BALTIMORE — The Seattle Mariners’ ninth-inning rally attempt fell short on Thursday in a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
The M’s lost two of three in Baltimore, ending a streak of three straight series wins.
Offense hasn’t come easily for the Orioles lately. This time, they decided to make things happen themselves.
Baltimore entered Thursday’s game averaging just 2.45 runs since the trade deadline, fewest in MLB over that span and more than half a run below the next-closest team. Rather than wait for a spark that was never coming, the Orioles resorted to creating havoc on the base paths and scraped enough runs across to beat Seattle.
“I don’t feel like we’ve got much of a choice,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said of the Orioles trying to manufacture runs with aggressive base running.
After putting a few runners on over the first three innings against Seattle starter Logan Evans but never pushing one across, the Orioles (55-66) broke through in the fourth when Jordan Westburg walked, went first to third on a single by Ryan Mountcastle and scored on a wild pitch. Though Westburg slid headfirst, something he’s tried to avoid since injuring his index finger twice on slides earlier this season, and collided with Evans at the plate, he walked away unharmed.
Two batters later, the Orioles pulled off a double steal with runners on the corners. Daniel Johnson took off for second base to draw the throw from catcher Mitch Garver and Mountcastle waited until he got into a rundown before going for home. He slid in safely for his second stolen base of the inning, the first time in his career that he’s swiped multiple bases in a game.
Jeremiah Jackson, who provided the game’s best defensive highlight in the first by throwing out Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor trying to stretch a single into a double, capped off the rally with an RBI single to score Johnson and extend the lead to 3-0.
“Ever since I’ve gotten here, it’s been really gritty games,” Jackson said. “We’re right there every time. To be able to come in and help the team win, it’s awesome. It’s been fun.
The Orioles weren’t done, however, bringing two more runs around in the fifth when Gunnar Henderson roped an RBI double down the left field line and Mountcastle mashed a deep fly-ball to center field that scored Westburg from third.
It was plenty of run support for Tomoyuki Sugano, who blanked the Mariners over 5 1/3 innings before a series of thunderstorms caused a rain delay of two hours and 18 minutes. The umpiring crew had the teams play through heavy rainfall for about 20 minutes before halting the contest, which left the infield full of water. The Orioles grounds crew pulled the tarp off between showers to get the dirt back into playing shape but had to put it back on until the rain subsided.
“If I had thrown another pitch, I wasn’t sure where it was going to go,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai.
Sugano’s start was cut short as a result, and he had to leave a runner aboard that Rico García allowed to score on a two-run homer by center fielder Julio Rodríguez in the first at-bat after the delay. Sugano finished allowing one run on three hits, one walk and two strikeouts. His ERA fell to 4.13 with the performance, the lowest it’s been since June 27.
Though Rodríguez’s blast prevented a shutout, the Orioles’ bullpen held onto their three-run lead heading into the ninth behind scoreless frames from Keegan Akin and Kade Strowd. Mansolino then gave the ball to Dietrich Enns, the under-the-radar trade deadline acquisition from the Detroit Tigers.
Enns allowed the Mariners to load the bases with one out and gave up a run on an RBI groundout by left fielder Randy Arozarena but induced another grounder by Naylor to end the game. The save was Enns’ first of the season and just the third of his MLB career.
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