3 positive trends from Orioles' impressive sweep in Seattle

Seattle Mariners second baseman Dylan Moore represented the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning against fill-in closer Bryan Baker on Thursday afternoon. Baker did not care. The veteran right-hander pumped three straight fastballs by Moore, the final clocking in at 97 mph, clinching the Baltimore Orioles' second straight sweep. What made the sweep even more impressive was that it was against the Mariners, who entered the series atop the American League West with a 32-26 record.

With their sixth straight win and ninth in their past 11, the Orioles are still a ghastly 11 games below .500. That's what happens when you dig such a deep hole for yourself, as the Orioles were 16-34 in their first 50 games. Throughout their first 50 games, some tired trends emerged. The Orioles could not hit in the clutch; they could not come back from late deficits; Adley Rutschman looked like a shell of himself; Brandon Hyde refused to use Felix Bautista in back-to-back games; and simple things like hitting the cutoff man seemed impossible for the floundering O's.

While the Orioles swept the hapless Chicago White Sox last weekend to begin their winning streak, excitement was reasonably tempered. The White Sox were the lone American League team with a worse record than the Orioles entering the series, and the sweep, while showing some positivity, was still "just against the White Sox."

But for the first time this year, the Orioles looked like the Baltimore Orioles we had gotten used to since the second half of 2022. The team started to get clutch hits with runners on base, erased deficits, and Rutschman returned to form. Bautista also pitched in back-to-back games, and the Orioles executed a cutoff to perfection, throwing out Cal Raleigh at second on Wednesday night after his RBI single into the left field corner. The former three trends were refreshing to watch. Let's take a deeper look.

Orioles' clutch hitting is back

The Orioles' hitting with runners in scoring position has been awful all year. Oftentimes, the Orioles would take poor at-bats with runners on, refusing to wait for their pitch and instead over-anxiously producing weak contact or striking out.

That trend has reversed lately, as was clear in the Mariners series. In game one, Ryan O'Hearn singled with a runner on second in the first, leading to Ramon Urias' sac fly. And in the fifth inning of a tie game, O'Hearn lined a two-out, RBI single to center, giving the Orioles a lead they would not relinquish.

The Orioles added two more clutch runs in the top of the ninth inning, with the final run scoring on Jackson Holliday's RBI single, scoring Heston Kjerstad from third. Baltimore was clutch again in game two, with Rutschman crushing a game-tying, two-out home run in the sixth inning. After the Mariners retook the lead in the bottom of the inning, the Orioles brought Kjerstad to the plate with two outs and two on base in the top of the seventh. The much-maligned Kjerstad came through, lining a two-run triple down the right field line, giving the Orioles a 3-2 lead. The O's held on for a one-run win.

Baltimore managed only six hits in the series finale, but they were timely. Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning to give the O's a lead. Finally, the Orioles' bats were alive and well when it mattered the most.

Return of the Comeback Kids

For much of the season, the Orioles were as good as dead when their opponent took a lead into the late innings. Coming into the series, the Orioles were 1-29 when trailing heading into the seventh inning. But with their recently-discovered winning ways, the Orioles have also remembered how to come back.

On Wednesday night, the Mariners scored once in the bottom of the sixth after Rutschman tied the game in the top half of the inning with a solo blast. This typically deflating turn of events did not deter Baltimore, as Kjerstad's two-run triple flipped the score from 2-1 to 3-2, giving the Orioles an impressive comeback win.

The Orioles fell behind again in game three after Cal Raleigh smacked a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth. But the Orioles again showed the moxie fans had become accustomed to over the last few seasons, responding with Rutschman's clutch game-tying home run, followed by Henderson's go-ahead blast. With two impressive come-from-behind wins against a tough Mariners team on the road, perhaps the Orioles can flip the script on their struggles with comebacks.

Adley Rutschman starts hitting

Rutschman, who hails from the Pacific Northwest, probably wishes the Orioles could stay in Seattle through the weekend. The previously ice-cold catcher entered the series with one hit in his last 14 at-bats before smacking seven hits in the next 13, including two clutch home runs.

Rutschman's only out in game three was a 105.3 mph fly out to the wall in center. For the Orioles to be successful in 2025 and beyond, they need Rutschman to play like he did in 2023 and the first half of 2024. His performance in Seattle was a good start.

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