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Baltimore was only able to reach the 11th thanks to Luis Ayala's pitching in the bottom of the 10th. Seattle loaded the bases with two outs thanks to walks to Saunders, Trayvon Robinson and Dustin Ackley. Ayala (5-4) was brought in to face Franklin Gutierrez, who hit his fourth homer of the season in the fourth inning to account for Seattle's only run. Gutierrez was able to work the count to 3-2, but Ayala came inside and forced a weak pop up to shortstop to end Seattle's best scoring threat.
Lost in the extra inning drama were the performances of starters Joe Saunders and Felix Hernandez on a night both teams needed a break for their bullpens.
Saunders was the perfect option for the Orioles to have on the mound considering his past success against the Mariners in Seattle. In his previous six starts at Safeco Field, Saunders was 6-0 with a 0.98 ERA. It was just the recipe Baltimore needed with a taxed bullpen that saw seven relievers work in Tuesday night's game.
Saunders did his part getting through eight innings. He gave up five hits and struck out two. It was just the second time this season -- and first since joining the Orioles in August -- that Saunders pitched at least eight innings. He had a complete game three-hitter for Arizona against Miami in April.
"You can talk a lot about what happened this game, offensively and what not, but the conversation has to start with the effort that Joe gave us," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.
Hernandez gave up just one run, six hits and struck out eight. The lone run off Seattle's ace was due to hustle. Chris Davis was running on a 3-2 pitch and scored from first on Mark Reynolds' single in the fourth inning, sliding across home plate ahead of Jesus Montero's sweep tag.
NOTES: Baltimore swept the Mariners in Seattle for the first time since 1997. ... Baltimore prospect Dylan Bundy was recalled from Double-A Bowie on Wednesday. The Orioles needed the extra arm in the bullpen after Tuesday's 18-inning marathon and the 19-year-old was the choice. ... Tuesday's game was the second-longest in Safeco Field history by innings and the longest by time at 5 hours, 44 minutes. ... Baltimore LHP Brian Matusz pitched in the 10th inning less than 24 hours after needing to go to a Seattle hospital seeking treatment for an allergic food reaction.
[Associated
Press;
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