It's August 28, 1974. The defending AL East champion #Orioles manage just 6 hits off the Rangers' Jackie Brown for their 4th straight loss, putting them 2 games below .500. It also drops them behind Cleveland to 4th place, 8 games behind Boston.
They're about to make history. 1/
The O's salvage the series finale, then go to KC and sweep the Royals. Dave McNally, who took the loss against Brown in Texas, gives up a meaningless 8th-inning run in the final game of the series before mowing down the Royals in the 9th. 2/
While the Orioles are steamrolling the Royals, the Red Sox get swept by the Twins, so their lead is down to 2 games over the Yankees, with the Orioles now 5 back, in third. And the Sox are headed to Baltimore for 3 games, starting with a Labor Day doubleheader. 3/
In Game 1 of the twinbill, Luis Tiant, who's already a 20-game winner, gives up just 3 hits, but one of them is a Bobby Grich solo HR. Ross Grimsley tosses a 3-hitter of his own and the Orioles win 1-0. 4/
In the nightcap, the O's again get just 1 run, this time on a bases-loaded sac fly, and again make it stand up: Mike Cuellar spins a 2-hit shutout. 5/
The next day, the Oriole bats come alive, while Jim Palmer throws a 3-hitter for the Orioles' 3rd straight shutout, 6-0. Meanwhile, the Yankees' Doc Medich throws a shutout of his own against the Brewers to move the Yanks into a first-place tie, with the Orioles just 2 back. 6/
Back on the road, to Cleveland for a 4-game series, starting with another doubleheader. In the opener, McNally and Fritz Peterson match goose eggs for 7 innings before rookie Enos Cabell takes Peterson deep. McNally completes ANOTHER 3-hit shutout. 7/
The nightcap is Cuellar against Jim Kern, making his MLB debut; he'll go on to be a 3-time All-Star reliever. Tonight, through six innings he gives up just two singles. The Orioles push across a run in the 7th -- and Cuellar completes the O's 5th straight shutout. 8/
Next day is Grimsley against Gaylord Perry. The Orioles nick Perry for 3 runs, one at a time, while Grimsley allows just four hits in 8 innings. Finally, in the 9th, George Hendrick cracks a leadoff double, and Charlie Spikes homers. The scoreless streak is over, at 54 1/3 IP. 9/
In those 54+ innings, the Orioles not only gave up no runs, they gave up just 21 hits -- and never once used a reliever. That streak ends the moment the scoreless streak does; Bob Reynolds enters and sets down 3 in a row for the save, and the Orioles' 10th straight win. 10/
The record scoreless streak carried the Orioles to a 2nd-place tie, 1 game behind the Yankees. They finally lost the next day to fall into third, still 1 game out. It'd take 11 more days to take over 1st place with a sweep of the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. 11/
After 2 days in first, the Orioles blew a 5-1 9th-inning lead at Fenway to fall back to 2nd, a game behind the Yankees with 9 to play.
They won all 9. They clinched the division on the next-to-last day of the season, with another, 24-inning scoreless streak along the way. 12/end
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