Mariners win third straight series, blow out Orioles
Julio Rodriguez celebrates his home run (Photo ProofNThePlay)
By Ike Everard
‘Slow’ was the theme of the morning at T-Mobile park. An easy warmup for the Mariners following last night's electric victory preceded a wait for the lineup which stretched into the final hour prior to first pitch. Manager Scott Servais said the team was waiting on official word from Major League Baseball regarding suspensions after the headline-making brawl versus the Angels on Sunday. When the dust settled, though, the team’s three musketeers resided atop the order for the third straight game following the fracas in Anaheim.
Crawford, Rodriguez and Winker led the charge against the Baltimore Orioles following a start to the series which could be categorized as sluggish at best for the offense. The three renegades were buoyed by Abraham Toro, Adam Frazier and recent recall Sam Haggerty as they powered the Mariners to a nine to three victory.
The first pitch of the game, a fastball from Chris Flexen to Cedric Mullins, led fittingly to the slowest hit, a perfectly executed bunt to the third baseman. One of the fastest Orioles, Mullins had no issue beating it out. The threat died there, though, after a popout and two flyouts.
The only thing that wasn’t slow was the Mariners offense. They came out hot in the second inning, with an Abraham Toro double leading the way. A bunt, two errors and a dribbling ground ball up the first base line followed, and the score was quickly 3-0.
The Mariners run of dominant starting pitching continued as well, as Chris Flexen cruised through the first six innings, allowing just three runs on exactly 100 pitches. Over the last 30 days, the teams’ starters rank among the best in the league in ERA.
The Mariners starters have been dominant (Photo Liv Lyons)
Prior to the game, Servais credited the improvement to consistency. Over the past month, the Mariners have rarely had to deviate from their rotation. Servias said that type of reliability is critical to success.
“When you start flipping guys out because of injury or lack of performance, it gets really hard,” Servais said. “I keep knocking on wood that we keep these guys healthy, performing and focused on getting better.”
The Orioles got one back in the top of the fourth inning, scoring on a double into the right-center gap by Ryan Mountcastle. Flexen would recover, though, inducing a flyout to end the inning.
The Mariners responded in the bottom of the inning by scoring four runs off of Orioles reliever Nick Vespi. Abraham Toro led off with his second double of the game, with Adam Frazier, Sam Haggerty and J.P. Crawford providing support. Julio Rodriguez continued the eventful inning with a 431 foot homerun to increase the Mariners’ lead to six, before Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez followed with a single and a double, respectively. With runners on second and third and only one out, the Orioles went to the bullpen once again and called on Bryan Baker to put out the fire. The 27 year old right-hander failed to do so, however, as his first pitch bounced past catcher Adley Rutschman and Winker scored from third. That mistake was part of a four-pitch walk to Carlos Santa, which once again put two men on base for Seattle. A sacrifice fly from Cal Raleigh scored Suarez before Toro, the man who began the onslaught, poetically brought it to an end with a flyout to right field. When the smoke cleared the Mariners led 9-1, the 30-minute plus inning serving as a reminder that yes, the theme of the day indeed remained poignant.
If that all seems like a whirlwind, it’s because it was. The oft-luckless Mariners, league leaders in runners left on base, brought home nearly all of them. Every batter added new excitement in one of the most productive innings of the season so far.
The Orioles weren’t finished, though, scoring two in the top of the fifth on a double hit by Trey Mancini. That was all they would scrape across, though, as the attack faltered and Flexen pitched his way out of the jam.
Ironically, it was the Mariners fastest player who paced the team through the slow day. Sam Haggerty was 3 for 3 with two doubles and an RBI, making his case for an extended run with the big league club. Haggerty has been up and down between Tacoma and Seattle this season, but with energizing play like he’s shown it will become harder and harder for the team to send him down.
“Hitting is contagious,” Haggerty said. “Today we were getting balls that were finding the grass and guys were flowing.”
The rest of the game passed by in a blur of relief pitchers and groundouts, but was highlighted by the MLB debut of Marcus Wilson. Wilson, a 25 year old minor league veteran, took a moment to soak in the feeling before stepping into the batter's box. He worked a full count against Orioles pitcher Jorge Lopez before taking ball four for a walk amidst chants of ‘Marcus’. He advanced to second on a balk, but was eventually stranded at third.
“It was great,” Servais said. “I thought it was a really good at-bat against a really good pitcher. He’s grinded through the minor leagues to get this opportunity today.”
The win is the seventh in the last nine games for the Mariners, a run which has placed them just five games below .500 and nearly into second place in the AL West. The series win is their third straight, a run they’ll look to continue when the Oakland Athletics come into town tomorrow.
