Five-Run Ninth Inning Lifts Orioles Past Mariners
Orioles 5, Mariners 3
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
SEATTLE, July 8 -- When George Sherrill took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning to preserve another improbable Baltimore Orioles win, his first baseman was Luke Scott, who had played one inning at the position in his major league career.
Ty Wigginton was at shortstop, a position that he has never started a game at in his career, and Brian Roberts was at second base after he wasn't supposed to be in the game at all because of a 10-day battle with an upper respiratory infection.
The Orioles pulled out all the stops Wednesday to win a game that they probably had no business winning. Trailing by three runs after failing in their first 11 tries to get a hit with a runner in scoring position, the Orioles took advantage of two José López errors and scored five times in the ninth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3, in front of an announced crowd of 27,040 at Safeco Field.
Sherrill retired pinch hitter Ken Griffey Jr. with a man on for the final out as the Orioles (38-47) salvaged a 3-4 West Coast trip, and won for the third time in the past three weeks when trailing by at least two runs in the ninth inning. It also was just their second victory in 12 road finales this season.
"I think this was probably one of the better team wins we've had all year simply from the standpoint of [it was] a great effort by everybody," Orioles Manager Dave Trembley said. "We played all 27 outs again, and guys were real calm about their approach. No one got down after the seventh when it would have been easy to let the air come out of the ball right there. I thought they kept attacking."
It certainly stood to be one of the Orioles' worst losses in a frustrating first half had their fortunes not changed so dramatically in the ninth against Mariners closer David Aardsma, who had blown only one save in 18 tries this season and hadn't given up an earned run since May 31.
The Orioles, fresh off a 12-run breakout Tuesday, had a runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings against Seattle's control-challenged starter Jason Vargas and never scored.
