Ryan Mountcastle drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning as the Baltimore Orioles edged the host Seattle Mariners 1-0 on Saturday night.
The Mariners had their eight-game winning streak snapped and missed an opportunity to move past Toronto for the American League’s third and final wild-card berth.
Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins started the 10th at second base as the automatic runner and proceeded to steal third off Mariners reliever Andres Munoz (2-5). With one out, Mountcastle grounded a single up the middle against a drawn-in infield to plate Mullins.
Baltimore closer Felix Bautista (7-2) pitched two innings for the victory, striking out the side in the 10th.
On a night in which Felix Hernandez was inducted into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame, right-hander George Kirby pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven.
Mountcastle led off the second inning by lining a single to right field. After Ryan O’Hearn flied out to left field, Kirby got Austin Hays to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Hays singled to right with two outs in the eighth before Kirby got Adam Frazier to ground out to end the frame.
Jordan Westburg led off the ninth by grounding a single to center. Westburg stole second as pinch hitter Gunnar Henderson struck out, giving the Orioles their first runner in scoring position. Westburg advanced to third on Adley Rutschman’s groundout before Kirby got Mullins to foul out.
Orioles left-hander Cole Irvin, making his first start since July 7 as Baltimore switches to a six-man rotation, stymied Seattle for five innings.
Irvin, who was 0-6 with an 8.42 ERA in six previous starts against the Mariners, didn’t allow a run and gave up two hits. He walked one and struck out six.
Irvin allowed a leadoff double to Dylan Moore in the third and Moore advanced to third on Sam Haggerty’s dribbler back to the mound. But Irvin struck out Jose Caballero and got Julio Rodriguez to pop out to second baseman Frazier in shallow right field to end the threat.
The only other hit Irvin allowed was a two-out single by Teoscar Hernandez in the fourth.
–Field Level Media
