SEATTLE — Jesse Winker drove in two runs with a go-ahead double in the eighth, Robbie Ray allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 Tuesday night.
Winker’s go-ahead hit came with two outs against Felix Bautista and hit the right-center field wall, driving in J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodriguez for the two-run lead. One play before, Rodriguez reached first base on an infield single by diving to avoid the tag from Bautista, and then scored on Winker’s hit, which was nearly caught by right fielder Austin Hays.
“I wanted to definitely come through right there, and I was happy that I did,” Winker said. “But that inning doesn’t happen without (Crawford) and (Rodriguez), obviously. So hats off to them, and it was a good game for us.”
Both teams struggled at the plate early, before the Mariners finally broke through in the eighth.
The Orioles’ only hit in the game came with one out in the fourth when Ryan Mountcastle lined a single into center field off Ray. Ray pitched seven scoreless innings, with three walks and eight strikeouts on 98 pitches but didn’t figure in the decision.
“We only had one hit tonight,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “Robbie Ray was really good, really tough to get a hit off of tonight.”
In his past four games, the left-handed Ray has allowed two earned runs, 11 hits, seven walks, and three hit batters over 27 innings, with 28 strikeouts.
“Robbie Ray continues to keep rolling along,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “The last four starts have just been electric, what he’s been able to do. Really credit to him to make adjustments, because he has and it carried into the games. He did a heck of a job tonight.”
Ray credits much of his recent success to the addition of a two-seam fastball to his arsenal. He has been dominant since adding the pitch in a start against the Astros earlier this month.
“I feel like everything’s going really good,” Ray said. “Obviously, the introduction of the two-seam has been huge for me. I think it’s just opened up the entire plate. It’s made my four-seam (fastball), my slider, everything, better. But yeah, I think there is still room for improvement.”
The Mariners failed to muster any run support for Ray. Orioles’ starter Dean Kremer kept the Mariners off the board with seven scoreless innings of his own. Kremer allowed four hits with four strikeouts and two walks on 97 pitches. Kremer’s outing was the first time an Orioles’ pitcher has thrown seven scoreless innings since John Means’ no-hitter against the Mariners on May 5, 2021.
The Mariners threatened in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with one out. But Taylor Trammell grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Diego Castillo (5-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Mariners. The third out in the inning came when first baseman Carlos Santana leaped for a high throw from Eugenio Suarez and tagged out Austin Hays while in the air.
Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth and earned his seventh save.
Cionel Perez (4-1) took the loss.
ROSTER MOVES
Seattle added INF Carlos Santana to its roster, and sent INF Drew Ellis to Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle acquired Santana and cash from the Kansas City Royals on Monday in a trade for RHP Wyatt Mills and minor league RHP William Fleming. Santana hit fifth in the lineup and played 1B for the Mariners on Tuesday.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: OF Mitch Haniger took on-field batting practice for the first time since suffering a Grade 2 ankle sprain on April 29, but said that the biggest test in his eventual return will be sprinting and agility work. Haniger is hoping to be back in mid-July. … OF Kyle Lewis (concussion) took batting practice Tuesday. There is still no timeline for his return, but manager Scott Servais said Monday that Lewis is getting close to going on a minor-league rehab assignment. … OF Taylor Trammell left the game with a right hamstring strain after grounding into an inning-ending double play in the fourth inning. Trammell was replaced in right field by Dylan Moore in the top of the fifth.
Orioles: INF Ramon Urias (oblique) took infield and batting practice Tuesday. Manager Brandon Hyde is hopeful that Urias won’t be out much longer, though he cautioned that oblique injuries are “always a little bit tricky.”
UP NEXT
Mariners: Seattle will start RHP Chris Flexen (3-8, 4.31) on Wednesday in the series finale. Flexen got the win against the Angels in his last start on June 24, going five innings while allowing five hits and three earned runs.
Orioles: Baltimore’s starter for Wednesday will be RHP Austin Voth, a Kent, Washington, native who will be making his third start of the season. Voth has a 7.81 ERA in 27.2 innings pitched so far this year.
