Orioles thump Mariners, 9-2; Rutschman homers in homecoming; Wells is superb again

When the Orioles last played in Seattle, John Means threw the sixth no-hitter in team history. On Monday night, Oriole starter Tyler Wells didn’t allow a baserunner until there were two outs in the fifth.

By the time Seattle’s Cal Raleigh hit a home run against Wells, the Orioles had hit back-to-back homers twice and had a seven-run lead on their way to a 9-2 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Stadium.

Wells, who threw a career-high 95 pitches in his previous start, was pulled after five innings. He gave up Raleigh’s home run and a walk and has allowed three runs or fewer in his last 14 starts.

Wells (6-4) has the longest streak of allowing three earned runs or fewer since Chris Tillman made 20 starts with three or fewer in 2014. Wells was helped by five Oriole home runs, which equals a season high.

Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle hit back-to-back home runs in the third. It was Rutschman’s third and Mountcastle’s 13^th. It was Rutschman’s first major league game in the Pacific Northwest. He was born and raised in Oregon.

Anthony Santander and Austin Hays hit consecutive home runs against Seattle starter George Kirby (2-3) in the fourth. Santander hit a two-run home run, his 14^th, and Hays slammed his 11^th.

Jorge Mateo hit his sixth in the sixth to center.

An RBI single by Rutschman in the first and an RBI double by Cedric Mullins in the second inning gave the Orioles (35-40) a 2-0 lead.

Mullins continued his stellar defensive play with an exceptional catch on Jesse Winker’s sinking line drive to end the bottom of the eighth. He doubled and later scored on a fly ball by Santanderl in the ninth.

It was the Orioles’ fifth win in their last six games, and they’re 14-10 in June, their first winning month since August 2017. The Orioles entered the game tied with Seattle (34-41).

Joey Krehbiel allowed a run in the sixth, and Keegan Akin pitched 3 1/3 innings, giving up just one hit and recorded his first career save.

The Orioles faced 43 consecutive batters at T-Mobile Park without allowing a hit, walk or hit by pitch — the longest streak at any MLB park in the last 40 years.

Notes: The Orioles had two sets of consecutive home runs for the first time since August 10^th, 2017 in Oakland. Adam Jones and Trey Mancini homered in the fourth inning. Mancini and Mark Trumbo homered in the sixth. … Santander’s home run came on the 12^th pitch of his at-bat. … The Orioles have hit back-to-back home runs seven times this season. … Dean Kremer (2-1, 1.71) will face Robbie Ray (6-6, 4.07) on Tuesday night.

Angels-Mariners brawl: Seattle played its first game since its brawl with the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Major League Baseball issued 12 suspensions to participants.

Angels manager Phil Nevin, father of Orioles infielder Tyler Nevin, was suspended 10 games and began serving his suspension on Monday night. Nevin will miss the first two games of the Angels’ four-game series at Baltimore, which begins on July 7^th.

Former Orioles bullpen coach Dom Chiti, who’s the Angels’ assistant pitching coach, was suspended for five games.

Mariners outfielder Jesse Winker (seven games), shortstop J.P. Crawford (five games) and outfielder Julio Rodriguez (two games) were suspended, but each is appealing and played in Monday night’s game.