Brandon Young Dominates, Jackson Holliday’s Grand Slam Powers Orioles Past Mariners 7-2
Brandon Young Dominates, Jackson Holliday’s Grand Slam Powers Orioles Past Mariners 7-2
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles finally found the formula they had been searching for during a difficult stretch of baseball.
Outstanding pitching from Brandon Young, a clutch blast from Pete Alonso, and a game-breaking grand slam by Jackson Holliday lifted Baltimore to a 7-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night at Camden Yards. The win snapped the Orioles’ four-game losing streak and gave them a chance to earn a split in the four-game series.
For much of the evening, the matchup looked like a classic pitchers’ duel between Young and Seattle ace George Kirby. Both starters traded zeros through five innings before the Orioles finally broke through in the sixth.
Young was spectacular from the first pitch.
The Orioles right-hander worked seven scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while walking two and striking out five. Seattle never mounted a serious threat against him as he consistently induced weak contact and kept the Mariners off balance throughout the night. Young improved to 5-1 on the season, and Baltimore moved to 9-1 in games he has started.
Seattle managed just four hits all game and did not record an extra-base hit.
While Young was cruising, Kirby was matching him pitch for pitch. The Mariners right-hander struck out 10 Orioles over six innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam earlier in the game to keep Baltimore off the scoreboard.
The breakthrough finally came in the bottom of the sixth.
Leading off the inning, Pete Alonso launched a solo home run to center field, his 14th homer of the season, giving Baltimore a 1-0 lead and igniting the Camden Yards crowd. Alonso’s blast was the first run of the game and the turning point the Orioles desperately needed.
Baltimore kept the pressure on.
Colton Cowser followed with a walk and later stole second base. Leody Taveras lined an RBI double into center field to score Cowser and make it 2-0. After stealing third, Taveras came home when Blaze Alexander ripped a ground-rule double into the gap, extending the lead to 3-0.
The Orioles were not finished.
In the seventh inning, Baltimore loaded the bases against Seattle reliever Domingo Gonzalez. Holliday stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered the knockout punch.
The young second baseman crushed a grand slam to right-center field, sending Camden Yards into a frenzy and blowing the game wide open. The homer scored Taylor Ward, Pete Alonso, and Leody Taveras ahead of him and stretched the Orioles’ lead to 7-0. It was Holliday’s third home run of the season and the third grand slam of his young major league career. The blast also made him the first player in franchise history to record three career grand slams before turning 23 years old.
Seattle finally got on the board in the eighth inning when Julio Rodríguez drove in a run with a groundout and Josh Naylor followed with an RBI single. Those two runs were the only blemishes on an otherwise dominant night by Baltimore pitching.
Yennier Cano recorded the final four outs to secure the victory.
Alonso finished with two hits, a home run, and two runs scored. Taveras collected two hits, drove in a run, scored twice, and stole a base. Holliday delivered the biggest swing of the night with four RBIs on his grand slam. Eight different Orioles recorded hits as Baltimore totaled 11 hits in the victory.
Orioles 7, Mariners 2
Seattle: 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 error
Baltimore: 7 runs, 11 hits, 0 errors
Orioles Offensive Leaders
- Jackson Holliday: 1-for-4, Grand Slam, 4 RBI
- Pete Alonso: 2-for-4, HR, 2 R
- Leody Taveras: 2-for-3, RBI Double, 2 R
- Blaze Alexander: RBI Double
Orioles Pitching
- Brandon Young (W, 5-1): 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
- Grant Wolfram: 0.2 IP, 2 ER
- Yennier Cano: 1.1 IP, 2 K
After four frustrating losses, the Orioles received exactly what they needed from Young and Holliday. Young shut down one of baseball’s hottest lineups, Alonso provided the spark, and Holliday supplied the fireworks as Baltimore rolled to a convincing 7-2 victory at Camden Yards.
