CHICAGO -- If a team falls and nobody cares, does anybody hear it?

Giving one of their most apathetic performances of the season, the Orioles confirmed the earlier suspicion that this season is best discussed in the past tense. They lost, 12-5, to the Chicago White Sox, who celebrated their second consecutive win and continued dominance over the Orioles.

More than a loss, the game further punctured the Orioles' evaporating playoff fantasies while infuriating manager Ray Miller.

The White Sox not only outhit the Orioles, 15-6, but they also appeared to render them defenseless with nine straight runs. The backsliding Orioles have lost five of their past six games, including three in a row.

Piling on further, the Boston Red Sox again won, dropping the Orioles 10 games back in the so-called American League wild-card race. The Orioles are 11 games down in the loss column with 30 remaining.

Einstein might calculate a permutation that would allow Miller's team into the postseason, but the game's physics will have none of it.

The Orioles' three-game losing streak is their longest of the second half. Though they retain the game's best record (31-13) since the All-Star break, last night's performance suggested a veteran team well aware of it being marooned in third place.

"It's getting tougher. Even when we were seven games out a week ago, we knew it was going to be tough. At least then we had momentum. We were playing well, the schedule was in our favor. To let these games get away like this is devastating at this point in the season," first baseman Rafael Palmeiro said.

Miller dropped his standard defense of his team's shortcomings, instead using an obscenity to describe its play.

"We didn't pitch well. We gave up nine runs with two outs. We screwed up a rundown play we work on all spring. They might be bloops and they might be flares, but there were nine runs scored with two outs and yesterday there were six. We had three hits in the first six innings," he said, and added, "This is just bad baseball and I'm not very pleased with it. I'd have a meeting about it right now, but I'm too mad, so I'll do it tomorrow."

Miller clearly detected what he construed as middling effort. He implied as much when he reminded reporters that he lobbied against taking apart a veteran clubhouse after a disastrous first half.

"It's going to depend on the guys out there. I stood up for them and kept them here. Now I expect them to play well. We'll talk about that tomorrow. You can't win every ballgame, but there's no excuse for not putting fire into it. We've been very flat the last two days -- hitting, fielding, everything," he said.

A stand-up triple for The Big Smirk, Frank Thomas?

Four hits by rookie shortstop Mike Caruso?

A horrendous three-pitch sequence: botched pickoff, wild pitch, moon shot home run?

The effort was so infuriating to starting pitcher Juan Guzman (8-13) that he stormed from the field directly into the clubhouse tunnel after a six-run second inning. Miller followed him and persuaded him to slog through five innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits.

"Everything just got out of hand," Guzman said. "Today was one of those days when you go out and everything you throw goes wrong. There's nothing you can do. Everything was going good for them."

Guzman summed his frustration. "I feel the only way I could get out of it was striking out everybody."

The rest of the American League apparently knows something the Orioles don't -- the White Sox are a terrible team.

Once again Second City's second team throttled a club demonstrably better at virtually every position and especially within the starting rotation. The 58-73 White Sox are 5-2 against the Orioles this year, having consistently pounded their pitching, contained their lineup and benefited from noncommittal defensive play.

Before the game Miller bemoaned his team's .211 average against a threadbare pitching staff chopped at a .280 clip by the rest of the league. He received further aggravation when the Orioled didn't start hitting until they trailed 9-1 in the seventh inning. White Sox starter James Baldwin (8-5) benefited and improved to 6-2 since June 26. The White Sox have outscored the Orioles 53-32 this season.

"I hate to say there's a letdown, but we're a ways behind the Red Sox. They're continuing to play well. At the same time, we've got to play the season out. We've got over a month left in the season. We can't play like we did tonight," said catcher Lenny Webster, who hit home runs as did Cal Ripken and Palmeiro.

Asked if a two-month pursuit of the Red Sox might finally have caused his discouraged team to let down, Miller said, "I don't know what it is. If it is, it's my fault. There shouldn't be a letdown. I looked up there and saw 4-4 in the sixth with Boston. That should be enough. We pitched poorly. We played less than heads-up defense. I don't understand it."

The most embarrassing moment came during the White Sox' six-run second inning.

Trailing 1-0, the White Sox scored six runs off Guzman with two outs. For the second consecutive game a meltdown around first base opened the spigot for a decisive breakout.

With two outs and runners at first and second, No. 9 hitter Chad Kreuter punched an opposite-field double between Ripken and the third-base bag to score Robin Ventura and tie it at 1. After a walk to Ray Durham that loaded the bases, Caruso slapped his second of four singles to make it a 3-1 game. Thomas then approached. White Sox manager Jerry Manuel ordered a delayed steal with Caruso breaking late.

In the rundown, the ball came to Palmeiro, prompting Durham to break to the plate.

Attempting to throw while moving to his right, Palmeiro made an off-line toss. Durham slid under Webster's tag, prompting Miller to turn and heave his gum against the dugout wall. The play looked to be Palmeiro's mistake but Miller reminded that a left-handed first baseman should never be asked to move toward second base with a runner at third. The cross-firing throw is too unpredictable.

Chaos continued. Guzman threw a wild pitch that advanced Caruso to third. Thomas completed the fiasco by crushing a 436-foot home run for a 6-1 lead.

The Orioles were rendered toothless by Baldwin, who entered with a 5.97 ERA despite a run of competence since mid-June.

As soon as they fell behind, the Orioles fell into a pattern of first-pitch outs on lethargic swings. Only one more runner reached scoring position through the sixth inning.

By the time Ripken hit a homer off the left-field foul pole, the Orioles trailed 9-1 and were doomed to their fifth loss in six games. Webster provided a second bases-empty homer to dead center field in the inning.

The Orioles kept going after Bryan Ward replaced Baldwin to begin the eighth. Palmeiro stemmed a 6-for-42 slide by lining a homer into the right-field bleachers. Palmeiro's 39th home run tied his career high set in 1995 and matched in 1996. By then, the game -- like this season -- had fallen out of reach.

Orioles tonight

Opponent: Chicago White Sox

Site: Comiskey Park, Chicago

Time: 8: 05

TV/Radio: Ch. 13/WBAL (1090 AM)

Starters: Orioles' Scott Erickson (14-9, 3.88) vs. White Sox's Jim Parque (3-5, 5.28)

AL wild-card race

........... W-L .... Pct. .. GB

Boston ... 78-52 .. .600 ... --

Texas .... 70-62 .. .530 .... 9

Orioles .. 69-63 .. .523 ... 10

Pub Date: 8/27/98