The Sports Xchange
Aug 30, 2017
BALTIMORE -- Jonathan Schoop's RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning lifted the Baltimore Orioles to their seventh straight win with an 8-7 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon at Camden Yards.
Schoop's game-winning hit followed a replay challenge that kept pinch-runner Caleb Joseph on second base and capped some wild momentum swings in the late innings.
The Orioles (68-65) went ahead 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly to right by Manny Machado.
Seattle pulled even in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run to center field by Mitch Haniger, who finished with three hits, including a pair of doubles, and three RBIs.
Given a second chance, though, after Joseph was initially called out at second base, Schoop's single into left field off Seattle reliever Marc Rzepczynski proved to be the difference. Joseph came home to score in the winning run. Christian Bergman (4-5) had started the eighth innbing and took the loss.
Closer Zach Britton worked a scoreless ninth inning for the Orioles to earn his 13th save of the season.
The Orioles overcame a poor start by Ubaldo Jimenez and dug out of a 6-2 deficit to remain within two games of the second wild card in the American League playoff chase.
Welington Castillo, Trey Mancini, Schoop and Craig Gentry each clubbed a home run off Mariners starter Ariel Miranda, a former Orioles pitcher. The Orioles have hit 80 home runs since the All-Star break in early July, which is the most in the major leagues by a wide margin.
Castillo's 4-for-4 day matched a career high for hits in a game. He had an RBI double in the second, a two-run homer in the fourth and singles in the sixth and eighth innings. It marked the third four-hit game of his career.
Seattle (66-68), meanwhile, lost its fifth consecutive game. The Mariners capped a 14-day, 12-game road trip at 5-7. They traveled 7,500 miles over the course of the trip.
The Mariners took control with a six-run third inning that saw 10 batters come to the plate and chased Jimenez from the game.
Nelson Cruz, Mike Zunino and Haniger each produced hits that scored two runs during the frame.
Cruz's ground ball up the middle caromed off of second base and out of the reach of the Orioles' infielders, while Haniger dug out of an 0-2 hole against Jimenez and lined a double into left field.
Jimenez made his shortest start since June 23. He lasted 2 2/3 innings after allowing six earned runs on six hits. He hasn't gotten past the sixth inning in any of his last five starts and has now lost three in a row.
The Orioles gradually chipped away at the lead on the strength on the long ball, as Castillo, Gentry and Schoop all homered to help them get back in the game.
Brad Brach (4-4) pitched a scorless eighth inning and got the win.
NOTES: Prior to the game, the Mariners made a move to bolster their injury-plagued pitching staff by acquiring RHP Mike Leake from the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league infielder Rayder Ascanio, cash and $750,000 in international bonus slot money. Leake (7-12, 4.21 ERA) will likely make his first start for the Mariners this weekend against Oakland. ... C Welington Castillo and RF Craig Gentry connected for back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, marking the 11th time the Orioles have hit back-to-back home runs this season. ... 2B Jonathan Schoop drove in his 98th and 99th run of the season with his fifth-inning home run, extending his Orioles record for most RBIs in one season by a second baseman. ... LHP Ariel Miranda was making the 37th start of his career, but first against the Orioles, who traded him to Seattle on July 31, 2016 for left-handed starter Wade Miley.