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SEATTLE – The seismic shift in the Orioles’ season has taken them from last call to bars raised.
A rotation that ranked statistically among the worst in baseball is pushing its starters to keep performing at a much higher level. The group has registered a 2.11 ERA in the past 10 games, with two runs or fewer allowed in eight. The next man up must stand tall.
The offense is delivering more often in the clutch, whether with powerful strokes or well-placed pokes. Runs aren’t scoring in bunches, but the amount is sufficient.
Heston Kjerstad tripled for the second time in three games, driving in two runs with two outs in the seventh inning to key the Orioles’ 3-2 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. He has four hits this month, three for extra bases.
The Orioles are 24-36 overall and 9-8 under interim manager Tony Mansolino. They’ve claimed back-to-back series for the first time and built their first five-game winning streak since June 7-12, 2024. They won a fourth straight road game in a single season for the first time since June 7-10, 2024.
“I think the team’s always been a little bit of an underdog," Kjerstad said. "Definitely won a lot more the past two seasons and I think we’re kind of getting back our mojo here the past week winning more games and just playing better baseball.”
They might never lose again.
"No matter how you do it, winning’s always gonna be a lot more fun than losing," said Cade Povich. "The guys, we’re having a great time, we’re starting to really I think have more fun playing the game. Get behind, come back, get behind again, get a lead back and hold it. That’s what we’ve done in the past and it’s great to see us do that again today.
"Just like I said at the beginning of the year, we have a lot of guys on all ends of the field that are gonna compete and gonna do really well. Just waited for that turnaround to come, and I think we’re starting to kind of find ourselves a little bit and get in a groove and gain some confidence back and really be the team that we know we are.”
Ramón Urías and Coby Mayo walked to bring Kjerstad to the plate against Carlos Vargas. He got his bat on a cutter down and in and pulled it into the right field corner for the Orioles’ third hit of the night.
“It’s hitting the ball on the right part of the park, and it kind of bounced around the right field corner," Kjerstad said. "Gives you a chance to get an extra base.”
"Oh, love to see that," said Adley Rutschman. "Love to see him get a triple and get those legs moving a little bit. He’s looked good. Guy just always has such an amazing attitude. Such a team ballplayer. So, nice to see him get a big hit for us tonight.”
"The ball off the bat, we’re looking at it from our angle thinking it’s going to hook foul, and it feels like it’s hooked foul all year," Mansolino said. "It stayed fair.
"We’re talking about momentum earlier today and things being contagious, and I feel like the runner in scoring position thing has been contagious in a negative way, and I feel like lately it’s been contagious in a positive way. I feel like more guys are getting big hits in those types of spots. ... Just feels like the at-bats have been a little bit better in those spots. Obviously, for Heston, to struggle the way he has and now, going back three or four games, there’s been a lot of positive at-bats, positive signs, and we’re excited for him right now."
The trip from home plate to third base came on legs that earlier had slammed into the wall in foul territory, leaving him grimacing and limping. He stayed in the game and had a major influence on it.
“Definitely got my right knee again," he said. "I banged it into the wall a couple times the past week or two trying to make some plays. But it’s part of the game. You get beat up here and there. You just keep on making it through. The training staff’s really good.”
Povich blanked the Mariners through three innings, just as he did to the Cardinals in his last outing. He had a brief stumble in the fourth, carried a 1-1 tie into the sixth and was done with only one out recorded.
A hit batter and walk were followed by Cal Raleigh’s RBI single, but the Orioles got him off the hook.
Povich was charged with two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, with one walk and five strikeouts. He came out after 86 pitches.
The combination of Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Félix Bautista tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Plate umpire Jeremy Rehak didn’t give Soto a high strike on a 2-2 sinker with two outs in the eighth that led to a walk, but the left-hander struck out Raleigh with the count full.
Bautista retired the side in order last night and escaped a jam tonight for his 11th save. Randy Arozarena reached on an infield single with one out for the only hit allowed by the bullpen, and Mitch Garver walked. Leody Taveras popped up and Rowdy Tellez flew out.
Rutschman belted his sixth home run with two outs in the sixth inning to tie the score. Rutschman, playing in front of family and friends from Oregon, followed his three-hit game last night by launching a sinker 415 feet to right field at 108.3 mph.
He was the final batter for Mariners starter Emerson Hancock, the sixth-overall pick in the 2020 draft.
"He’s hitting the ball hard," Mansolino said. "The ball hitting the middle part of the field is good. When he’s hitting the ball a couple hits the other way it feels like, hitting the ball hard through the middle, it’s a really good sign for the kid. And he’s home. There’s something, you’ve got a lot of people in the stands and maybe the focus level goes up, maybe comfort goes up when you see mom and dad and friends. But he’s doing great right now."
The sixth inning could have buried the Orioles, but Raleigh was out trying for a double - Dylan Carlson to Gunnar Henderson to Jackson Holliday - and Henderson threw out J.P. Crawford at the plate on Julio Rodríguez’s ground ball. The original safe call was overturned.
Raleigh led off the fourth with a double on a fly ball down the right field line that eluded Kjerstad as he made a sliding attempt. Statcast gave it a 95 percent catch probability. Kjerstad was 100 percent in pain from his run-in with the wall.
Rodríguez singled and Raleigh scored on Arozarena’s 386-foot fly ball to the warning track in center field. Povich limited the damage by inducing a double play grounder from Garver.
“That’s kind of been the thing with the bad starts this year," Povich said. "Letting innings like that slip away. Instead of one run, it’s maybe three, four, or even five. Just going on the attack and limited it to one was huge, and I think a big step forward as far as the stuff I’ve been working on and looking at as far as limiting stuff like that when the pressure’s on early in an inning.”
Hancock got his shutdown inning in the fifth after Colton Cowser’s leadoff walk. Kjerstad grounded into a 3-6-3 double play.
The first eight batters were retired before Carlson singled with two outs in the third and Holliday walked. Rutschman bounced out after the runners moved up on a wild pitch.
Carlson extended his hitting streak to six games. Arozarena robbed him with a diving catch in the sixth.
Ryan O’Hearn’s on-base streak ended at 19 games.
His team kept rolling along.
"Right now, it’s a gritty group," Mansolino said. "They’re playing good, it’s gritty. It’s been good."
“It’s awesome," Rutschman said. "We’re playing good ball right now. Pitching is doing amazing, hitters are picking up runs late, and it just feels like things are flowing a little bit. Like, our guys are playing together, picking each other up, and that’s kind of what we’ve done the last two years and it feels nice to play some games where things are coming together.”
