Lind powers Mariners past Orioles
BALTIMORE -- Adam Lind continued a solid May with a three-run homer and right-hander Nathan Karns made his seventh straight start without a loss as the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 on Thursday afternoon.
Lind now has two homers during a modest six-game hitting streak and three overall after he began the season hitting .059 in 17 at-bats. The left-hander, who flied out in his first two at-bats, lofted his homer to left on a 3-2 pitch from starter and loser Tyler Wilson (2-2) in the sixth to give the Mariners a 5-1 lead.
The Mariners (23-17) took two of three in the series while Baltimore (24-15) lost a home series for the first time this season.
Karns (4-1), in his fifth career start against the Orioles, allowed just one run and four hits with five strikeouts in five innings before Nick Vincent took over in the sixth.
Vidal Nuno got the last out in the seventh for the Mariners. Joaquin Benoit, who came off the disabled list Tuesday, allowed an RBI groundout to Adam Jones in the eighth with the bases loaded to make it 5-2 before getting Chris Davis to fly out to end the frame.
Leonys Martin (two hits) added insurance for Seattle with a two-run homer in the ninth off Dylan Bundy to give the Mariners a 7-2 lead and sidearmer Steve Cishek pitched the ninth to close out the game.
Seth Smith of Seattle had a two-out single to left in the fifth to drive in Ketel Marte (two hits) to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead.
Baltimore's Pedro Alvarez, hitting .198 at game time, had a RBI double off the wall in right with two outs in the second to tie the game at 1. The double plated Jonathan Schoop, who had a two-out single after Karns had fanned the first two batters of the inning.
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by former Oriole Nelson Cruz, in his first career at-bat against Wilson.
Wilson, in his fifth start of the year and 10th of his career, entered the game with an ERA of 2.93 this season but appeared to labor in the sixth before Lind went deep.
Karns has allowed just one run in his last three starts against Baltimore. The Texas Tech product was 0-1 with an ERA of 3.24 in three starts last year against the Orioles while with the Tampa Bay Rays. Mark Trumbo had two hits for the Orioles, who are 17-8 at home.
NOTES: The Mariners will begin a series on Friday in Cincinnati with RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (1-4, 4.38 ERA) going against Reds RHP Dan Straily (2-1, 3.05). ... The Orioles and RHP Mike Wright (2-3, 5.20) begin a three-city road trip on Friday against the Los Angeles Angels and LHP Hector Santiago (3-2, 3.42). ... Seattle RHP Steve Johnson is a former Baltimore pitcher who went to St. Paul's High in Brooklandville, Md. His father, Dave, also pitched for the Orioles and is a long-time broadcaster who covers the Orioles. ... Seattle C Steve Clevenger, in the starting lineup Thursday, is a Baltimore native and former catcher for the Orioles. He said he left about 10 tickets for the Wednesday game. ... Baltimore entered the series finale Thursday having not lost a series at home this year. The teams split the first two games of the series. Both teams began the day in first place in their respective divisions.