Associated Press
BALTIMORE — Chris Davis enjoyed an uplifting moment in an otherwise dreary season, hitting a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning to carry Baltimore past the Seattle Mariners 2-1 Sunday in the Orioles’ final home game of the season.
The game was the Mariners’ final road game of the year.
A two-time major league home run champ, the 33-year-old Davis is struggling through a third straight subpar season. He has three years left on a $161 million contract.
Davis came in batting .174 with 10 home runs and 34 RBI and has heard more than his share of jeers from the home fans. On this occasion, however, he brought the crowd to its feet by driving a sinker from lefty Marco Gonzales (16-12) over the right-field wall for a 2-1 lead.
Davis’ playing time has been cut on a rebuilding team, so between that and his lack of power this year, it was his first home run since Aug. 28 in Washington.
Before the game, Davis’ situation was addressed by first-year general manager Mike Elias, who insisted that the one-time slugger would be at spring training next year but noted, “It’s a really frustrating situation. It’s one of the many things that we stepped into and have inherited and are working on.”
Orioles left-hander John Means (11-11) allowed one run and seven hits over seven sharp innings in the penultimate start of an All-Star rookie season. He walked one and struck out four, including Domingo Santana with his final pitch.
Richard Bleier finished for his fourth save in a game that took only 2 hours, 11 minutes.
Gonzales gave up two runs and three hits over seven innings. He was 7-0 over 19 starts in his career in September and October.
Both teams scored in the first inning before the starting pitchers found their groove.
Shed Long opened the game with a triple and scored on a single by J.P. Crawford for Seattle, and the Orioles tied it on an RBI double by Renato Núñez.
NOTES
Reliever Austin Adams was to have an MRI on his left knee after twisting it on Saturday night. Manager Scott Servais said initial tests showed the knee to be stable. … Tom Murphy was at DH after being struck in the head by a backswing one night earlier. “He is feeling it this morning,” Servais said.
UP NEXT
Mariners: Seattle launches its final homestand of the season Tuesday against playoff-bound Houston.
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