AL: Shame mounts for K.C.

SEATTLE - One of the Kansas City Royals has even had to change his evening plans.

"I'm embarrassed," right-hander Jose Lima said. "I'm embarrassed to go into a bar. The people would say, "They lost 18 in a row. They really stink this year.' "

The Royals lost their club-record 18th straight game Wednesday, moving within three of matching the longest skid in league history by falling 11-5 to the Mariners.

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 this month.

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

"This is tough," Lima said, packing to go to Oakland with the rest of the Royals. "This is something we didn't plan. Nothing is going our way right now."

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 the Athletics and Red Sox, with both sweeps coming during their current streak.

Lima starts Friday night for the Royals, with Mike Wood going Saturday night and Runelvys Hernandez on Sunday.

Lima lost 1-0 to Mike Maroth in a doubleheader nightcap at Detroit on Sunday. He noted the A's have a losing streak of their own at four.

"I hope they keep losing," Lima said of the A's. "I've just got to do my job and stay focused like my last game."

Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam in the first inning for the Mariners, and Jamie Moyer made the 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 over catcher Paul Phillips' head.

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

"I'm excited I hit a home run and I'm excited it was a grand slam, but it's way overshadowed by the way we played," Phillips said.

ORIOLES 5, A'S 3: Emergency starter Eric DuBose didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, and visiting Baltimore sent Oakland to its fourth straight loss by completing a three-game sweep.

DuBose took the mound at the last minute after Daniel Cabrera was scratched because of a sore lower back, then pitched brilliantly. Mark Ellis broke up the no-hit bid with a bloop single to center with two outs in the fifth.

TWINS 5, WHITE SOX 1: Johan Santana took a no-hitter into the seventh, and visiting Minnesota completed a three-game sweep of first-place Chicago. Santana lost his no-hit bid when Carl Everett hit a bloop single to open the seventh, and Paul Konerko ended his shutout by leading off the ninth with his 31st homer.

TIGERS 6, RED SOX 5: Craig Monroe's two-run double highlighted a five-run first off David Wells, and host Detroit held on to take two of three from the East leader. David Ortiz, who drove in two with a single in the seventh, hit into Boston's fifth double play of the game to end it.

BLUE JAYS 4, ANGELS 1: Orlando Hudson and Vernon Wells broke a tie with consecutive run-scoring singles, helping Josh Towers win his fourth straight road decision for Toronto. The Blue Jays have won seven of nine to move six games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 28, 2003, when they were 86-76.

RANGERS 3, INDIANS 0: Rookie Chris Young allowed two singles in eight shutout innings, helping visiting Texas snap an eight-game losing streak.

[Last modified August 18, 2005, 01:06:07]