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 over the Mariners 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.

“I feel like everybody’s just getting back to the way they normally play," Henderson said. "We’re all just grinding together. We’re scratching these close wins, and then whenever the offense gets fully clicking, then we’ll be in a really good spot.”

"We’re just winning now and we’re having fun, and you can start to kind of feel it," said Zach Eflin. “It’s an addiction, and people are starting to feel it, so we’re just having fun.”

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.

"He’s been having great at-bats," Henderson said of Rutschman. "He’s been getting on base and that’s all I’ve been trying to do is drive people in. He got the homer over the fence and I just tried to get a good swing on a pitch and was fortunate to hit one, as well.”

"It’s funny," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "You look up at the scoreboard and kind of where he's at with his numbers and there’s a feeling of like, ‘What’s wrong with Gunn?’ But then as it kind of goes on and you look up, he’s actually doing just fine, he’s doing great. He’s probably about two weeks away from kind of putting himself in the MVP ballot area. He’s doing fine, he’s going to get going."

A club that couldn't muster comebacks is suddenly a beast in the clutch.

“Everybody’s starting to get comfortable in these situations, everybody’s getting more experience in it," Henderson said, "and I feel like we’re making strides in the right direction of getting back to what we know we can do.”

"This group's won a lot of games in the last two years, so you don't win that many games if you're a quitter, so these guys haven't quit," Mansolino said. "They didn't quit earlier in the year. They kept competing. It just didn't go our way. So they're continuing to do what they've done all year, and today it was nice."

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.

“Our pitchers have been throwing the ball really well," Henderson said. "We’re very happy to be able to pick them up right there, so that was really awesome, and glad the way the boys came out and played today.”

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.

"He tags on the one-out fly ball," Mansolino said, "and then he’s on third base, ball gets by, gives us a point, kind of takes some pressure off the dugout a little bit, first one to score and gave us a chance."

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.

"For me personally, I mean, it was a thought, right?" Eflin said. "But at the end of the day, I’m a competitor. I’m trying to get everybody out, I don’t care who it is. And it was a long AB and I felt like I made a lot of really good pitches. He just got the better of me. He got the better of me a couple times today. He’s a great player, man.

"We did enough to win the game today, and that’s all that matters.”

"You're kind of in a weird predicament there in the fifth inning," Mansolino said. "You don't want to be careful with Cal, but you're just kind of caught. It's still early in the game. You don't want multiple guys on base."

Eflin had a 1-2-3 sixth after the Orioles gave him another lead, one of the biggest moments of the game.

"You’ve got to tip your cap to the offense right there," he said. "I gave up the momentum in the fifth, and we immediately got it back in the sixth. I was able to go out and kind of use that momentum, to do everything I can to have a shutdown inning, a quick shutdown inning, to get us back to the dugout, back with the bats in our hands.

"Mav caught a great game. Left a couple of pitches up that got hurt. Other than that, it was just a great win for us. It was a great way to finish the series and take all that momentum in Sacramento.”

The Orioles reclaimed 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.

"As crazy as it sounds, even when we got to 18 games (under .500) or whatever, I think just because of the point of the calendar where we're at, it’s so early in the year. There's hope, right?" Mansolino said. "And you kind of need one of these streaks to maybe solidify that a little bit. But yeah, you roll off six in a row and you come into Seattle and beat a heck of a team, a first-place team. Just a little bit more hope, which we’ll definitely take.”

Eflin is convinced that the Orioles can make this year special.

"I wouldn’t say I see it now. I saw it at the beginning of the year. I saw it last year, the year before that," he said.

"The core nucleus of guys who have always been here, they know how to win, they know how to go out and play and have fun. But it’s kind of like what I’ve been talking to you guys the whole time, it’s a long year. I understand we dug ourselves a big hole but you can always climb out of it. It’s a 162-game season. None of us have lost confidence. None of us have gone home depressed or anything. We’re here to win every single game that we have, and it’s been a lot more fun the past couple weeks, just going out, rattling off wins, finding ways to win games. A lot of one-run games that we’re winning, which is huge. Our bullpen has been great. Offense is doing great. And we’re just having fun right now.”

* Rutschman recorded his 450th career hit in the first inning, making him the ninth player in franchise history to reach the mark and the first since Matt Wieters. He also joined Wieters as the only catchers to do it in 471 career games with the Orioles. 

* Jordan Westburg, Gary Sánchez and Ramón Laureano have homered today for Triple-A Norfolk. 

Double-A Chesapeake’s Max Wagner was reinstated from the injured list.