Santander shines again as Orioles edge Mariners 3-2
Seattle finishes East Coast road trip 4-2
By NOAH TRISTER, AP Baseball Writer
Published: June 25, 2023, 4:11pm
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Baltimore Orioles' Jorge Mateo reacts after sliding to score on catcher Anthony Bemboom's double during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Sunday, June 25, 2023, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Tommy Gilligan)
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles lost the series opener by a dozen runs, then rebounded to win the next two games.
By now, that shouldn’t be much of a shock.
“It’s not football, where it’s once a week and you’re getting blown out. Things happen in a game, and sometimes you get beat by a lot of runs,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Our guys, and major league players in general, don’t really let that carry over.”
Anthony Santander robbed Julio Rodríguez with a super catch in right field in the first, then homered two innings later to help the Orioles to a 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Kyle Bradish (4-3) allowed two hits in seven innings, and the Orioles won the three-game series despite dropping Friday’s opener 13-1. A day after he had four hits, Santander was again a star for Baltimore. He homered for the fifth time in six games and made an early contribution with his glove.
Rodríguez, the game’s second batter, hit a drive to right, but Santander reached above the fence to make the catch.
“I thought I got a chance,” Santander said. “It was a high fly ball, so I was making sure, running all the way back to the fence, and make good timing.”
Cal Raleigh hit a two-run home run in the second for Seattle, but that was the last hit allowed by Bradish, who struck out seven with two walks. Danny Coulombe pitched a perfect eighth, and Félix Bautista rebounded after allowing a ninth-inning homer Saturday, striking out three in the ninth for his 21st save in 26 chances.
“Saw a lot of 102s up there,” Hyde said. “He was irritated how yesterday went and wanted to get back out there today.”
George Kirby (6-7) allowed two earned runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Santander’s two-run homer to right tied the game in the third.
Jorge Mateo drew a one-out walk off Kirby in the fifth, and then Anthony Bemboom blooped a single to right. Second baseman José Caballero, who had chased the play into right field, couldn’t retrieve the ball cleanly, allowing Mateo to score from first. Caballero was charged with an error and the Orioles led 3-2.
“Honestly, I didn’t know if it was going to be fair or not,” Bemboom said. “The way I hit it, it was pretty far in, so I thought it was going to hook foul, but it just kind of stayed true.”
The Orioles have a five-game lead over the New York Yankees for the American League’s first wild card. Baltimore has had winning streaks of seven, five and four games this season, and the Orioles have had only one three-game skid.
They followed their lopsided defeat against Seattle with a 10-inning victory Saturday and another tight win Sunday.
“Whatever happened in that first game, we just leave in the past,” Santander said. “We came the next two days with the right mentality.”
STICKING WITH HIM
Bradish threw 103 pitches, two shy of his career high.
“The first couple innings, I thought we had some deep at-bats. I thought we’d continue that, we could get him out of the game a little earlier,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “To give him credit, he settled in.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: Cedric Mullins played in center field in his second game back from a groin strain. He was the DH Saturday.
UP NEXT
Seattle returns home for a series against Washington. The Mariners send Luis Castillo (4-6) to the mound against Trevor Williams (4-4).
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