Mariners Sweep Orioles Thanks to Offensive Outburst

The Mariners swept the four-game home series and are now tied with Houston for second place in the AL West heading into their upcoming series with the Astros.

Taijuan Walker made his first start since the Boston series and pitched 6 ⅓ innings and gave up just one run on four hits, the run coming off a Hyun Soo Kim solo shot in the 7th inning. The Mariners offense would score thanks to a Kyle Seager RBI single in the 1st, a Seth Smith 2-run home run and a Dae-Ho Lee sacrifice fly in the 5th inning, and an RBI groundout by Leonys Martin in the bottom of the 7th inning, making it a 5-1 lead for the Mariners.

Edwin Diaz finished the 7th inning for Walker and struck out two batters. Joaquin Benoit pitched the 8th and struggled, giving up 2 runs and getting just 2 outs before Steve Cishek came in to record a four-out save, which he did successfully, giving Seattle the 5-3 victory for the first game of the series.

The Mariners finally beat former top prospect Chris Tillman who was undefeated against his former franchise prior to this start. Tillman is now 10-2 on the year. Taijuan Walker got the win and is now 4-6 this season. Steve Cishek earned his 19th save.

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Wade LeBlanc pitching supported by home runs led the Mariners to victory in the second game of the series. LeBlanc proved his worth once again by throwing six very solid innings against a very good Orioles lineup and gave up just 2 runs. Kyle Seager and Dae-Ho Lee each hit home runs, as did Seth Smith who homered in back-to-back games.

The Orioles scored their runs on a Chris Davis solo shot in the 2nd and a Jonathan Schoop RBI single in the 3rd. Mike Montgomery pitched a scoreless 7th and Edwin Diaz pitched the 8th, striking out the three best hitters in Baltimore’s lineup, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, and Chris Davis, before Steve Cishek slammed the door in the 9th to get his 20th save and send the Mariners home with a 5-2 victory and clinch at least a split for the series.

The Mariners’ offense came alive in a big way for the third game of the series, hitting 5 home runs and scoring 12 runs en route to a 12-6 beatdown of the Orioles. James Paxton pitched well besides a rough 6th inning where he gave up two of his four runs. O’s shortstop J.J. Hardy had an RBI single and Nolan Reimold had an RBI double. Nathan Karns pitched the last 3 innings for the Mariners in his second appearance since being moved to the bullpen and gave up 2 runs and struck out 2. He gave up a solo shot to Chris Davis in the 7th inning.

Nelson Cruz hit a mammoth of a home run in the bottom of the first to kickstart the offense. It was a 457 foot, three-run jack that drove in Seth Smith and Robinson Cano. Mike Zunino made his 2016 debut and promptly hit a two-run shot in his first at bat, and followed that up with another home run in the 6th inning. Seth Smith hit his third home run in as many games when he hit a 3-run blast in the bottom of the 4th, and Adam Lind hit an opposite field home run in the bottom of the 6th. The victory clinched the series win for the Mariners and gave them a record over .500 on the year at Safeco.

Jul 3, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter (26) reacts after making a pitching change during the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. Seattle won 9-4. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports /

Sunday afternoon, the Mariners completed the four-game sweep of the Orioles thanks to another good outing from Hisashi Iwakuma who gave up 4 runs in 6 innings and earned his 8th win this year. Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the 7th to continue his great start to his MLB career, and Benoit and Vidal Nuno pitched scoreless 8th and 9th innings, respectively.

Seth Smith homered for the fourth consecutive game, hurting the Orioles once again. He hit his first career grand slam in the 3rd inning off of Ubaldo Jimenez. Ketel Marte, Kyle Seager, and Adam Lind each had RBI doubles to help the Mariners score 9 runs for the game which ended up being more than enough to finish the sweep.

Baltimore’s offense for the day was a Mark Trumbo solo home run in the 4th, a two-run J.J. Hardy double in the 4th, and a Mark Trumbo RBI single in the 7th.

Next: Previewing the Seahawks' 2017 Draft

Looking Forward:

With the sweep, Seattle is 4 games over .500 and is tied for second place in the AL West with Houston and the two face off for a series starting Monday morning.

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