Orioles' defense collapses in 10th, Mariners earn 4-game sweep
Jun 28, 2018
Dee Gordon scored the tie-breaking run in the top of the 10th inning thanks to a Baltimore error, and Nelson Cruz added an RBI single as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Orioles 4-2 on Thursday at Camden Yards.
The victory gave the Mariners a sweep of the four-game series. Seattle now has won four consecutive games while Baltimore has dropped five in a row in a season filled with injuries and frustration.
The Mariners are 8-0 in extra-inning games this season.
Gordon started the 10th with an infield single off of Miguel Castro (2-4). Jean Segura then singled but center fielder Colby Rasmus dropped the ball for a moment, and Gordon came all the way home with Segura advancing to second.
Segura then moved to third when Orioles third baseman Steve Wilkerson made a throwing error on a Mitch Haniger grounder. Cruz followed with his RBI single that made it 4-2 -- Seattle's only hit of the game with a runner in scoring position.
The Mariners finished 1-for-18 in those situations but the two Baltimore errors in the 10th helped them score the go-ahead runs.
James Pazos (2-1) took home the win in relief on the strength of a scoreless ninth inning. Juan Nicasio earned his first save as closer Edwin Diaz had pitched the first three games of the series.
Mike Leake threw seven strong innings for the Mariners, giving up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.
For Baltimore, Jimmy Yacabonis stepped in to start due to an injury to Dylan Bundy. Yacabonis, in his first career start, went four innings plus two batters and allowed two runs with six hits, striking out five and walking one.
Yefry Ramirez, called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day, replaced Yacabonis and threw five shutout innings.
Cruz returned on Thursday after being held out the previous two games because of tightness and spasms in his lower back. He hit a two-run homer, his 21st of the season, off Yacabonis in the fourth that gave Seattle a 2-0 lead. Yacabonis walked Haniger to start the inning and Cruz, the former Oriole, belted a home run to deep center.
Manny Machado cut the lead to 2-1 with a solo homer, his 20th, in the fourth while Chris Davis, whose bat has been showing signs of life lately, added his seventh homer two batters later that tied the game.
--Field Level Media
