SEATTLE (AP) — A rough day for the Seattle Mariners that began with a clubhouse brawl ended in rugged fashion, too.
Long after Mariners shortstop Jean Segura and second baseman Dee Gordon apparently tangled, Baltimore rookie Renato Nunez and the Orioles rallied late for a 5-3 win Tuesday night.
The scuffle broke out four hours before the game at Safeco Field. Several players got involved, with catcher Mike Zunino among those trying to break it up.
Moments after Gordon politely asked reporters to leave the locker room, the double doors burst open with players shoving and shouting.
Most of the Seattle players weren’t around after the game to talk about the incident.
“Whatever happens in here, stays in here,” Seattle star Robinson Cano said. “It didn’t affect anyone in here. We let it go. We’re good. Everyone is good. We left that behind.”
“We’ve been playing hard,” he said. “It’s a long season. Everyone here gives everything they’ve got.”
Cano had three hits, including a home run.
Seattle was 46-25 on June 16 and 11 1/2 games ahead of Oakland in the wild-card standings. The Mariners are now 77-62 and 5½ games behind the A’s in the chase for the second AL wild-card spot.
“With how our season has gone, the frustration mounts,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said shortly after the altercation. “Along the way, there are bumps in the road.”
The Orioles had 15 hits and scored all five runs in the final three innings to end a four-game losing streak. Nunez had three hits, including a home run to start a four-run seventh.
Mariners starter Wade LeBlanc pitched six shutout innings, but the Orioles got five hits off three relievers in the seventh to take a 4-1 lead.
Alex Cobb (5-15) gave up a homer to Cano in the first before shutting out the Mariners for the next five innings. Mychal Givens earned his sixth save.
Seattle rallied for two runs in the eighth after loading the bases on two hits and a walk, but Chris Hermann struck out to end the inning with runners at first and second.
LeBlanc had thrown only 68 pitches when Servais elected to go to the bullpen in the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead.
“I thought Wade threw the ball really well,” Servais said. “They had some guys coming up, I thought, had swung the bat really well against him. Six scoreless innings is what you’re hoping for and go to the bullpen after that. Just didn’t get it done there in the seventh.”
After Nunez’s homer off Adam Warren (2-2), Jonathan Villar had a RBI single off Zach Duke, Breyvic Valera scored on a grounder and Trey Mancini had an RBI double against Nick Vincent.
For the Mariners, Servais said before the game, it was time to move on.
“Things happen in a clubhouse,” he said. “Our guys are working through it and talking through it. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. Usually there a root problem and you have to dig in there and find out where that’s at and build back relationships from there.”
“It happens a lot more than you know. Almost every year you see it. Sometimes brings teams together,” he said. “Things reach a boiling point and you have to get it off your chest. You have very competitive people that all want to win. They spent basically every waking moment together. I’ve been on a number of different teams. It’s something you will see at some point.”
ROSTER MOVES
Orioles: Selected the contract of RHP Luis Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk. Ortiz was acquired in the at July’s non-waiver trade deadline from the Brewers in the Jonathan Schoop trade.
Mariners: Recalled INF Gordon Beckham, RHP Casey Lawrence and 1B Daniel Vogelbach from Triple-A Tacoma. All three have spent time in the big leagues this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: 1B Chris Davis was back in the starting lineup after missing Monday’s game because of an illness.
Mariners: LHP Marco Gonzales (strained neck) will have one more bullpen session Thursday before he’s ready to return to the starting rotation.
UP NEXT
RHP Andrew Cashner (4-13, 4.86 ERA) will make his 27th start of the season Wednesday for the Orioles. Cashner lost his previous three starts, allowing 12 earned runs, 25 hits and eight walks in 16 innings. RHP Mike Leake (8-9, 4.25) will make his 28th start of the season for the Mariners. Leake lost his previous two starts (allowing 11 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) and hasn’t won a game since July 31. He has given up 182 hits this season, the most in the majors.
