Jesse Winker drives in 2 runs, Mariners beat Orioles 2-0

SEATTLE — Jesse Winker drove in two runs with a go-ahead double in the eighth, Robbie Ray allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 Tuesday night.

Winker’s go-ahead hit came with two outs against Felix Bautista and hit the right-center field wall, driving in J.P. Crawford and Julio Rodriguez for the two-run lead. One play before, Rodriguez reached first base on an infield single by diving to avoid the tag from Bautista, and then scored on Winker’s hit, which was nearly caught by right fielder Austin Hays.

“I wanted to definitely come through right there, and I was happy that I did,” Winker said. “But that inning doesn’t happen without (Crawford) and (Rodriguez), obviously. So hats off to them, and it was a good game for us.”

Both teams struggled at the plate early, before the Mariners finally broke through in the eighth.

The Orioles’ only hit in the game came with one out in the fourth when Ryan Mountcastle lined a single into center field off Ray. Ray pitched seven scoreless innings, with three walks and eight strikeouts on 98 pitches but didn’t figure in the decision.

“We only had one hit tonight,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “Robbie Ray was really good, really tough to get a hit off of tonight.”

In his past four games, the left-handed Ray has allowed two earned runs, 11 hits, seven walks, and three hit batters over 27 innings, with 28 strikeouts.

“Robbie Ray continues to keep rolling along,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “The last four starts have just been electric, what he’s been able to do. Really credit to him to make adjustments, because he has and it carried into the games. He did a heck of a job tonight.”

Ray credits much of his recent success to the addition of a two-seam fastball to his arsenal. He has been dominant since adding the pitch in a start against the Astros earlier this month.

“I feel like everything’s going really good,” Ray said. “Obviously, the introduction of the two-seam has been huge for me. I think it’s just opened up the entire plate. It’s made my four-seam (fastball), my slider, everything, better. But yeah, I think there is still room for improvement.”

The Mariners failed to muster any run support for Ray. Orioles’ starter Dean Kremer kept the Mariners off the board with seven scoreless innings of his own. Kremer allowed four hits with four strikeouts and two walks on 97 pitches. Kremer’s outing was the first time an Orioles’ pitcher has thrown seven scoreless innings since John Means’ no-hitter against the Mariners on May 5, 2021.

The Mariners threatened in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with one out. But Taylor Trammell grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Diego Castillo (5-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Mariners.