Wade LeBlanc pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Baltimore Orioles 5-2 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.
Omar Narvaez and Domingo Santana hit home runs as the Mariners put together back-to-back wins for the first time since May 13-14, after defeating Kansas City 8-2 on Wednesday. Santana homered twice in that game.
LeBlanc (4-2) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven. Fellow left-hander Roenis Elias pitched the ninth for his eighth save of the season.
Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy (3-9) allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings, with one walk and eight strikeouts. Baltimore suffered its ninth straight loss.
The Orioles scored twice in the first off right-hander Tayler Scott, the Mariners' opener. Jonathan Villar led off with a walk and advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt by Scott. Villar took third on a groundout, and Pedro Severino walked to put runners at the corners. After Dwight Smith Jr. fouled out to third baseman Kyle Seager, Severino stole second and Renato Nunez walked to load the bases. LeBlanc came on, and Rio Ruiz grounded a two-run single into right field.
The Mariners got a run back in the second as Narvaez led off with a solo shot to right field, his 11th home run of the season.
It remained 2-1 until the sixth, when Seattle took the lead with three runs.
With one out, Santana hit a solo shot to right-center field, his 16th of the season. Daniel Vogelbach, Narvaez and Seager followed with line-drive singles, the latter scoring Vogelbach with the go-ahead run. Right-hander Evan Phillips replaced Bundy and struck out Tim Beckham on a 3-2 count before Mac Williamson grounded a run-scoring single to right to give the Mariners a 4-2 lead.
Seattle tacked on a run in the seventh. Mallex Smith led off with an infield single, and J.P. Crawford walked. After Santana struck out, Phillips was relieved by left-hander Paul Fry. Vogelbach fanned for the second out before Narvaez walked to load the bases, and Seager walked on a 3-2 count to force in a run for the final margin.
--Field Level Media