BALTIMORE (AP) – J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead double with two outs in the sixth inning, Marco Gonzales overcame a rough start for his first victory of the season, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 on Thursday in a doubleheader opener. The score fits in the first game to end on Jackie Robinson Day – matching Robinson’s uniform No. 42, retired throughout the major leagues. All players wore No. 42 on the 74th anniversary of Robinson breaking the significant league color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Seattle tied the score on Mitch Haniger’s two-run homer in the fifth off Matt Harvey.
The Mariners went ahead when Tanner Scott (0-2) walked José Marmolejos leading off the sixth, pinch-runner Braden Bishop advanced on Dylan Moore’s two-out single, and Crawford stayed back on a slider and hooked the ball down the right-field line.
Crawford has hit safely in five consecutive games, batting .412 (7 of 17) while raising his average from .160 to .262. “I’m just getting going,” Crawford said. “Not everyone can just come right out of the gates hitting .300 or .400 and dropping bombs. Everybody has different times they break out. Hopefully, I just try to stay the course and keep putting together good ABs.” Kendall Graveman pitched a perfect seventh for his second save in as many attempts, finishing a four-hitter in a game shortened by pandemic rules. Baltimore has lost seven of nine following an opening three-game sweep of Boston, dropping five of its last six.
Seattle has won four of its last five.
The teams played their second doubleheader in three days to make up for Wednesday’s rainout, which followed a split Tuesday that made up Monday’s postponement. Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann (1-0) started the second game for Baltimore and Justin Dunn (0-0) for Seattle. Baltimore’s Trey Mancini rebounded from an 0-for-7 day Tuesday by hitting a two-run homer in the first on a sinker from Gonzales. Gonzales (1-1) retired 13 of his last 14 batters and gave up two runs and three hits in five innings while striking out five. The left-hander had allowed 12 runs and five home runs in 10 1/3 innings over his first two starts.
“Perfect outing for him,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He needed it. He was a little frustrated, certainly after the first inning giving up the walk and the homer. We needed him to give us five solid, and he did.”
Harvey didn’t allow a past runner second in the first four innings. He allowed two runs and three hits in 4 2/3 innings. “I feel like that game should have been 2-0, and I should have been out there the whole game,” Harvey said. “I think after the second, I kind of got a little nitpicky around the zone and got behind some hitters. I thought the counts were in the hitters’ favor a little bit too much. It’s frustrating.”
27th MEN
Baltimore added RHP Cole Sulser as its 27th man for the doubleheader, and Seattle added RHP Robert Dugger as its 27th man and added him to its 40-man roster. The Mariners selected Duggar’s contract from their alternate training site.
BIG NUMBER
With his flyout in the first inning, Seattle’s Kyle Seager became the fourth player in franchise history with 5,000 at-bats, joining Ichiro Suzuki (7,907), Edgar Martinez (7,213), and Ken Griffey Jr. (6,317).
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: Manager Brandon Hyde said the test results on RHP Mac Sceroler (shoulder tendinitis) were encouraging. Sceroler was placed on the IL Wednesday. “We’re hoping it’s not going to be too long,” Hyde said.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (0-0, 3.75 ERA) has 16 strikeouts in 12 innings for Seattle, who returns home to begin a three-game series against Houston on Friday.
Orioles: RHP Jorge Lopez (0-2, 11.42) draws the start Friday as Baltimore begins a three-game series at Texas.
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