SEATTLE — All the Mariners offense needed to get back on track was to face the middle of Baltimore’s bullpen.
Seattle’s lineup is one of the majors’ worst this season despite the club’s standing atop the American League West. The Mariners own an MLB-low .216 batting average while averaging more than 10 strikeouts per game.
Their woes reached a crescendo this week against the Orioles, tallying two hits Tuesday and scoring only one run across the series’ first two games — both Baltimore wins — as boos reigned down from Seattle fans at T-Mobile Park.
But the Mariners’ bats put on a fireworks show in Thursday’s seventh inning, scoring five runs off Orioles relievers Bryan Baker and Keegan Akin to hand Baltimore a 7-3 loss and avoid a series sweep.
“A really poorly pitched seventh there,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
Baker loaded the bases and was replaced by Akin with two outs for a left-on-left matchup against leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford. After falling behind the count 3-0, Akin fed Crawford a center-cut fastball that the shortstop crushed to right-center field for a bases-clearing double. Five pitches later, designated hitter Mitch Garver provided insurance with a two-run blast to further spoil ace Corbin Burnes’ solid start.
Hyde often uses his southpaws to face left-handed batters, hoping to use the handedness advantage to piece together the end of games. With Akin this season, that’s backfired several times, and Thursday was the latest example.
“Bring the lefty in and fell behind 3-0 and center-cut a fastball,” Hyde said. “Didn’t execute well that inning.”
The Orioles’ bullpen has mostly held up this season, entering Thursday with a 3.51 ERA that ranked seventh in the majors. After the Fourth of July folly, Baltimore’s relief corps fell to 12th with a 3.64 mark. The club’s middle relief has been especially shaky in recent weeks, a worrying trend that could be ameliorated at the trade deadline.
“They’ve thrown the ball great all year,” Burnes said. “They’ve saved our butt a lot of times in the rotation and have locked down a lot of tight games at the end. They’ve done great, we continue to believe in them and with the off day coming up and the All-Star break, those guys get a good break and be ready to go for the second half.”
Baltimore is 55-32 and still two games up on the New York Yankees atop the AL East. The Yankees were swept this week at home by the Cincinnati Reds and have lost 13 of their past 17 games.
Burnes pitched well enough to win. Six days after his wife Brooke gave birth to twin girls Charlotte and Harper, Burnes delivered his 14th quality start in his 18th outing this season, giving up two runs in six innings with six strikeouts. The right-hander sports a 2.32 ERA in his first year in Baltimore after the club acquired him this offseason.
Gunnar Henderson was a triple away from the cycle to lead Baltimore’s offense. In the third, he clobbered a two-run home run to left field — staying inside a middle-in slider — to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead, one that disappeared in the fifth when the Mariners scored two runs off Burnes.
“Rockets all over the field,” Hyde said of Henderson’s hard-hitting afternoon. “Home run that’s like a right-handed hitter pull-side homer. It’s a joke what he can do.”
Julio Rodríguez led off the inning with a solo homer after Burnes retired the previous 12 batters in order. Seattle loaded the bases with no outs, but Burnes artfully escaped the jam, only allowing one additional run on a ground ball double play.
“We made some big pitches when we needed to,” Burnes said. “One mistake there to Julio, just a poor cutter, but after that, to get out of it with only one run given up, big double play there, was big.”
Henderson opened the game with a 109.9 mph missile to right-center field off Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller. It was no surprise to see Henderson, as aggressive as any base runner in baseball, try to stretch the double into a triple, but it backfired as he was easily nabbed at third after the Mariners’ perfect relay.
The AL’s starting shortstop at the upcoming All-Star Game more than made up for his base-running blunder with his opposite-field homer to score James McCann, who reached on his first of two singles. Henderson, who is also participating in the Home Run Derby, has 27 home runs through 87 games, one off his 2023 total. No player has hit more home runs as his team’s shortstop through 87 games in MLB history; Henderson is tied with Alex Rodriguez (1998 and 2002) and Ernie Banks (1960).
Henderson had a brief three-game slump during which he went 1-for-12 with nine strikeouts, but he broke out of it with four batted balls hit 99.9 mph or harder.
“I didn’t really know where that came from, but yeah, that’s baseball, it’s going to happen,” he said of his mini-slump. “Just try to limit it as much as I could. I feel like I was putting in some good work the past couple days just trying to figure it out and made some steps in the right direction today.”
Jordan Westburg’s solo homer in the eighth — his 14th this season – was the only offense Baltimore’s bats could muster the rest of the game. Despite winning the series, the Orioles’ offense scored nine runs across the three games against a Mariners team that sports one of baseball’s best pitching staffs.
Baker replaced Burnes in the seventh and immediately was in trouble after Rodríguez’s leadoff double. The right-hander then traded walks and strikeouts, issuing a free pass to Ty France, punching out Josh Rojas after his failed bunt attempts, walking Mitch Haniger and striking out Ryan Bliss.
Akin then entered to face Crawford, who entered the game with an OPS nearly 200 points better versus lefties and proved why with his 107.4 mph double to score Baker’s three runs. Akin has allowed eight of the 24 runners he’s inherited this season — slightly worse than league average — while lefties are hitting slightly better (.644 OPS) off him than righties (.609 OPS).
“In that at-bat, it’s tough,” said McCann, who caught Thursday with Adley Rutschman receiving a rare day off. “There’s not an open base. You’ve got to go right at the guy and try to hope your defense can work and the ball finds a glove. Unfortunately, it found a gap, and it was a big one.”
Around the horn
• Ryan Mountcastle didn’t start Thursday for the fourth time in five games as he manages an unspecified illness. Manager Brandon Hyde said he was “easing” the first baseman back into game action.
• The Orioles’ rotation is remaining in turn for the club’s series in Oakland against the Athletics. Albert Suárez, Cade Povich and Grayson Rodriguez will start the three games in order beginning Friday. Cole Irvin is now in the bullpen with Dean Kremer back healthy.
• Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton will throw to Henderson at the Home Run Derby on July 15. Henderson chose Britton because the Tides skipper “throws really good [batting practice]” and has a “pretty easy motion,” Henderson said. “It’s going to be pretty special,” the shortstop added. “I spent a lot of time with Buck at the minor league level, and then at spring training. He was pumped up for it, and I’m looking forward to doing it with him.”
• Norfolk utilityplayer Billy Cook, the Orioles’ No. 29 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was placed on the injured list Thursday with a right hamstring strain. Cook, who has played six defensive positions this season, has an .802 OPS with the Tides.
Orioles at Athletics
Friday, 9:40 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
