The Mariners beat the Orioles 6-3 on Monday night, but the defense had to step up late in order to do it.
The Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Monday night at Camden Yards, improving to 35-32 on the campaign.
The M's remain in first place in the American League West by two games over the Texas Rangers and are now 2-2 on a brutal 10-game road trip through the Eastern Time Zone.
While the final score of 6-3 makes the win look comfortable, it was anything but.
The M's trailed 1-0 in the fifth inning before exploding for five runs in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. But in the seventh inning, Matt Brash had some control issues in relief of Cooper Criswell. He threw a wild pitch to score a run, hit one and walked one, and nearly walked in another, but the M's still led 5-2.
After Seattle took a 6-2 lead in the eighth inning, Eduard Bazardo surrendered a run to make it 6-3 and with the tying run at the plate, O's pinch-hitter Samuel Basallo hit a ball to deep center field that was just feet from being a game-tying home run. Instead, Julio Rodriguez caught the ball and then fired to second base to get the runner who was trying to tag from first to second. Not only did he get the runner, the tag was applied before the runner from third scored, meaning the O's missed a chance at a sacrifice fly.
The Mariners walked away from the eighth still leading 6-3 and ultimately won by the same score. Rodriguez's play was a decisive moment in the contest, and it also made some team history. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on social media, Rodriguez's throw of 96.2 mph is the M's fourth-fastest tracked outfield assist under Statcast, which dates back to 2015.
He trails only three other throws by himself and one from Leonys Martin, who had a 97.7 mph throw in 2016.
It was an incredible play all around for the M's, who have had their defense much-maligned for most of the season - Rodriguez included.
The Mariners and Orioles will play again on Tuesday afternoon with first pitch coming at 3:35 p.m. ET. Logan Gilbert will pitch against Trevor Rogers.
Also in the news
Seattle placed shortstop J.P. Crawford on the injured list because of a right-hand contusion on Monday. He'll be eligible to come off the injured list next Tuesday. Shortstop Colt Emerson was also scratched from Monday's game with a back spasm. Manager Dan Wilson says he's day-to-day.
Of note
The newest episode of the 'Refuse to Lose Territory' podcast is out, featuring Part 2 of our conversation with former M's infielder Ryon Healy. You can listen to it here.
You can also watch the episode below:
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