6/17/26

(Seattle, WA) The series continued in Seattle between the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night as the teams met in the middle game of the three-game series. Seattle would be looking to secure and early series victory over the O’s while Baltimore would once again try to get going late in the series to break the M’s hearts again.

Two pitchers that got starts in the series between the two teams last week would look for a bit more success this time around. George Kirby would have a quality start but did get the loss after six innings against the Orioles in game three last week. Kyle Bradish would match his season low for innings with just four but the Orioles lineup bailed him out in the finale. Both starters would hope for different results as they squared off in game two.

Orioles 5, Mariners 3 (Game Two, June 17th)

Things started out pretty quietly for the two teams as each had just one hit in the first two innings with harmless singles by Cal Raleigh and Samuel Basallo. In the 3rd is when Baltimore would get to George Kirby for the first time. Blaze Alexander singled with one out but Kirby responded by getting Taylor Ward to fly out to Julio Rodríguez in center for the second out. Gunnar Henderson was all that stood in the way of a scoreless inning for Kirby but the power hitting shortstop would strike. Henderson barreled a fastball on the inside corner and crushed it out to right center for his 15th homer of the season. The two-run shot gave Baltimore the first runs of the game with a 2-0 lead.

Seattle would cut down Basallo trying to leg out a double in the 4th on a nice throw by Victor Robles. That built momentum for the Mariners as they finally broke through against Kyle Bradish in the home half of the inning. Julio would record his 125th double of his career and 15th of the season, making him the third fastest to record 125 doubles, 125 homers, and 125 stolen bases in his career, behind only Ronald Acuña Jr. and Alfonso Soriano. It took no time for Dominic Canzone to take advantage as he stayed hot with an RBI single back up the middle. That is all Seattle mustered in the inning but they were on the board trailing 2-1.

Connor Joe looked to lead a threat in the 5th with a single to center that got by Leody Taveras. The former Mariner recovered to get Joe at third to erase a runner in scoring position. That defensive play would also lead to offense in the next half inning for Baltimore. A one-out infield single by Pete Alonso seemed harmless enough after George Kirby got Samuel Basallo to fly out to left. With two away, Taveras hurt the M’s again. A laser to right center got all the way to the wall and Alonso was moving on the pitch with a 3-2 count. He would score with ease as Taveras recorded his fourth triple of the season. The O’s had some breathing room back with a 3-1 lead.

More defense helped Baltimore in the bottom of the 6th as Cal Raleigh was robbed of a home run by Tyler O’Neill and once again defense led to offense. In the 7th, Seattle traded a run for two outs but were then down 4-1. Seattle would threaten themselves in the 8th with a single by Miles Mastrobuoni. With two outs, Yennier Cano took over for Kyle Bradish after he set a new career-high for strikeouts in a game with 12. Cano would walk Cal Raleigh to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, Julio Rodríguez left the game after the 6th so instead of J-Rod it would be Rob Refsnyder. He could not come through as a pop up to Henderson just on the outfield grass to help Baltimore escape the inning with a 4-1 lead.

There was a power surge in T-Mobile Park in the 9th. In the top half, Jackson Holliday added another insurance run with his fourth homer of the year to make it 5-1. The Orioles would still go to closer Ryan Helsley as he returned to the mound for the first time since April 28th after an IL stint. He did not receive a warm welcome as Dominic Canzone sent his first pitch out to right field for his 11th homer of the season. The next pitch was to Cole Young who followed suit, going back-to-back with Canzone with his sixth of the year. All of a sudden it was a two-run game with nobody out. Helsley would settle down however after getting a hard groundout off the bat of Victor Robles. Back-to-back strikeouts of Colt Emerson and Connor Joe put a stop to the late Mariner rally as the Orioles forced a rubber game with a 5-3 victory.

Notable Performances

Orioles

Mariners

• Dominic Canzone- 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Cole Young- 1-4, HR, RBI, R
• George Kirby (L, 5-7)- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

What’s Next

Seattle (38-37) will now try to avoid another series loss which would be three of their last four when they finish the series with Baltimore on Thursday afternoon. The Rangers had Wednesday off due to the World Cup being in town so they will complete their series with Minnesota on Thursday as well. The A’s were blown out by the Pirates and the same could be said for the Angels against the Diamondbacks. The only AL West team to win on Wednesday were the Astros as they took down the Tigers.

Thursday afternoon will decide the three-game series between the Mariners and Orioles as well as the season series as the two teams play for the seventh and final time this season. Seattle will see a new pitcher for Baltimore as Shane Baz (4-6, 4.06 ERA) starts in the finale. After walking 27 batters in the first two months of the season, Baz has dialed in the precision with just five walks in 17 2/3 innings in June. Bryan Woo (5-5, 4.28 ERA) will face the Orioles for the second time within a week after also pitching in the finale in Baltimore. Woo is coming off one of his worst back-to-back outings with 16 hits and 12 runs allowed in his last 11 1/3 innings. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm on Thursday.

Roster Moves

• OF Curtis Washington Jr. optioned to High-A Everett
• OF Connor Joe recalled from Triple-A Tacoma
• Seattle Mariners trade RHP Randy Dobnak to Kansas City for cash

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