SEATTLE Two and a half months after Philip Humber achieved immortality at Safeco Field, and a mere four days after Aaron Cook raised Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedges ire with an 81-pitch shutout at the same venue, Wei-Yin Chen took the Seattle mound on Tuesday.
For a long while it looked like something magical was going to happen for Chen. And then something totally unforeseen happened for the Mariners, who charged hard after what would have been their most rousing comeback victory of the season.
But in the end, it was the Orioles who rallied last, and best, to pull out a 5-4 victory at Safeco Field.
"That game was an emotional back-and-forth," Wedge said. "Casper (Wells) got us going, and the fight you saw after that no one saw that coming."
After the Mariners scored three in the eighth to tie the game, Robert Andino delivered a two-out homer in the top of the ninth off left-hander Charlie Furbush to provide the margin of victory.
"It was a two-seamer. I wanted to have it sink. It just didnt sink," Furbush said. "It stayed flat, and he put a good swing on it. Its a tough way to lose, after we had battled back. I just didnt get the job done."
Andinos homer to left his first since May 7, and fourth of the year came on a 2-2 pitch and ended Furbushs scoreless streak at 22 2/3 innings. Tom Wilhelmsen was unavailable after being used in three straight games.
"Charlie has been fantastic," Wedge said. "He just left one up in that situation. Hes been good against left-handers and right-handers. I felt he was the best guy to go to at that time."
The Orioles All-Star closer, Jim Johnson, worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save, and the Mariners stirring rally had an anti-climactic ending
On a night when it looked early like Felix Hernandez again had the electric stuff to flirt with a masterpiece, it was Chen, a rookie left-hander, who flirted with history. And then the Orioles who flirted with disaster.
Continued here:
Mariners rally but then fall to Orioles
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