Cedric Mullins plays hero twice in Orioles’ 5-3 win over Mariners in 10 innings – The Denver Post

Cedric Mullins leaped at the center field wall, extending his gloved right hand beyond it. He fell to the dirt on the warning track, uncertainty still hanging over a packed T-Mobile Park.

Then, Mullins rose to his feet and emphatically swung his left arm, letting the stadium know he in fact robbed what would have been a game-tying home run for the second out of Sunday’s ninth inning.

Seattle Mariners right fielder Dominic Canzone even the game with a solo shot two pitches later, but that simply provided the opportunity for more heroics from Mullins, who blasted a go-ahead, two-run home run in the 10th to carry Baltimore to a 5-3 victory.

Mullins wasn’t in the Orioles’ lineup, his third game back with Baltimore after a second stint on the injured list for a right groin strain. But manager Brandon Hyde expected him to make an impact in some way. He entered as a defensive substitution in the bottom of the sixth, after Baltimore (73-45) evened the game at 2 with a run in the frame’s top half.

The score held until the ninth. Jordan Westburg doubled with one out, with Jorge Mateo serving as a pinch-runner. Mateo moved to third on a balk called on Andrés Muñoz, with Seattle manager Scott Servais ejected for arguing. Those extra 90 feet and Mateo’s speed proved vital when he scored on Adley Rutschman’s groundball to Muñoz.

With Orioles closer Félix Bautista unavailable after pitching two innings in Saturday’s victory, Mike Baumann came out to protect a one-run lead in the ninth but was unable to do so despite Mullins’ sensational catch.

Nick Vespi relieved Baumann and sent the game to extras, the second straight day the pair of contenders played beyond regulation. There, Mullins hammered a go-ahead home run that also scored automatic runner Gunnar Henderson, pitches after a drive just foul.

Shintaro Fujinami recorded his first save in either the majors or Japan with a scoreless 10th, ending what was mostly a solid pitched game from Baltimore.

Kyle Bradish continued to assert himself as Baltimore’s top starter with Sunday’s six innings of two-run ball. In his past 17 starts, Bradish has completed the sixth 12 times and posted a 2.65 ERA, the best by a qualified American League pitcher in that span.

Left-hander Cionel Pérez followed with a two-strikeout seventh. In Pérez’s past 11 outings, he’s given up one earned run in 9 1/3 innings, allowing nine baserunners and striking out 10. Pérez rediscovering his 2022 form would be welcome for an Orioles bullpen missing Danny Coulombe, Hyde’s top left-handed option much of this season.

This story will be updated.

()