Rookie Julio Rodriguez homered and drove in three runs as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Baltimore Orioles 9-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the seventh victory in the past nine games for the Mariners, who took two of three in the series.
Mariners right-hander Chris Flexen (4-8), who got some rare run support, allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
The Nos. 7-9 batters in Seattle’s lineup — Abraham Toro, Adam Frazier and Sam Haggerty — combined to go 6-for-11 and each scored twice.
The Mariners broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the second inning off Orioles right-hander Austin Voth (0-1).
With one out, Toro doubled and Frazier reached on an error by third baseman Jonathan Arauz. Haggerty then put a bunt down the third-base line that Arauz threw away, allowing the first run to score and the runners to advance to second and third.
J.P. Crawford hit a slow roller down the first-base line that stayed fair, making it 2-0. Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly.
Ryan Mountcastle got the Orioles on the board with a run-scoring double with two outs in the fourth, bringing home Anthony Santander, who led off with a single.
Seattle broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth. Orioles lefty Nick Vespi opened the inning but didn’t finish it, allowing six runs on six hits while getting just one out.
Toro led off with a double and took third on Frazier’s single. Haggerty doubled to score one run and a second came home on Crawford’s sacrifice fly. Rodriguez then went deep into the second deck in left field to make it 7-1.
Jesse Winker singled and Eugenio Suarez doubled, ending Vespi’s afternoon. Bryan Baker came in and threw a wild pitch, allowing another run to score. Following a walk to Carlos Santana, Cal Raleigh hit a sacrifice fly to give the Mariners a 9-1 advantage.
The Orioles capped the scoring in the fifth on Trey Mancini’s two-run double to left.
–Field Level Media
