses and their club mark for consecutive defeats.

Kansas City started the game with seven straight singles, setting a team record. Willie Wilson and Kurt Stillwell capped the first-inning carnage with triples, while the bumbling Orioles contributed two errors.

The Orioles’ 16 straight losses ties the ninth longest streak in American League history for any stretch of the season. The record is 20, held by three teams. The major league record for consecutive losses is 23 by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.

Mark Gubicza (3-1) held the punchless Orioles to three hits as the Royals ended a five-game losing streak, which had been the second-longest in the majors this season.

Bo Jackson homered, went 4 for 5, and drove in three runs, and Jim Eisenreich drove in three runs for the Royals, who finished with 19 hits against five pitchers.

The Orioles managed to avoid a shutout when Fred Lynn doubled and later scored on Joe Orsulak’s groundout in the fifth inning.

Former Baltimore pitcher Jim Palmer, asked about the losses, said the attitude of the players has contributed as much as anything to the collapse.

“When I saw them in spring training, I wondered about their attitude then,” Palmer said. “I think their self-image is very poor. I honestly felt after losing 95 games last year, they’d be a better ballclub. But they haven’t given any indication of it.”