The Orioles loss tracker

The Baltimore Orioles are historically bad in 2018, and they aren’t alone. Keep track here as they rack up the losses at an uncommon rate.

Manny Machado was traded to the Dodgers, but even with his departure Tim Beckham in the first two games after the All-Star break went 2-for-4 at shortstop in both contests, including a home run on Friday night. It didn’t matter, with Baltimore suffering a pair of losses to the Blue Jays.

On Saturday, Alex Cobb allowed four runs — only one of them earned — to suffer the loss in Toronto. Cobb, who signed a four-year, $57 million contract in the offseason, is now 2-13 with a 6.17 ERA. Among the 120 major league pitchers with at least 70 innings in 2018, Cobb ranks 120th in ERA.

The Orioles are 28-71, owners of the worst record in baseball. In the last 100 seasons only seven teams have had worse starts through 99 games, led by the beacon of futility — the 1962 Mets, who were 25-74 en route to finishing 40-120 in their inaugural campaign.

Of the 11 other teams in that span to finish 28-71 or worse, only two teams finished with a winning percentage of at least .300 — the 1923 Boston Braves and 1979 Oakland A’s.

Even the 1988 Orioles, who famously began their season at a record 0-21, were 31-68 through 99 games. That’s three games better than the current Baltimore team. Yikes.

The bottom line

Current record: 28-71 (.283)

162-game pace: 46-116

Teams with 115+ losses in the modern era: 4
120 - 1962 Mets
119 - 2003 Tigers
117 - 1916 A’s
115 - 1935 Braves