Orioles rally past Mariners 8-7 for 7th straight victory
BALTIMORE (AP) — During a seven-game winning streak that’s turned around their season, the Baltimore Orioles have found all sorts of ways to come out on top.
Their latest victory featured an impressive comeback, four home runs and a very timely replay challenge.
Welington Castillo went 4 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs, Jonathan Schoop singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Baltimore beat the Seattle Mariners 8-7 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
Less than 24 hours after subduing the Mariners behind a sensational pitching performance by Dylan Bundy, the Orioles called upon their power-laden lineup to offset a poor start by Ubaldo Jimenez.
“At this time we’ve been able to dial up what was needed on a given day,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I think we kind of know it’s, ‘OK, what do we need to do tonight to win?’”
Schoop, Trey Mancini and Craig Gentry went deep for the Orioles, whose seven-game run is a season high. In this one, Baltimore fell behind 6-2 in the third inning before coming back.
Mitch Haniger homered and hit two doubles for Seattle, which completed an arduous 12-game East Coast trip with five straight defeats. After winning two of three in Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the Mariners went 1-2 at Yankee Stadium and came up empty against the sizzling Orioles.
While Baltimore has been finding ways to win, the Mariners are doing the exact opposite.
“There’s been different reasons for the losses,” manager Scott Servais said. “Some of it’s been lack of offense. Today we had plenty of offense. It’s been different areas.”
After Baltimore went up 7-6 in the sixth on a bases loaded sacrifice fly by Manny Machado, Seattle pulled even in the eighth when Haniger connected off Brad Brach (4-4).
In the bottom half, Castillo singled off Christian Bergman (4-5) and went to second base on a sacrifice bunt before being replaced by pinch-runner Caleb Joseph. Tim Beckham then hit a liner to short, and Joseph was called out on the relay to second. But a replay overturned the call, and Schoop followed an intentional walk to Machado with a single to center off Marc Rzepczynski.
Zach Britton pitched the ninth for his 13th save.
“Everything is working out now,” Castillo said. “The pitchers are pitching better. We’re hitting better. We’re playing defense better.”
Mancini hit his 23rd home run and Castillo added an RBI double in the second for a 2-0 lead, but Seattle answered with a six-run third that included a two-run double by Haniger and two-run singles by Mike Zunino and Nelson Cruz, the latter of which ricocheted off second base.
Jimenez was charged with all six runs, but Baltimore’s robust offense eventually took him off the hook.
Castillo homered with a man on in the fourth and Gentry followed with a drive to right. Schoop tied it in the fifth with his 30th home run , and Seattle starter Ariel Miranda faced one more batter before being pulled.
It was the fifth time this season that Miranda allowed at least six runs.
SWEET SWEEPS
Adding this sweep to their three-game domination of Boston over the weekend, the Orioles registered back-to-back sweeps of three-game series for the first time since June 11-16, 1999, against Atlanta and Kansas City.
TRADE WINDS
In an effort to enhance their injury-riddled starting rotation, the Mariners acquired RHP Mike Leake (7-12, 4.21 ERA) from the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league INF Rayder Ascanio.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez (shoulder) and LHP James Paxton (pectoral) are expected to throw bullpen sessions this weekend in Seattle. . Reliever David Phelps left with an elbow issue. “This arm just doesn’t want to get extended. It’s frustrating,” Phelps said. He will be examined this week in Seattle.