Even Nature Bows to Ripken : Baseball: Hurricane Felix fails to rain on Orioles’ parade, meaning shortstop is still on target to break Gehrig’s streak Sept. 6 in Baltimore.

Baltimore Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., who played more than 13 seasons to get within three weeks of Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games mark, weathered a hurricane so he can break the record at home.

The Orioles lost to the Kansas City Royals, 3-2, in 10 innings Thursday under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-90s. Ripken, playing in his 2,112 straight game, went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Felix remained about 170 miles off the coast of North Carolina, far from Baltimore.

Ripken is scheduled to break Gehrig’s mark of playing in 2,130 straight games on Sept. 6 at Camden Yards against the Angels. A rain-out Thursday would have left him a game off that pace, with the only possible makeup for both teams coming Sept. 7.

The Orioles concluded a five-game home stand Thursday afternoon, and are headed to the West Coast for a 10-game trip.

“We fly to the West Coast tonight, so (the hurricane) may cross the Appalachians, but I don’t think it’s going to cross the Rockies,” said Bill Stetka, Oriole assistant director of public relations.

Even with the possibility of a hurricane no longer threatening Ripken’s target date, the celebration the Orioles have planned for Sept. 6 is still not a certainty.

Baltimore’s only open dates before the record is broken are Aug. 28, at the end of the West Coast trip, and Sept. 7, the day after Ripken is scheduled to break the record.

Baltimore starts the West Coast trip against Oakland on Friday. They play three games against the A’s, then travel to Seattle for a three-game series and finish up with four games against the Angels.

“The next critical dates would be the last games of each of these series,” Stetka said. “We don’t have open dates at the end of those series.”

Should the Orioles encounter a rain-out in the middle of the series against Oakland or the Angels, they will simply play a doubleheader the next day. However, should the final game of either of those series be rained out, there is only the Aug. 28 open date left before the Orioles return to Baltimore. The A’s and Angels also have an off day on Aug. 28.

Games in Seattle won’t be rained out because the Mariners play in the Kingdome.

“In the event that something is rained out on the West Coast, there would be the likelihood that we could go back and play a game on that Monday (Aug. 28), before leaving the West Coast,” Stetka said.

The Orioles return from the West Coast for three-game sets with Oakland, Seattle and the Angels.

If a rain-out occurs during the final game of any of the three home series before the record is broken, the Orioles will only have Sept. 7 to make up the game.

The A’s and Angels also have off Sept. 7. Seattle is playing at Cleveland that day. That means Ripken needs good weather in Baltimore on Sunday, Sept. 3, for the last game of the Seattle series if he is to break the record in his home park.

“We have talked to league officials and the officials of the teams that we’re playing,” Stetka said, “and we’ve been given every assurance that everything possible will be done so this record can be set at Camden Yards.”

If Ripken has to play in game 2,131 on Sept. 7, it will put a serious snag into the tentative plans the club has to hold a parade for the All-Star shortstop that day, not to mention annoying all the ticket-holders for the Sept. 6 game.