Thanks to the schedule, Mariners seem back on track after 5-3 victory over Orioles
BALTIMORE — If you play the schedule game, and everybody loves to the play the schedule game — not just sports-talk radio hosts — the upcoming stretch of the games should be beneficial for the Mariners, who spent the past 10 games playing the Red Sox and Yankees.
They should be able to salvage what has been a forgettable and disappointing road trip to the East Coast with a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles — one of the worst teams baseball.
That reclamation project started Monday night with a 5-3 victory at Camden Yards.
After watching a 3-1 lead evaporate in the bottom of the sixth, the Mariners answered immediately in the top of the seventh, manufacturing two runs against Baltimore’s wildly erratic reliever Miguel Castro to retake the lead. Guillermo Heredia worked his second walk of the game, Dee Gordon dropped down a perfect bunt single along the first-base line and Jean Segura drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Heredia put the Mariners ahead for good, racing home on a wayward fastball in the dirt that got past catcher Caleb Joseph. Mitch Haniger scored another run with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 5-3.
The Mariners jumped on Orioles starter Andrew Cashner in the second inning, showing an unusual amount of patience at the plate in the second. Following Denard Span’s two-out walk, Chris Herrmann and Heredia worked walks to load the bases. Cashner fell behind 3-0 in the count to Gordon. The Mariners’ leadoff hitter forced Cashner to throw three consecutive strikes, sitting on the third one and lining it up the middle for a two-run single.
Span later added a solo homer to right field off Cashner in the sixth to push the Mariners’ lead to 3-1.
Span is batting .306 (22 for 72) with four doubles, three homers, eight RBIs, five walks, 11 run scored in 22 games since making his Mariners debut May 28.
Seattle got decent start from Felix Hernandez as he continues to evolve into a pitcher who isn’t reliant on overwhelming stuff.
Hernandez cruised through the first four innings, pitching to contact and showing solid command. He allowed just three base runners — a single in the first inning and then a one-out single and walk in the fourth. He worked out of that spot of trouble by striking out Chris Davis and Trey Mancini to end the inning.
But a misplaced changeup led to a homer to Jonathan Schoop to start the fifth. Hernandez briefly lost the Mariners’ lead in the sixth. He gave up a single to Manny Machado, walked Mark Trumbo and hit Davis, who is basically an automatic out, in the foot with a first-pitch curveball to load the bases with no outs.
But the Mariners’ defense did its best to limit the possible damage. Segura made a brilliant diving stop on a hard ground ball from Mancini and fired to second for an out, allowing a run to score. Segura then made a tough barehanded pickup on Schoop’s line drive off Hernandez glove, firing to first for the second out while another run scored. Span ended the inning with an impressive sliding/diving grab on Tim Beckham’s sinking liner to left.
If any one of those three plays isn’t made, the Orioles probably pick up at least another run in the frame.
The game got a little entertaining in the top of the ninth. With Haniger on first, Nelson Cruz appeared to pop up in foul territory for the first out of the inning. But home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater, who had dealt with complaints from both teams all game, called a balk on pitcher Darren O’Day for not pausing from the stretch. It meant that the out was nullified and no pitch was charged to Cruz. O’Day lost his cool and started screaming at Scheurwater before being ejected. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter earned himself an ejection after voicing his complaints for a good three minutes.