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Royals Lose Club-Record 18th Straight Game

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

SEATTLE - The Kansas City Royals lost their club-record 18th straight game, moving within three of matching the longest skid in American League history by falling 11-5 to the last-place Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

Manager Buddy Bell rejoined the Royals after a two-game absence while attending burial services at Arlington National Cemetery for his Marine nephew, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq earlier this month.

Bell returned to the dugout and watched the Royals get closer to the AL record of 21 straight losses set by the Baltimore Orioles at the start of the 1988 season. The modern major league record for consecutive losses is 23, set by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.

The Royals start a three-game series at Oakland on Friday night before returning home to face Boston for three games beginning Tuesday night. They're 0-3 against both the Athletics and the Red Sox, with both sweeps coming during their current streak.

Jose Lima (4-11) will start Friday night for the Royals, with Mike Wood (3-4) going Saturday night and Runelvys Hernandez (8-11) on Sunday.

Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam in the first inning for the Mariners, and Jamie Moyer (10-4) made the early lead stand up. Seattle's final run came in the eighth when Kansas City reliever Mike MacDougal fielded an easy comebacker with the bases loaded and threw the ball over catcher Paul Phillips' head.

Phillips provided the Royals' biggest highlight, hitting a grand slam with two outs in the ninth for his first major league homer.

Bell took over the Royals on May 31, three weeks after manager Tony Pena resigned. He watched D.J. Carrasco (5-7) surrender Beltre's slam on his 17th pitch of the game.

Richie Sexson's 30th homer of the season in the fifth off Shawn Camp gave the Mariners an 8-0 lead.

Kansas City has given up 10 or more runs seven times during their losing streak, while pitching to a 7.40 ERA. The Royals were outscored 26-11 and outhit 37-19 in the series against the last-place Mariners.

Moyer pitched seven strong innings as Seattle completed the sweep. Kansas City has been swept in six straight series and shut out twice during the skid. For the season, they've been swept 17 times.

The Royals, on pace to set a club record with 109 losses this season, didn't get a hit until David DeJesus singled to center with one out in the fourth.

Kansas City got three of its hits in the sixth, with Mike Sweeney singling in DeJesus, who doubled.

One of Kansas City's bright spots during its dreary day came in the fourth inning when Camp picked off Ichiro Suzuki at first base.

Carrasco dropped to 0-3 in four starts during the streak, lasting only three-plus innings. He gave up seven runs on eight hits and two walks, with one strikeout.

Moyer improved to 7-0 at Safeco Field this season, allowing one run on six hits and struck out a season-high seven.

The Royals, losers of 104 games last year, started this season with a nearly $37 million payroll - second-lowest among baseball's 30 teams.

Notes: Beltre's grand slam was the sixth of his career, first in Seattle, and the Mariners' fourth of the season. His other five grand slams came with the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... The Mariners swept their fourth series of the season and second from the Royals. ... Moyer improved his career record to 202-149, including 136-72 in Seattle and 48-26 at Safeco. He is 13-8 against Kansas City in his career, including 2-0 this season. ... Suzuki tied his season-high 11-game hitting streak. ... Phillips' homer came in his ninth major league game.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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