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Chen, O's blank M's

Jul 25, 2014 - 5:41 AM Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - Wei-Yin Chen matched a career high with eight innings pitched as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Seattle Mariners, 4-0, in the opener of a four-game set on Thursday.

Chen (11-3) scattered five hits -- all singles -- with a walk and three strikeouts in just his second eight-inning start of his career. He tossed eight scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over the Oakland A's on April 26, 2013.

"That's one of the best games I've seen him throw," Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph said of Chen.

Delmon Young homered, Joseph collected two hits and Nick Markakis provided an RBI for the Orioles, who have won three of their last four.

Hisashi Iwakuma (8-5) was victimized by a four-run fourth inning in the setback. He allowed seven hits with four strikeouts over seven innings.

"He elevated three pitches, but other than that he threw pretty good," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said of Iwakuma. "When you don't hit, you don't look good."

Seattle, which dropped its third straight game, looked to open the scoring in the first, however, a heads-up play from Chen kept the game scoreless. James Jones walked to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on a groundout from Stefen Romero. Robinson Cano then tapped a grounder to the left of Chen, who hustled off the mound and flipped the ball with his glove to Joseph to get Jones at the plate. The umpires reviewed the play only to uphold the decision on the field as an out.

"They actually practice that play during the spring," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Baltimore put up a four-spot in the third and that proved to be all the Chen needed. Ryan Flaherty and Joseph singled to begin the inning, then Markakis poked a base hit to center that plated Flaherty for a 1-0 lead. Young followed with a three-run homer to left-center.

Chen wasn't threatened for the rest of the night and Darren O'Day tossed a scoreless ninth to secure the win.

Game Notes

Seattle's Chris Taylor singled in the fifth for his first major-league hit of his career ... Chen has won a career-high four straight starts ... Jones has 20 stolen bases this season ... Seattle acquired Kendrys Morales from the Twins on Thursday in exchange for pitcher Stephen Pryor. The Mariners also placed utility player Willie Bloomquist on the 15-day disabled list with a right knee contusion, selected the contract of Taylor from Tacoma and recalled designated hitter/first baseman Jesus Montero from the Triple-A club.