Orioles’ bats stay quiet, Mariners win 2-1 to complete doubleheader sweep

BALTIMORE — When Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger came up with two outs in the fifth inning during Thursday’s doubleheader at Camden Yards, the matchup did not go the Orioles’ way.

After hitting a game-tying home run off Baltimore right-hander Matt Harvey in the day’s first game, a 4-2 Mariners win, Haniger’s solo shot off left-hander Bruce Zimmermann was the difference as the Orioles fell, 2-1, to get swept in the doubleheader. They went 1-6 in their first homestand of 2021.

An Ellicott City native, Zimmermann cruised into the fifth, with a home run from Dylan Moore in the third the only blip to that point. To open the inning, he got Moore to ground out to shortstop Freddy Galvis, who hit his first home run with Baltimore in the bottom half to tie the game, then beat J.P. Crawford in a race to first base for the second out. But Haninger’s home run on a 1-1 changeup broke the tie.

The Mariners followed the homer with two more singles, but Zimmermann got out of the inning with a deep flyout to right, making him the only Orioles rotation member to work at least five innings in each of his first three starts.

Offensively, the Orioles (5-8) managed six hits in the doubleheader; three came in the first inning of the opener.

No walk in the park

Mariners right-hander Justin Dunn allowed only one hit in his first start of the year, but he also issued eight walks over 4 ⅔ innings. He continued to minimize hits Thursday at Oriole Park, but he also limited the free passes.

The Orioles entered the doubleheader with the third-lowest on-base percentage in the American League, a mark that got even lower once they managed only two base runners in Thursday’s first contest after the first inning. Anthony Santander walked against Dunn in the latter game’s first frame, but nothing came of it. From there through the fifth, Dunn allowed only three Orioles to reach, surrendering Galvis’ home run to the flagcourt, a DJ Stewart single later in the inning, and hitting Trey Mancini to lead off the fourth. He followed the Mancini hit-by-pitch by striking out the side.

Can’t catch a break

In relief of Zimmermann, right-hander Travis Lakins Sr. seemed to work a quick sixth by inducing three straight groundballs to third baseman Maikel Franco. But Franco’s throw on the third play went through Mancini’s glove at first base, allowing Taylor Trammell to reach on a bad-luck error for Mancini. The Orioles recovered by catching Trammell trying to steal second.

The Orioles’ luck did not get any better in the bottom half. Stewart led off the inning with a walk off Dunn, ending his day. Stewart took second on a passed ball from reliever Will Vest, but he got doubled off there when Vest snagged Santander’s 91.8 mph line drive up the middle. After Mancini grounded out to the end the inning, he slammed his helmet into the dirt.

Baltimore went quietly in the seventh, with Franco leading off the inning by grounding out on a 3-0 pitch as the Orioles suffering their eighth loss in 10 games.