BALTIMORE — An unfavorable replay call wasn’t enough to ruin a significant night in the Baltimore Orioles’ youth movement.
Brad Bergesen pitched eight innings of five-hit ball, Nolan Reimold homered and had two RBIs, and the Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1 on Tuesday to end a five-game losing streak.
Soon after Baltimore drafted 18-year-old pitcher Matt Hobgood with the fifth overall pick in the amateur draft, a pair of rookies carried the Orioles to victory.
“I think tonight was kind of appropriate, being draft day, that a couple of our guys, drafted by the scouts that I met here today, did so well — Bergesen and Reimold,” manager Dave Trembley said. “I think that’s just tremendous.”
Making his 10th start since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on April 21, Bergesen (3-2) set career marks for fewest runs allowed and most strikeouts (six). The right-hander did not issue a walk and allowed only one runner past first base.
“He just looks like he knows what he’s doing. He looks very comfortable on the mound. He works fast and he can locate,” Trembley said.
George Sherrill earned his 12th save despite giving up an RBI single to Jose Lopez in the ninth.
The Orioles went up 1-0 in the first, their first lead in 35 innings dating back to Wednesday in Seattle. Brian Roberts snapped a 2-for-26 skid with a leadoff double, stole third and scored on a grounder by Adam Jones.
Then things got strange. Melvin Mora lifted a fly to left that sent Endy Chavez to the 7-foot wall. Chavez jumped to make the catch, but a fan got to the ball first, and the hit was ruled a home run. After Chavez and Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu protested, the first home-run replay at Camden Yards commenced.
When the umpires returned, they summoned both managers out for a conference before ruling fan interference and calling Mora out.
“He could have called it either way. Especially when we play at home,” Mora said. “I know it had a chance to be a home run but they said it was an out.”
Mariners starter Jason Vargas said, “I thought that when Endy went up, he had a pretty good bead on it,” Vargas said. “It was good chance (the fan) did interfere with it, just by the way the ball popped out of the air and wound up going over. So, when they went to review it, I was feeling pretty good about it.”
The call went Seattle’s way. Ultimately, it didn’t matter.
Baltimore was coming off a 1-5 road trip in which it was outscored 32-10, a slide that included two losses in three games in Seattle.
Ichiro Suzuki had two hits for the Mariners, who had won seven of 10.
“Obviously, offensively, until the last inning, we really didn’t put anything together,” Wakamatsu said.
Vargas (2-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. It was his first loss since coming to the Mariners in an offseason trade with the New York Mets.
“I didn’t really feel the greatest out there,” Vargas said. “I felt I could have done a lot more. I felt I could have taken them a longer into the ball game.”
In the Baltimore fifth, after Luke Scott sent an opposite-field drive to left that died at the warning track, Reimold followed with his seventh home run.
Reimold added an RBI single in the sixth.’
Notes: Suzuki went 2-for-4 to raise his lifetime batting average
against Baltimore to .372. He has hit in 13 straight games vs. the Orioles and 23 of 24. … Orioles rookie catcher Matt Wieters had two hits, one of them on a popup that was misjudged by the Seattle infield. … Reimold and Scott have combined to hit Baltimore’s last 11 HRs.
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