SEATTLE – Dylan Carlson drifted back for a fly ball today in the first inning and bumped against the fence as he reached over his head for it. The earlier version of the Orioles would have watched it deflect off Carlson and roll away for an extra-base hit as the runner scored from second base. The Orioles who suddenly can’t lose a game secured the final out, with Carlson making the catch despite the jarring contact.
The first run today was produced by the Orioles in the third inning on a leadoff walk to the No. 9 hitter and two wild pitches.
Everything seems to be going right these days, with breaks also caught. No one knows where this turnaround will lead, but it’s gotten a whole lot more interesting.
Adley Rutschman hit a game-tying two-run homer off Bryan Woo in the sixth inning and Gunnar Henderson followed with a go-ahead shot to give the Orioles a 4-3 victory at T-Mobile Park.
The Orioles (25-36) have won six in a row and nine of 11 and have swept back-to-back series for the first time since July 7-16, 2023 against the Twins and Marlins. They were 16-34 on May 24 but have moved 11 games below .500 for the first time since May 14.
The last sweep for the Orioles in Seattle occurred in September 2012. Their last sweep of the Mariners happened five years later, when they contended until the final month and collapsed.
This team is gaining strength.
Rutschman stayed hot in the ballpark where he used to watch games growing up in Oregon. He had seven hits in the series, including two homers. Rutschman pulled a two-strike slider to right field after Jackson Holliday’s leadoff walk, and after Seattle scored twice in the bottom of the fifth.
Henderson went back-to-back with him, jumping on a fastball after seeing a changeup and slider.
Zach Eflin allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, with no walks and a season-high seven strikeouts. Keegan Akin entered with Eflin at 88 pitches and retired the side in order in the seventh.
The bullpen didn’t allow a run in 8 2/3 innings against the Mariners. Andrew Kittredge disposed of his three batters in the eighth, striking out two, and Bryan Baker stranded a runner to notch his second save and the third of his career. He also struck out two.
Maverick Handley, batting .097 before today, led off the third with a walk and moved up on a wild pitch and Rutschman’s 105.3 mph fly ball to the center field track. Handley scored on another wild pitch.
Two singles in the first didn’t amount to anything. Hits can be overrated.
Eflin made it through the first after a one-out double and the second after back-to-back one-out singles, but J.P. Crawford led off the third with a single, Jorge Polanco reached on a force play and stole second base, and Cal Raleigh lined a changeup into left field to tie the game.
A runner was stranded in the fourth after another single. Crawford led off the fifth with a fly ball that cleared right fielder Heston Kjerstad’s head for a double. Kjerstad got a late jump and Statcast had the catch probability at 90 percent. The infield played in with one out and Eflin induced a ground ball, but he left a cutter over the middle of the plate and Raleigh’s fly ball traveled the necessary 337 feet to right field with a 42-degree launch angle.
Efin went after Raleigh with first base open and two outs rather than pitching around him.
The Orioles had an immediate response, retaking the lead before a batter was retired. Another quality start, more timely hitting, another lockdown display by the bullpen. And an interim manager with a 10-8 record.
* Double-A Chesapeake’s Max Wagner was reinstated from the injured list.