SEATTLE — Michael Morse hit an opposite-field two-run homer, his third home run in four games, Aaron Harang pitched six solid innings for his first win and the Seattle Mariners won their second straight series with an 8-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.
After not winning a series for most of April, the Mariners went 5-2 on their homestand.
Morse’s homer was the highlight on a night when the Mariners scored four times with two outs off Baltimore starter Wei-Yin Chen (2-3). Michael Saunders had three hits and scored three times, while Kendrys Morales had three RBIs, including a two-run double in the sixth inning.
Morse became the first Seattle hitter to have nine homers in the team’s first 30 games since Mike Cameron in 2002. Cameron’s total included a four-homer game, and Morse was slowed in April by a small fracture in the little finger on his right hand.
Seattle was hitting just .230 on the season with two outs, but scored four runs on key two-out hits. Bay got the Mariners started with a double into the left-field corner to score Morales in the first after Chen easily got the first two outs of the game.
The Mariners scored twice in the second, including the first triple in the career of slow-footed Seattle catcher Jesus. Leading off the inning, Montero hit a drive to deep left-center that Adam Jones was tracking. Jones seemed confident enough that he blew a bubble with his gum as he chased the long fly ball, but watched as the ball deflected off the edge of his glove just before he crashed hard into the wall. Montero scored on Saunders’ single and Morales followed with another two-out RBI base hit for a 3-0 lead.
Morse then capped Chen’s miserable night with his drive to right-center in the fourth. Chen matched the shortest start of his career.
