The good news is that the Orioles scored five runs in a single inning in last night night's game against the Angels. The bad news is that the Angels scored fives runs in a single inning TWICE.

Los Angeles won, 18-6, in another game in which the Orioles would have failed to cover the spread even if the oddsmakers had made them the underdog by a touchdown. This is 18 losses in the last 21 games and Baltimore finds itself in a furious battle with Tampa Bay to not only stay out of the AL East cellar but to avoid the worst record in baseball.

As Sun Orioles beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec points out, it is a span during which the Orioles have been outscored by 100 runs, 196-96. Who's the defensive coordinator on this team?

From the clubhouse, there are these observations.

Outfielder Jay Payton: "I've been with six different teams and I've never been through anything like this."

Third baseman Melvin Mora: "This is the worst [stretch] ever in all the years I've been here and the worst ever in my life. The worst."

* Former Oriole-current Yankee Mike Mussina snapped out of his pitching slump, at least for the time being. Mussina had been pulled from the New York starting rotation but in a successful return last night against Toronto, he pitched six scoreless innings as New York won, 4-1. The Yanks, although five games behind Boston in the AL East, are four games ahead of their closest pursuer, Detroit, in the wild-card race.

*  And the Chicago Cubs continue to tease their fans by slipping into a first-place tie with Milwaukee in that red-hot NL Central where the division leaders are both three games over .500.  Chicago nipped Houston, 3-2, while Pittsburgh bounced Milwaukee, 7-4.