Mariners Beat the Orioles 3-2, Seager and Paxton Come Up Big

The Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles tonight by a score of 3-2. With this win, The Mariners now sport a record of 49-31. They are now 8 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West.

Before the game tonight, Nelson Cruz was a late scratch from the lineup. Cruz is dealing with back tightness and is considered day-to-day. Denard Span, who was already in the lineup as the left fielder, took over as DH for the Mariners. That gave Guillermo Heredia the start in center.

James Paxton went 7 strong innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, 1 walk while striking out 10. This is his 6th start with double-digit strikeouts this season. Paxton improves his record to 7-2 and drops his ERA to 3.65. In the 6th inning, he gave up 3 straight hits to start the inning, but only let across 1 run when Manny Machado grounded into a run-scoring double play.

With Nelson Cruz out of the lineup, Kyle Seager hit cleanup. He didn’t disappoint, as he hit a solo home run in the 4th inning to tie the game at 1. He then came through in the clutch with a 2 RBI base hit in the 8th inning to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead. Kyle’s home run is his 33rd extra-base hit, which leads Seattle in 2018.

Mariners setup man Alex Colome shut the door in the 8th, earning his 9th Hold of the season. Edwin Diaz then shut the door in the 9th, earning his Major League-leading 29th save.

The Mariners have won the first two games of this series, and they definitely should have. Baltimore now has a record of 23-55, good for the worst record in all of baseball. The Mariners play two more games in Baltimore, then get to come back home to face the Kansas City Royals for a 3 game series. The Royals have the 2nd worst record in baseball, at 24-54.

Next: Mariners Trade a Day: Josh Harrison

First Pitch for tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 4:05 PM PST. Pitching for Seattle is Wade LeBlanc (3-0, 3.26 ERA). The Orioles will send out Alex Cobb (2-9, 6.56 ERA). As always, Go Mariners!