Athletics Rip the Orioles Again, 9-3

OAKLAND —  It was another day, another drubbing for the downtrodden Baltimore Orioles. Wednesday afternoon, the “Bash Brothers” passed the leading-lumber role from Harold Baines to Mark McGwire, but the results were virtually the same as the night before, as the Oakland Athletics clubbed their way to a 9-3 victory before 23,528 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

How bad was it for the Orioles, who yielded 12 extra-base hits -- including six home runs -- in losing two games here by a combined score of 20-6? It was this bad: McGwire had a pair of three-run homers Wednesday for a career-best six RBI, and that was only the second-best performance by an A’s slugger in the two-game series -- behind Baines’s three-homer, seven-RBI exhibition Tuesday night.

Mike Flanagan permitted three runs to the first four Oakland batters, and that was only the second-worst beginning by an Orioles starter-to Ben McDonald’s four-runs-in-four-hitters nightmare the previous evening.

However, Mark Williamson did earn Wednesday the distinction of having the most miserable relief effort of the series, pitching to just four batters and allowing the A’s to hit for the cycle: a single by Jose Canseco, McGwire’s second home run of the day, a double by Terry Steinbach and Willie Wilson’s triple.

In between, he threw a wild pitch on a breaking ball that bounced short wickedly and resulted in a bruised right shoulder for Baltimore catcher Chris Hoiles.

“I knew it as soon as (Wilson) hit it,” Williamson said. “As soon as he hit the triple, I said, ‘That’s it. That’s the cycle.’ Pretty impressive.”

The Orioles have lost 11 of their past 17 games to fall to 9-16. Three games remain on this western road trip that has seen them lose four of six contests.

All they have right now is optimism. Said Manager Frank Robinson: “I’m going to drive over to San Francisco, eat a fine meal, have a nice flight to Seattle, have a nice off day (Thursday) in Seattle, win three games up there, then go home and get on a roll and forget about this.”

This began as a day when the Orioles had a hunch they might start their turnaround. For inspiration, they had Flanagan, the 39-year-old left-hander who was making his first start since May of last season with Toronto-and his first for Baltimore since Aug. 27, 1987.

He brought a 1.50 ERA in from the bullpen, with a promise to go as hard as e could for as long as he could. He departed two batters into the fifth inning with a 4-0 deficit that soon grew to 9-0. His ERA ballooned to 3.27.

The Orioles also were faced with the prospect of squaring off with Dave Stewart, against whom they’ve always fared well. But Stewart left the game in the second inning with a strained muscle in his rib cage, an injury expected to shelve him for his next two scheduled starts.

And the Oakland bullpen shut down Baltimore’s bats until after it no longer mattered, with Curt Young (1-0) picking up the win with 3 23 innings of shutout relief.

The A’s offense, meanwhile, again hammered out its frustrations following a pair of embarrassing weekend losses to the Indians. McGwire, who now has 21 homers in 53 career games against Baltimore, led the way.

Rickey Henderson added a double and a bases-empty home run off Flanagan, and Dave Henderson also had two of Oakland’s 11 hits. The A’s (17-9) had six straight hits against Flanagan and Williamson during a six-run fifth inning.

Mike Devereaux had three hits and Jeff McKnight two for the Orioles, but it was far too little, far too late. “We’re not hitting well and we’re not pitching well,” Robinson said. “Other than that, we’re fine.”

The Orioles again dug themselves an early hole, with Rickey Henderson leading off the game with a double into the right field corner and Dave Henderson beating out a bunt single. One out later, Flanagan (0-1) served up a first-pitch fastball that McGwire drilled into the left field seats for his second homer of the season. Following a painfully slow start, the first baseman had 12 of his 13 RBI during this now-completed 10-game homestand.

But he didn’t seem overly relieved about his recent surge. “I’m the same hitter I was two weeks ago,” McGwire said.

Flanagan settled down for a few innings before allowing Rickey Henderson’s home run and Dave Henderson’s single to open the fifth. On came Williamson, and the rout was in full swing soon thereafter. The Orioles had threatened a few times earlier, but, as has usually been the case lately, they were left frustrated.

“Even in games that are blowouts, there’s one or two little things that make a difference,” Flanagan said. “We’re just not getting any breaks. That’s a good ballclub over there (the A’s), and you can’t give them anything because they take advantage of it. That’ what we have to start doing.”