Orioles explode for 5 runs in 1st inning to beat Mariners, 9-2, in John Means’ first home win since 2021

All the Orioles needed to break their hitting slump was face a budding Cy Young Award contender in one of baseball’s best rotations.

Baltimore entered Friday with an 8-4 record in May, but the club’s hitters had their pitchers to thank for that. The offense scored just 3.8 runs per game during that stretch while hitting .220.

It wasn’t going to get any easier to turn around that skid this weekend, as the Orioles welcomed a Seattle Mariners team that boasts a rotation with four pitchers who could all end the season as the league’s best. Up first was sophomore Bryce Miller, whose 2.66 ERA was best among the Mariners’ stellar starting corps.

By the time his first inning was over, his ERA was 3.54.

Baltimore’s bats took out their frustration on Miller with five runs in the opening frame to propel the Orioles to a 9-2 win over the Mariners, powering pitcher John Means to his first win at Camden Yards in more than three years. The win improves the Orioles to 28-14 — on pace for 108 wins — to remain one game behind the New York Yankees (31-15) for first in the American League East.

Gunnar Henderson readjusted to the top spot in the batting order after his one-game hiatus quite nicely, smacking a leadoff homer to follow Jordan Westburg, who did the same Wednesday. The next four batters in the Orioles lineup — Adley Rutschman, Ryan O’Hearn, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander — reached base and scored. Colton Cowser roped a two-run double, and Westburg’s sacrifice fly drove in the fifth run to give the Orioles their largest first-inning output of the season.

The offense exploded for four more runs in the seventh after Jorge Mateo and Henderson hit back-to-back triples and Rutschman and Austin Hays hit consecutive doubles. The nine runs are the second most Baltimore has scored over its past 22 games.

Means allowed a run in the first and a solo homer in the fifth but was otherwise stellar in his six innings of two-run ball. The veteran left-hander worked around six hits without walking a batter — he hasn’t issued a free pass in his 17 2/3 innings this season — while striking out four. Jacob Webb, Yennier Cano, Mike Baumann and Keegan Akin maintained the bullpen’s hot streak with three scoreless innings.

During the rebuild, it was Means’ starts that kept Orioles fans hopeful that maybe they had a chance to win that night. But the last time the southpaw has won in front of those fans was April 25, 2021. In the 1,118 days since, Means has thrown a no-hitter, torn an elbow ligament, underwent Tommy John elbow reconstruction and suffered multiple setbacks.

He had lost 14 straight starts at Oriole Park. His win Friday was in front of an announced 38,882 — the third-highest attendance at Camden Yards this season.

It also extends the Orioles’ AL-record regular-season streak of avoid sweeps to 106 series, passing the 1903-05 New York Giants for third on MLB’s all-time list. The Orioles, who began their streak in May 2022, only trail the 1906-1909 Chicago Cubs (115) and the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals (124).

Around the horn

• Manager Brandon Hyde said before the game that right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (shoulder inflammation) will come off the injured list soon and will not need a minor league rehabilitation assignment before rejoining the Orioles’ rotation. Rodriguez, who was placed on the 15-day IL on April 30, recorded a 3.71 ERA and won four of his six starts before his injury. With few days off through June, Hyde said the Orioles will likely move to a six-man rotation when Rodriguez returns since the other members of it are pitching well. Left-hander Cole Irvin was available out of the bullpen Friday after the two days off this week — a postponement Tuesday and a scheduled rest Thursday — complicated the rotation.

• Hays said his calf flared up again after he was activated off the IL on Monday. The 2023 All-Star missed three weeks with the calf injury amid his early season slump. He doubled in his first plate appearance back Wednesday, but he was replaced by a pinch runner — a substitution that perhaps caused complications later in the game. He said pregame that he expects to be ready to run the bases and play the field this weekend. It’s likely he will pinch hit versus left-handers and potentially start versus southpaws.

• Hyde said injured closer Félix Bautista has started throwing as he recovers from Tommy John elbow reconstruction. It appears Bautista began his throwing program in April after undergoing the surgery in October. He is expected to miss all of 2024 but be healthy for the start of 2025.

• Infield prospect Connor Norby returned to the lineup for Triple-A Norfolk on Friday after missing the past week with a wrist injury. Norby, who Baseball America ranks as the No. 5 prospect in the Orioles’ farm system, doubled in his first plate appearance back.

• The Orioles on Wednesday released Triple-A left-hander Andrew Suárez. The veteran signed a minor league deal with the Orioles with an invite to big league spring training. He didn’t make the opening day roster and posted a 5.93 ERA with the Tides.

This story will be updated.

Mariners at Orioles

Saturday, 4:05 p.m.

TV: MASN2, FS1

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM