Chris Davis hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave the Baltimore Orioles a 2-1 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners Sunday afternoon.
This was Baltimore's final home game of the season. The Orioles finished with a 25-56 record at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and took two of three to win a series for the first time since late August.
For Davis, it was a nice moment in what's been his second straight frustrating season. That was his 11th homer of the season, and the first baseman has 35 RBI with a .176 average.
The home run went to right-center and drew a huge ovation from the fans.
Mike Elias, the team's executive vice president/general manager, said before the game that there are things the Orioles want Davis to work on over the winter and that they expect he'll be with them in spring training.
This game was a pitcher's duel between Seattle starter Marco Gonzales and Baltimore's John Means.
Means (11-11) got the victory thanks to seven strong innings. He gave up one run on seven hits and recorded four strikeouts and a walk.
Richard Bleier closed it with two scoreless innings and earned his fourth save.
Gonzales (16-12) allowed two runs on just three hits in seven innings, but the Davis home run was the difference. The left-hander struck out four and walked two and, despite giving up just one hit after the first inning, took the loss.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead just two batters into the game. Shed Long got a leadoff triple on the game's third pitch and scored when J.P. Crawford followed with a single.
The Mariners then put runners on second and third with one out before Means escaped more damage by retiring the next two hitters.
Baltimore tied it in the bottom of the first inning. Austin Hays, who has impressed this month since being called up from the minors, singled with one out and scored from first on a Renato Nunez double.
Seattle had some scoring chances after that, but the Mariners couldn't come through with the clutch hit. Baltimore could do almost nothing against Gonzales until the Davis homer in the seventh and finished with only three hits.
--Field Level Media
